Don’t wait: Great Bay Area museum exhibits closing.
Bay Area museums offer some wildly diverse “itineraries” via exhibits running for just a few more weeks. They provide a respite from the season’s blustery storms and SIX EXHIBITS THAT HAVE THE POWER TO CONVEY YOU TO OTHER WORLDS ARE IN THEIR WANING DAYS A
SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, “BRUCE CONNER: IT’S ALL TRUE”:
As a painter, sculptor, photographer and filmmaker, Conner (1933-2008) was almost too versatile and quirky to make it into the pantheon of modern artists. SFMOMA makes his case in this vast exhibit, in the city where he spent much of his life.
Conner represents the dark side of American art in his era, and his films remain masterworks. The stunning black-and-white montages include everything from a 1946 nuclear bomb test to a gyrating go-go dancer. This is a rare chance to see a full film program on a big screen.
Details: Through Jan. 22; 151 Third St., San Francisco; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Tuesday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday; $19-$25, free for visitors 18 and younger; 415-357-4000, sfmoma.org.
LEGION OF HONOR MUSEUM, “THE BROTHERS LE NAIN — PAINTERS OF 17TH-CENTURY PARIS”:
Longing for a museum exhibit of actual oil paintings, in ornate frames, with recognizable subjects? Antoine, Louis and Mathieu Le Nain provide them in this show from the Louvre Museum.
The Le Nains are best known for detailed scenes of life in France in the 1600s, city and countryside, peasant families and soldiers. (There’s a “Three Musketeers” connection.) But the stunning larger works include commanding Crucifixion scenes and “Nativity of the Virgin,” an altarpiece from Notre Dame Cathedral.
Details: Through Jan. 29; 34th Avenue and Clement Street, Lincoln Park, San Francisco; 9:30 a.m.-5:15 pm. Tuesday-Sunday; $13-$22; 415-750-3600, legionofhonor.famsf.org.
SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART, “BEAUTY — COOPER HEWITT DESIGN TRIENNIAL”:
Forget textbook definitions of art and beauty. This exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution’s design museum in New York takes a wild ride into the future of art-making. It’s selected from an international invitational competition.
Silicon Valley couldn’t be a more appropriate venue for these 200 works by cutting-edge artists, from a fashionable 3-D printed vest to a curvaceous walkthrough pavilion that feels like a magical spider web. Some designs are experiments in polyvinyl chloride or bonded nylon; others are already on sale in upscale houseware shops.
Details: Through Feb. 19; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. TuesdaySunday, to 8 p.m. Jan. 19 and Feb. 16; $5-$10; 408-2716840, www.SanJoseMuseumofArt.org.
THE MEXICAN MUSEUM, “FASCINATION WITH FAUNA”:
The ceramic dogs, birds and rabbits in this exhibit look like toys, and some may actually have been that centuries ago in Mexico, Central America and Peru. But most were sacred figures or ritual objects, buried to join the dead in the underworld.
Don’t miss the delicate tripod vessel that has survived for at least 1,000 years and the charming little bat god. These dozens of objects are a preview of the collection that will be displayed when the museum moves to a permanent, much larger building in downtown San Francisco, probably in 2018.
Details: Through Feb. 26; Fort Mason Center, Building D, Marina Boulevard at Buchanan Street, San Francisco; noon-4 p.m. Thursday-Sunday; free; 415-202-9700, www.mexicanmuseum.org.
OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA, “ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE — BLACK PANTHERS AT 50”:
The Oakland Museum becomes something like Washington’s “Newseum” for this exhibit, which charts the history and influence of what began as “The Black Panther Party for Self Defense.”
The goal is to find new inspiration in the AfricanAmerican empowerment movement (based in Oakland), which included health and food services as well as political action. The founding “Ten Point Program” fills one gallery wall, and FBI files on the Panthers fill another. News photos, films, banners and posters dramatically bring the past into the present.
Details: Extended through Feb. 26; Tenth and Oak Streets, Oakland; 11 a.m.-5 pm. Wednesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; $6.95-$15.95; 888-625-6873, museumca.org.
In the New York cultural scene of the 1950s and ‘60s, Frank Stella helped change the direction of modern art. His “black paintings” revealed barely visible pinstripes. His geometrics contrasted with the big, blurry Abstract Expressionist canvases.
This sprawling exhibition covers Stella’s entire career. It includes fluorescent striped paintings with names like “Marrakech,” interlocking works from the “protractor” series and others that break free of frames. Add some flamboyant recent sculptures, and it’s a 50-year history of American modern art.
Details: Through Feb. 26; 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco; 9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday; $15-$25; 415-750-3600, deyoung. famsf.org.