I still need to cross a few great museums of San Francisco off of my list, but lately, I have been finding a lot of joy from exploring the small art galleries in the city. This month I went to an opening at Heron Arts. This art gallery seeks to connect and support local contemporary artists and creatives of the Bay Area. Each series is a neat surprise, ranging from several kinds of installations to traditional exhibitions.
The most recent artist to be shown is Augustine Kofie with his series Rotationships. His work for this series relies on the collection of vintage pressboard sheets, from the 50s until the 80s, which were originally used in packaging. He uses them as the main material of the pieces, rearranging and repurposing those into the final artwork. This particular exhibition reminds me of the long nights of our degrees cutting cardboard and balsa wood for our beloved models. But his outcome is neater than my models ever were.
I went to the opening of another artist in the same art gallery in December. Back then it was the series Orchids of Delphi by Casey Curran. His artwork’s highlight is the motion employed by quite simple mechanisms that when rotated translate an organic movement to the choral-shaped pieces made of cut and folded film sheets. Most of the small pieces work by manually rotating the device, which generates an interactive and very hypnotizing experience.
What has been bringing me to this place so often (I will probably come back many times), is the fact that it is so easy to personally approach the curator and the artists and talk about their process and inspiration. Probably both for aiming to the local scene or for being a small gallery – the events feel familiar and approachable. I’m currently looking to find more hidden spots like this in the city, as it has several unique ones. My absolute favorite thing about San Francisco is the intellectual and creative vibrance that is everywhere, and going to small exhibits like these is inspiring for bringing these stimulating minds together.
