collage of human male body parts and a non-human face

Rashaad Newsome. Thirst Trap (detail), 2020. Collage on paper in custom mahogany and resin artist frame with automotive paint, 45 1/4 x 43 11/16 x 4 1/2 in. (114.935 x 110.966 x 11.43 cm). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, a gift from the Svane Family Foundation, 2022.26.24a-b. Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco. Photograph by Randy Dodson

Crafting Radicality: Bay Area Artists from the Svane Gift

This exhibition is the first in a series highlighting contemporary Bay Area artists in our collection. Drawing on personal experiences, history, pop culture, and craft, the 12 featured artists approach art making as acts of resistance. They tell stories that question the traditional lines of art, history, and identity. In one work, National Anthem (2019), Kota Ezawa deconstructs the image of Colin Kaepernick taking a knee into more than 200 individual watercolors. In another, FBI Drawings, Legal Ritual (2021), Sadie Barnette transforms her Black Panther father’s 500-page FBI file into a personalized record of repression and protest. The works on display, exploring themes of reclamation, resilience, subversion, and family, are drawn from the 2022 Svane Family Foundation gift of 42 works by 30 local artists.

Featured artists: Sadie Barnette, Demetri Broxton, Sydney Cain, Woody De Othello (Osher Sculpture Garden), Kota Ezawa, Angela Hennessy, Liz Hernandez, David Huffman, Koak, Rashaad Newsome, Ramekon O’Arwisters, Muzae Sesay

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  • Captures the energy of a local moment.

    Sarah Hotchkiss, KQED

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Crafting Radicality: Bay Area Artists from the Svane Gift is made possible by The Svane Family Foundation.

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Currently on view