CHARLES DESMARAIS’ ART PICKS
“Louise Bourgeois Spiders”: French American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) left behind a remarkably diverse body of significant work, but none of it was more popular with the public than her extended series of sculptures and drawings of spiders. She spoke of those works as “an ode to my mother,” and implied that she meant that in the nicest way. Through Sept. 4. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., S.F. (415) 357-4000. www.sf moma.org
Matthew Angelo Harrison: “Prototype of Dark Silhouettes”: This exhibition of 12 sculptures takes a few minutes of attention to heat up, but the Detroit artist shares something deeply moving, drawn upon his experience as an African American man working at the center of the auto industry. Through April 21. Free. Jessica Silverman Gallery, 488 Ellis St., S.F. (415) 255-9508. http://jessica silvermangallery.com
“The Matter of Photography
in the Americas”: The works of artists from 12 Latin American countries make up this captivating, deeply researched exhibition. Through April 30. Free. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, 328 Lomita Drive at Museum Way, Stanford. (650) 7234177. http://museum.stan ford.edu “Cult of the Machine: Precisionism and American Art”: This large exhibition gets a bit repetitive, with picture after picture of mechanical forms seen close up, at skewed angles. Yet there is no denying the visceral charge one still gets from the most invigorating of these images, or the continuing influence of the era (1910-50) on design, architecture and art. Through Aug. 12. $13-$28. De Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, S.F. (415) 750-3600. http://de young.famsf.org
“Casanova: The Seduction
of Europe”: A look at the aesthetics and the excesses embodied by the most famous womanizer of all time. The organizers of this exhibition, years in the planning, could not have known their project would open in the midst of the #MeToo era. The show reveals much about 18th century Europe and, it turns out, 21st century America as well. $13-$28. Through May 28. Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, 100 34th Ave., S.F. (415) 750-3600. http://legionof honor.famsf.org