San Francisco Has a Boundary-pushing New Art Museum
T+L dives into a current show that embodies the free museum's people-forward philosophy.
IMPART PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO
Digital artwork by Jeffrey Gibson on the exterior of the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco.Harnessing the electricity of recent social reckonings in its hometown and beyond, the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco is poised to become the progressive ideal of a museum. Housed in a converted warehouse in San Francisco's industrial Dogpatch neighborhood, ICA SF trains its lens on the complex inflection points dominating headlines, and eschews a permanent collection — a costly, competitive enterprise that museum director Alison Gass likens to an “arms race” — so it can, instead, pay artists (not every museum does) and keep staff wages above average.
IMPART PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO
Exhibitions on view at ICA SF include a solo show from Choctaw-Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson, through March 26.For the current exhibition "Resting Our Eyes," a pair of guest curators — Tahirah Rasheed, cofounder of the Oakland collective See Black Womxn, and Los Angeles–based artist Autumn Breon — imagined a world where Black women aren’t just liberated, but also celebrated. Through new and existing works from a multigenerational group of 20 artists, including Leila Weefur, Ja’Tovia Gary, and Carrie Mae Weems, "Resting" considers everyday acts of leisure and beauty, from taking a quiet afternoon breather to flaunting an Afro, as radical forms of identity and resistance.
“As human beings, it is our right to rest,” says Breon, whose grandmother’s gentle, mid-repose refrain (“I’m just resting my eyes”) inspired the title of the show. “We’re thinking about a visual vocabulary for that idea.”
The show includes pieces like "Bamboo Earrings" by Detroit native LaKela Brown, which references both plaster-cast architectural moldings and the gold-plated doorknocker hoops of 90s hip-hop culture. “That LaKela treats these earrings like artifacts is a beautiful reminder that they’re an essential part of Black women’s history of adornment,” Breon says.
From left: AARON WESSLING PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND JORDAN SCHNITZER FAMILY FOUNDATION/COURTESY OF INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO; CLARE GATTO/COURTESY OF INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO/COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND REYES|FINN, DETROIT
Left: "Kama Mama, Kama Binti (Like Mother, Like Daughter)" by Hank Willis Thomas. Right: "Bamboo Earrings" by LaKela Brown."Kama Mama, Kama Binti (Like Mother, Like Daughter)," a rephotographed 1971 magazine ad, is part of a series by Brooklyn artist Hank Willis Thomas that explores targeted marketing. “I really admire Hank’s social practice,” Breon says. “When we talk about allies in a world where Black women are free, Hank is one.”
The curators cite the work of the Combahee River Collective, the historic Black feminist organization, as a major influence. “We want to change the framework around how people see Black women,” Rasheed adds. “Drawing more connections to our humanity is the beauty of art.”
"Resting Our Eyes" runs through May 14.
A version of this story first appeared in the February 2023 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline "Works in Progress."
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