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CARRIE MAE WEEMS, The Legion of Honor," 2006-present

Must-See Shows in San Francisco: Consuelo Kanaga, Carrie Mae Weems, and More

Join us on a tour of the most captivating shows currently on view in San Francisco. Discover the ways in which artists like Consuelo Kanaga, Carrie Mae Weems, Claire Oswalt, Janet Jacobs, and Meghann Riepenhoff have explored themes of creation, connection, and collision throughout time.

On the effervescent occasion of San Francisco Art Week, Whitewall shines light on must-see presentations from premier art spaces in the city, including Eleanor Harwood Gallery, SFMOMA, Altman Siegel, Rebecca Camacho, Fraenkel Gallery, and more.

“Julie Buffalohead: The Wisdom of Wild Things”

Jessica Silverman

Chinatown

Julie Buffalohead, Julie Buffalohead, “Wind Woman,” 2024, Oil on canvas, 24 1/2 x 44 1/2 inches / 62.2 x 113 cm; Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco. Photo by Rik Sferra.

St. Paul-based artist Julie Buffalohead celebrates her second solo show at Jessica Silverman with “The Wisdom of Wild Things,” currently on view through February 22. The inspiring artist is a member of the Ponca tribe of Oklahoma, and deeply honors Native American traditions of folklore in her expressive and colorful works. Narratives centering on the magic of creation and the flow of relationships in nature are placed at the heart of Buffalohead’s transcendent artworks. 

Why we love it: Through a perceptive use of earthy reds and greens, pieces such as Wind Woman (2024) spark a compelling dialogue between the metamorphosis of the human body and the ever-evolving environment. 

Julie Buffalohead at Jessica Silverman
January 9 – February 22, 2025

“Consuelo Kanaga: Catch the Spirit”

SFMOMA

SoMa (South of Market)

Consuelo Kanaga, Consuelo Kanaga, “Untitled,” 1936; collection Brooklyn Museum, gift of Wallace B. Putnam from the Estate of Consuelo Kanaga; © Brooklyn Museum; photo: courtesy Brooklyn Museum.
Consuelo Kanaga, Consuelo Kanaga, “Angelo Herndon,” 1936; collection Brooklyn Museum, gift of Wallace B. Putnam from the Estate of Consuelo Kanaga; © Brooklyn Museum; photo: courtesy Brooklyn Museum.

Currently on view at the esteemed San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a momentous west coast retrospective of artist Consuelo Delesseps Kanaga (1894–1978). Through February 9, visitors will have the opportunity to explore a parade of riveting photographs by the pioneering creative who used her inherent talent to convey rich human emotion and to give voice to silenced communities. The inaugural retrospective of Kanaga’s work took place at the Brooklyn Museum in 1993, drawing from a magnificent archive of 340 prints and 2,000 negatives. 

Why we love it: Organized here by the Brooklyn Museum alongside Fundación MAPFRE and SFMOMA, each artwork unearths the beauty and the hardships closely witnessed throughout Kanaga’s life. 

Consuelo Kanaga at SFMOMA
September 28, 2024 – February 9, 2025

Hiba Kalache: “Embodiment”

Altman Siegel

Dogpatch

Installation view of Hiba Kalache: “Embodiment” at Altman Siegel Installation view of Hiba Kalache: “Embodiment” at Altman Siegel; Courtesy of the artist and Altman Siegel, San Francisco.

Artist Hiba Kalache offers a new series of spellbinding paintings at Altman Siegel this winter in a kaleidoscopic show titled “Embodiment.” On display through February 1, fantastical, abstract works conjure the energy of Kalīla wa-Dimna, an iconic, 13th-century book of fables. In a poetic echoing of the collection’s many translations, Siegel utilizes her own creative language to bring the compelling animal characters, mythological stories, and ancient insights to new life. 

Why we love it: The artist infuses gestures of crocheting and cooking, imparted to her by female relatives, into a masterly layering of water, oil, and ink in spirited works. 

Hiba Kalache at Altman Siegel
January 16 – February 1, 2025

Claire Oswalt: “Moon Math”

Rebecca Camacho

Financial District

Claire Oswalt, Claire Oswalt, “Puddle,” 2024, Acrylic on sewn canvas, 55 x 67 inches, 139.7 x 170.2 cm; Courtesy of the artist and Rebecca Camacho, San Francisco.

For artist Claire Oswalt’s third presentation with Rebecca Camacho, the exploratory artist raises the curtain on a suite of fresh paintings and vivid investigations. “Moon Math” dives deeply into the shimmering realms of science and metaphysics, meditating the ways in which we understand and connect to our beautifully mysterious world. Commencing with sketches of acrylic paint on paper, Oswalt moves through phases of cutting, tearing, and reconfiguring in order to produce her blissful collages. 

Why we love it: Invigorated by Mother Nature’s bounty as well as music, literature, and quantum physics, works such as Slipstone (2024), Prelude in Green (2024), and Altissimo in Blue (2024) submerge the viewer in undulating states of melancholy and serenity.

Claire Oswalt at Rebecca Camacho
January 9 – February 22, 2025

“Spotlight: Kathleen Ryan”

ICA SF

Financial District

Installation view of “Spotlight: Kathleen Ryan” at ICA SF Installation view of “Spotlight: Kathleen Ryan” at ICA SF; Courtesy of the artist and The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco.

