Artwise this fall, galleries are the name of the game when it comes to adventure and the unusual. The mini-survey that follows is a glimpse of what's to come.
Variety, not quantity, is the watchword for the fall season at Bay Area art museums, and thankfully, there's not a blockbuster in sight. Here are some pathways to cultural enrichment in the coming months.
For the last four years the California Academy of Sciences has been hosting an annual Natural World Photography Competition and displaying the winners and finalists in their "BigPicture" show, where each color photograph is more spectacular than the next.
For years our main experience with Burning Man was that then-B.A.R. art director Adrian Roberts took off from SF for the duration of the event, sometimes along with our whole production department.
Sophie Calle's bravado, voyeurism, and penchant for violating boundaries and standards of appropriateness have brought celebrity and notoriety to a 40-year career.
There's a lot to love in the Legion of Honor's "Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade," a light-hearted new summer show that connects stylish hats with hat-wearing subjects in paintings of the same era.
"The camera cannot compete with painting as long as it cannot be used in heaven or hell," opined Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, who invites us into his tormented psyche.
"Celebrate Community!," an amorphous though undeniably well-intentioned LGBTQ Pride show that opened last weekend at the Harvey Milk Photo Center, aims to embrace humanity in its many permutations.
Hallelujah, and better late than never, are among the responses one may have to "Revelations: Art from the African American South," a truly outstanding, long overdue exhibition at the de Young Museum.
"Tiny Bubbles," a phrase that prompts associations with old Lawrence Welk reruns or memories of wobbly champagne toasts, is actually the title of a new group show at the San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries (SFAC).