In case you haven’t heard: San Francisco’s art scene is dead. So dead, in fact, that the de Young had to pick from nearly 8,000 artists for its triennial exhibition featuring works from nine Bay Area counties.
The Bay Area art world has been buzzing for months in anticipation of the second de Young Open and the rare opportunity for local artists to have their work hung in one of San Francisco’s major art museums. I had the pleasure and privilege of getting a sneak peek at the exhibition and a chance to speak with the artists themselves.
The de Young Open was originally conceived as a pandemic initiative to maintain the museum’s mission to promote community engagement and critical art conversation. In 2020, the exhibit received an overwhelming amount of submissions and enthusiasm, which made the decision to reboot it in 2023 easy. This year 7,766 artists submitted their work to the anonymous jury and 883 artists won a spot on the gallery wall.
A full range of artistic mediums are represented, including; video, painting, mixed media, textiles, metalwork, ceramics, photography, and sculpture. The exhibit itself is breathtaking. Hung salon style the artworks take up every inch of the de Youngs special exhibition hall which usually hosts blockbuster shows such as the Monet: The Late Years in 2019 and Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs from earlier this year.
The de Young’s goal is to be a “catalyst for change” and the “greatest possible representation of Bay Area artists,” said director Thomas P. Campbell. I was pleased to hear that beyond the opportunity to display their works, artists were also able to place their work up for sale, receive a complimentary membership to the museum, and for some lucky participants, have their work actually accessioned into the museum’s collection, something that is almost entirely unheard of for a community exhibition. The Open participants and their work were treated with all the seriousness and respect museum staff would afford to any other artwork in their collection. “The process was very clear, the instructions were detailed, dropping off my art was easy,” an artist told me.
To put such a large show on in such a short amount of time is an impressive feat that shouldn’t be overlooked and everyone involved at the museum should be very proud.
Artist interviews
Lizzy and Lillian Myers
The very first artist who caught my eye was a young woman cosplaying what I can only describe as a “pregnant working mom in the 80s.”
Lillian — pictured — explained to me that she was in character to promote the short film made with her sister Lizzy, Countertransference, which is about a therapist confronting her patient after their “pain body glommed onto her” and caused chaos in her own life. Lillian is studying to become a therapist in real life, and starring in this film Lizzy made was a way for Lillian to process her own journey. She was kind enough to direct me to the media room, which you can find down the hallway from the main exhibit room. Magically, just as we stepped outside to get our photo her short film started playing and we were able to watch it together.
Countertransference reminds us that our mental healthcare professionals are people too, and we all benefit from a healthy artistic outlet for our emotions. Laughter really is the best medicine.
Cecilia Lusven
In the main gallery I met Cecilia Lusven, who escorted me to her work, Ashes, a super tactile work made of handwoven and hand-cut innertube from bicycle wheels. The materials were sourced from local bike shops, who would otherwise have to pay a fee to haul them away. Cecilia explained her work is about how individual pieces may be imperfect but when put together they make something that is whole and beautiful. I could really feel Cecilia’s pride as we discussed her work, I always feel more attached to abstract work when I learn the artists intentions and I’ll be thinking about Ashes every time I go past a bike shop.
Helen Kim
Helen Kim showed me a piece she made by layering wax and paint on canvas. While seemingly random, Helen explained that her methods are driven by her own synesthesia and her practice has been carefully developed through a series of daily art notebooks where she creates beautiful full-page abstract art to better develop her sense of pattern, color, and texture. Due to the nature of the materials she works with, it is always about adding and covering up, and every version of a painting she creates lives under the top layer we see in the end. We often brush aside abstract art as being easy but after speaking with Helen about her practice I could see all the hours of work she put in to get to Making Sense now.
Nicole Dixon
Dixon’s work Autumn Ground: So That Wildflowers May Come Up Where You Are is inspired by a Rumi poem — “A Necessary Autumn Inside Each,” and centers on the concept of endurance and growth. What appears at first glance to be a painting is actually a collage of mixed media materials such as pebbles, paint, gold leaf and the portrait in the center is done in charcoal. Nicole’s work is heavy with symbolism; she uses “animal totems, medicinal plants, iridescent gold, and cultural emblems” to subvert anti-blackness and show the beauty that grows through the cracks.
Onyx Akoto
Akoto primarily works with clay plaster to create works like Seraphim “Father” (Rage), which comes from a currently unfinished series inspired by Francis Bacon’s Pope paintings. The piece is effectively terrifying, combining heavy materials with heavy topics. The first thing to catch your eye is the sharp mouth but as you pull back to take in the rest of the work you see the vague impression of a head floating over shoulders. Onyx leaves the interpretation up to the viewer but the audience should pull from their own experiences, religious or otherwise. I don’t want to play favorites but this piece makes a big impact and I would happily hang it in my gothic home.
The Open is a great example of a successful community exhibition, not only because of the high caliber of work but because of the enthusiasm from the community and the museums follow-through. The institution treated artists seriously, gave them a platform and provided real benefits to their artistic careers.
I will be looking out for those lucky artists who had their work accessioned into the collection. In three years the de Young will host a third Open show, we recommend that artists start thinking about it now. The Open exhibit opened Sept 30th and will remain open until January 7th, 2024. Don’t miss it.
T Von D. is a local museum worker and lesbian.
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