The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (ICA SF) debuts “Spotlight: Kathleen Ryan” at its new, must-see Downtown art space: The Cube. The fruits of Ryan’s awe-inspiring creative process are on full display with her latest exhibition, showcasing larger-than-life sculptures which voyage through the opulence and deterioration of American consumerism. From a starting point of holiday kitsch and the whimsical quality of fruit ornaments, the visionary amplifies these visions in a merging of materials and meanings. 

Why we love it: Within her studio, Ryan meticulously studies the decaying of fresh fruit, reflecting these sculptural changes by way of gems, pearls, mass-produced beads, and more as a dialogue on “rotting excess.” 

Kathleen Ryan at ICA SF
October 25, 2024 – March 16, 2025

Janet Jacobs: “Into the Light”

Eleanor Harwood Gallery

Central Waterfront

Installation view of Installation view of “Into The Light” a solo exhibition by Janet Jacobs; Courtesy of the artist and Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco.

Soulful artist Janet Jacobs brings us “Into the Light” with her latest solo exhibition at Eleanor Harwood Gallery. A great deal of the artworks in this presentation were initially shown in 2020 at Gallery Commonweal in Bolinas, CA. However, due to the COVID lockdown, the lustrous pieces were little seen. Here, Eleanor Harwood Gallery stunning displays the pieces which call for our utmost attention in their heavenly expedition into nature’s majesty. 

Why we love it: Grounded in the literal and metaphorical elements of the landscape at hand, Jacobs summons viewers into universal “clearings” of tranquility and rehabilitation. 

Janet Jacobs at Eleanor Harwood Gallery
January 11 – February 22, 2025

Meghann Riepenhoff: “State Shift”

Haines Gallery

Fort Mason

MEGHANN RIEPENHOFF, MEGHANN RIEPENHOFF, “Day 235: Waters of Oceania: FEMA -4724-DR (Ecological Succession Day Three Hundred Seventy-Two, Maui, HI),” 2024, Unique Dynamic Cyanotype, 42 x 66 inches; Courtesy of the artist and Haines Gallery, San Francisco.

The skillful Meghann Riepenhoff’s second show at Haines Gallery unearths enthralling and deeply felt cyanotypes. Developed within the environment itself, where nature’s elements bestow their singular markings, Riepenhoff’s latest pieces debut revitalized colorways and movements. Her trademark blue hues evolve here into sparkling metallic, coral, green, and magenta, the result of both human-made materials and the rawness of ginkgo chlorophyll and mushroom ink. 

Why we love it: Discover the tones and textures of the natural world in each of the artist’s masterpieces, from the bloom of roots beneath the earth and algae below the sea, to the lavish cascading of streams and rivers.

Meghann Riepenhoff at Haines Gallery
January 22 – March 15, 2025

Rafael Triboli

Anthony Meier

Mill Valley

Rafael Triboli, chair 04, 2024, Rafael Triboli, chair 04, 2024, Brazilian mahogany, bronze and Carnauba wax, 36 x 15 1/2 x 17 3/8 inches, 91.5 x 39.5 x 44 cm, Edition of 12 with 2 APs; Courtesy of the artist and Anthony Meier.
Rafael Triboli, folding screen, 2024 Rafael Triboli, folding screen, 2024, Mahogany, oil painting, bronze and Carnauba wax, Overall Dimensions: 74 3/4 x 66 7/8 x 15 3/4 inches, 190 x 170 x 40 cm, Each Panel: 74 3/4 x 15 x 1 5/8 inches, 190 x 38 x 4 cm, Edition of 12 with 2 APs; Courtesy of the artist and Anthony Meier.

Prestigious Brazilian artist and designer Rafael Triboli offers an enchanting solo exhibition of one-of-a-kind treasures for the home at Anthony Meier. In enthusiastic partnership with Mexico City-based collectible design gallery AGO Projects, the artist’s inaugural solo presentation in the United States brings together beauty and functionality through profound craftsmanship. Be prepared to embark upon the splendor of patterned folding screens and sculptural chairs of Brazilian mahogany and dazzling geometric carvings. 

Why we love it: Within the show, Triboli’s graceful works are placed into conversation with deftly curated artworks by luminaries Josef Albers, JB Blunk, Donald Judd, and Agnes Martin

Rafael Triboli at Anthony Meier
January 21 – February 14, 2025

Carrie Mae Weems

Fraenkel Gallery

Union Square

CARRIE MAE WEEMS, The Legion of Honor, CARRIE MAE WEEMS, The Legion of Honor,” 2006-present, pigment print, 50-1/8 x 50-1/4 inches , (image), © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.

At Fraenkel Gallery, a far-reaching presentation of celebrated artist Carrie Mae Weems debuts intriguing new explorations as well as iconic pieces drawn from her illustrious, 40-year career. Advancing a meditation on themes of identity, power, and history, Weems unveils two fresh photographs of her evolving Museum Series. These works take a closer look at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, collaged with other works derived from this endeavor. You won’t want to miss the artist in conversation with San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Director Christopher Bedford on January 25 at FOG: Design+Art

Why we love it: Vivid Painting the Town photographs capture a haunting Portland, Oregon after the murder of George Floyd, placed in dialogue with works illuminating the 1960s Civil Rights Protest. 

Carrie Mae Weems at Fraenkel Gallery
January 9 – February 22, 2025

READ THIS NEXT

A wealth of dynamic exhibitions descend upon Los Angeles this fall, from Tahnee Lonsdale’s to Alice Neel at galleries around the city.
On view at Gagosian is “Iconic Avedon: A Centennial Celebration of Richard Avedon” (January 22-March 4) connecting the artist to Paris.

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