It hasnât been a quiet year in local visual arts. We had our share of blockbuster shows, the welcome return of an affirmational regional survey and plenty of exhibitions that spoke directly to our mid-apocalyptic times.
But despite the grandiose offerings on the table, the art that stuck with me in 2018 was mostly small scale and mostly fleeting. And it all included bodiesâbodies performing actions, bodies under scrutiny, bodies sporting fabulous, glittering outfits pulled from someone elseâs trash. What follows is, as per usual, a non-hierarchical, highly personal, idiosyncratic list of my favorite moments from a year of art:
Public Movement, ‘Falling Wall,’ 2015, performed at KADIST in 2018. (Courtesy of the artist; Photo: Kelsey Gerber)
Best Heart-Stopping Moment OSHA Should Never Know About
Public Movementâs âFalling Wallâ
Multiple times during KADISTâs exhibition If These Stones Could Sing, four women performed choreography by the Tel Aviv-based group Public Movementâa tightly coordinated routine that involved crisp white uniforms, a falling wall and a collective gasp from the audience. Part military drill, part dance and completely harrowing, the performance destroyed the controlled environment of its gallery setting, eliciting a pure, thrilling reaction that still makes my breath catch remembering it over 10 months later.
Installation view at SFMOMA of Arthur Jafa, ‘Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death,’ 2016. (© Arthur Jafa; Photo: Katherine Du Tiel)
Best Required Viewing in Post-2016 America
Arthur Jafaâs âLove is the Message, the Message is Deathâ
Within the fantastic SFMOMA show Nothing Stable Under Heaven, Arthur Jafaâs seven-minute video, set to the tune of Kanye Westâs âUltralight Beam,â mesmerized viewers with a sequence of clips showing transcendent highs (black performers and athletes), the depths of evil (systematized violence against black bodies), and the ordinary moments of black life between those extremes, both past and present. It is a powerful work of art, but as heâs said recently, perhaps too easily consumed by non-black audiences. His most recent work, commissioned by BAMPFA for their Matrix series and on view through March 24, 2019, shifts focus to representations of white experience. For Jafa, neither black nor white America can be understood in isolation from the other.
A model in BONANZA’s fashion show, ‘The Young and Restless,’ at Recology on Sept. 21, 2018. (Courtesy of the artists)
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BONANZAâs âThe Young and the Restlessâ
In late September, as the golden hour approached, a crowd gathered in Recologyâs outdoor courtyard, newly filled with a runway made from rough wooden pallets. It was time for the culmination of BONANZAâs three-month residency (a.k.a. artists Conrad Guevara, Lindsay Tully and Lana Williams), a joyful presentation of junkyard fashion made out of Loweâs bags, shaped foam, dashboard shades and repurposed crocheted blankets. A small army of models (local artists, performers, members of the queer community) served futuristic-recycled-fantasy realness, spinning expertly at the end of the makeshift runway. I cheered so hard I nearly lost my voice.
A participant in ‘Where to Score: The Happening,’ Feb. 11, 2018. (Courtesy of Jason Fulford)
Best Historical Reenactment of a Site-Specific Acid Trip
âWhere to Score: The Happeningâ
To celebrate the publication of J&L Booksâ Where to Score, a reprint of classified ads from the short-lived 1960s counterculture newspaper, the San Francisco Oracle, a small team of young artists led by editors Jason Fulford and Jordan Stein returned to the scene of the crime. The Haight-Ashbury, that is. Donning absurd costumes and identities pulled from the pages of the past, the artists became moving targets in a neighborhood scavenger hunt, distributing odd objects (and sometimes hunks of bread) according to their adopted personas. It was just as confusing, hilarious and fun as I imagine Haight Street might have been 50 years before.
Dancer Stephanie Hewett on the grand staircase of San Francisco City Hall in XUXA SANTAMARIA’s ‘Song4Sanctuary’ on Nov. 26, 2018. (Photo: Melissa Dale)
Best Use of City Hall as a Stage
âSong4Sanctuaryâ
The night of XUXA SANTAMARIAâs performance of Song4Sanctuary, a sound piece and accompanying dance performance, a few dozen audience members sat on the grand staircase of the mostly empty buildingâsite of protests, history-making marriages, deaths and the ordinary bustle of city bureaucracy. SofÃa Córdova and Matthew Gonzalez Kirkland stood above the assembled audience with mix tables and microphone, projecting ethereal, haunting music into the enormous space. But no one could tear their eyes away from dancer Stephanie Hewett, who moved over the cold stone floor and up the stairs with a frenetic grace that responded to and created shape from the abstracted sounds. In a program intended to address San Franciscoâs status as a sanctuary city, Hewett embodied the physical yearning and hope wrapped up in the concept of immigration, all balanced against the monumental architecture and government systems that would seek to bar the free movement of people from one country to another.
Copyright 2018 KQED