S.F. Agenda: Design and Arts Events in the Bay Area
Author:Dara KerrIn the late 1960s and early 1970s, artists living in the American West produced an incredible amount of beautiful, innovative, and far-out artwork. Now, Oakland’s Mills College Art Museum is hosting a retrospective of art from that place and era. Dubbed West of Center: Art and the Counterculture Experiment in America, 1965-1977, the exhibition features drawings, videos, and photographs from that time period’s countercultural movement, with artists like the Ant Farm Collective, Anna Halprin, and Single Wing Turquoise Bird. Opens June 12 and runs through September 1, 5000 MacArthur Boulevard.
Design by Poltrona Frau. Courtesy of Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco.
Italy is well known for its incredible designers. And now, San Francisco’s Italian Cultural Institute is hosting three design exhibitions showcasing the country’s cultural legacy of “innovating with beauty.” The first opening features “New Italian Design” and highlights 189 designers’ work on graphics, fashion, interior design, and more. The second show features work by design firm Poltrona Frau and its 100 years of creating fine-crafted leather furniture. The third exhibit explores the new role of craftsmanship in Italy with household objects and furnishings from Alessi, Fiat, B&B Italia, Kartell, Flos, and more. Openings begin on June 11 and run through various dates, various locations.
Ashley Roi Jenkins picks Rex Ray. Photo by: Ed Ritger.
It’s not often that you get to see more than a dozen acclaimed designers’ work all under one roof, but San Francisco’s ArtHaus Gallery has decided to do just that. The Chosen Ones features 17 Bay Area designers and their work in the context of private homes and locales. Highlighted designers include Ashley Roy Jenkins, Kendall Wilkinson, Matthew Leverone, and Valerie Wills. Runs through June 28, 411 Brannan Street.
San Francisco Design Week kicks off this week and is hosting a ton of fun events, workshops, and exhibitions. The goal of Design Week is to honor, celebrate, and highlight the Bay Area’s design-centric community—from professionals to non-profits to aficionados. Not only will there be near-daily parties and mixers, but there will also be the AIASF Design Awards exhibition, a studio tour crawl, and much more. Opens June 21 and runs through June 27, various locations.
“Salon June Versailles” by Aaron Bujak. Courtesy of Hewn.
Want to explore the Palace of Versailles but don’t feel like hopping on a plane to France? Now, you can see the historical chateau’s miniature version of Marie Antoinette’s “Petit Appartement de la Reine” at San Francisco Design Center’s Third Thursday event. Artist Aaron Bujak will present his “Le Petit Versailles” and talk about what it was like to create a furnished, architectural model of the queen’s suite of rooms (one twelfth the size!) in the palace. Event is on June 20 from 5pm to 8pm, 2 Henry Adams Street, Suite 450.
