We think of art as a solitary exercise, but with group shows, everyone, including the participants, may feel a sense of community.
The de Young Open amplifies that feeling to the Nth degree. Walking into the museum’s vast exhibition spaces, you’re immediately gob-smacked by the quality of this enormous exhibition featuring (primarily) painting, mixed media and photography by 800+ San Francisco Bay Area artists.
The curators opted for a salon-style presentation, placing work in multiple rows that run higher and lower than eye level. I met several local artists — painters, photographers, and mixed media artists — who shared my joy at participating in this large-scale community event.
I also felt a strong sense of community with another exhibition — one that I helped produce on behalf of my photography group, the Bay Area Photographers Collective (BAPC). Curated by Emmanuelle Namont, Uncanny Beauty opened mid-September and runs through October 21st at San Francisco’s Harvey Milk Photo Center—a hub of the San Francisco photography community and a great gallery venue.
It’s gratifying to know that the art you conceive of as an individual can also assume an engaging group or community persona. As my favorite hoops coach is fond of saying, there’s strength in numbers.