San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
‘ The de Young Open’ is pleasantly overwhelming
Best bets from Datebook’s arts and entertainment critics and contributors
In a year filled with so many art world postponements, cancellations and big questions about the future of museums, it’s fantastic when something akin to a creative victory is still possible. “The de Young Open” feels like one of those victories.
Occupying one of the larger downstairs galleries at the museum, the new exhibit features 877 artworks by 762 local artists organized by themes: the Black Lives Matter movement and social justice, the coronavirus pandemic, Bay Area views and scenes, representation, abstraction, and portraiture. Works span media including painting, sculpture, photography, textile and works on paper and were selected by artist judges Hung Liu, Mildred Howard and Enrique Chagoya.
With the pieces arranged salon style, the exhibit is overwhelming in a good way. This effort, in celebration of the de Young’s 125th anniversary, feels like the perfect way to plunge back into the art scene with gusto, as well as a way to showcase our region’s talented creators.
Curated by Timothy Anglin Burgard, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco curatorincharge of American art, all work is for sale with 100% of proceeds going to the artists.
“The de Young Open”:
9: 30 a. m.- 5: 15 p. m. Tuesday- Sunday. Through Jan. 3. $ 15 general admission ( free through December for essential workers). 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, S. F. 415- 750- 3600. deyoung. famsf. org
You might not think puppetry and silhouette could translate from stage to screen: Isn’t part of the thrill of these forms how you’re immersed in the illusion, while also appreciating the craft that makes it possible?
There’s plenty of illusion in Manual Cinema’s “Frankenstein,” presented as part of Cal Performances at Home. You might find your eyes struggling to decipher whether the shadows you see of Mary Shelley, her quill and her infant are animation, live actors or cutouts operating by elaborate hinges.
To watch its liveaction and puppetry sequences has the feel of discovering a lost silent Expressionist film. You might find your imagination projecting all kinds of narratives onto its jagged shadows, its actors’ delicate but mechanical movements.
“Frankenstein”:
— Lily Janiak
7 p. m. Thursday, Oct. 29; available on demand for three months. $ 15 for single viewer; $ 30 for two viewers; $ 60 for household. 510- 642- 9988. www. calperformances. org
For more Datebook picks for things to do in the Bay Area: datebook. sfchronicle. com