The Best in Art, Auctions and Gallery Openings
Author:Lindsey Shook
TAG, YOU’RE IT
The city is both muse and canvas for a group of 20 artists featured in “Viva la Revolución: A Dialogue with the Urban Landscape,” opening July 18 at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Murals, installations and sculptures will be installed within the gallery and in public locations throughout downtown. The 2008 Me No Sugar (above) is mixed media on metal by a pair of Coachella Valley artists that goes by the name, “The Date Farmers.” July 18–Jan. 2, 2011; 1100 Kettner Blvd., San Diego, 858-454-3541, mcasd.org.
THEY’RE CRAFTY
San Francisco hosts the American Craft Council Show at Fort Mason Center throughout the weekend of August 13–15. The handcrafted items range from fashions to interior accessories to objects for the lawn and garden—a new addition to this year’s show. Michael Szabo, one of the 250 individual artists and designers exhibiting at the event, is a San Francisco metal artist who creates water features, sculptures and vases (left). Aug. 13–15; Fort Mason Center, Herbst and Festival Pavilions, SF, craftcouncil.org.
LIFE AS ART
The life of Arshile Gorky— from his experience during the Armenian Genocide to his burgeoning creative life in New York City to his tragic final years—is explored alongside 120 works by the artist in “Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective” at MOCA in Los Angeles. Running through September 20, the chronological exhibition highlights the artist’s evolving styles, such as his cubist period in the 1930s, when he painted Organization (left). June 6–Sept. 20; 250 S. Grand Ave., L.A., 213-621-1749, moca.org.
PAPER HOUSES
Drawings by architectural visionaries including Frank Lloyd Wright and Victor Postolle will be on display at Cantor Arts Center at Stanford as part of “Buildings on Paper: Architectural Drawings,” opening June 30. The intricately detailed pieces, such as the study of a storefront from the early 19th century by an unidentified French architect (above), are at once technical and aesthetic works of art. June 30–Oct. 17; 328 Lomita Dr., Stanford, 650-723-4177, museum.stanford.edu.
From top: Courtesy of Michael Szabo; Adam Wallacavage, Courtesy of Jonathan LeVine Gallery; National Gallery of Art, Washington, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund 1979, © 2010 Estate of Arshile Gorky/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Robert E. and Mary B. P. Gross Fund, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, 1987.4; Courtesy of Arthaus
