40 Fantastic Exhibitions To See This Summer In San Francisco
San Francisco's museums are turning over a number of exhibitions this season. Read on to discover the best current and upcoming exhibitions in the city.
As we enter a new season in San Francisco, many local museums are refreshing and replacing their temporary exhibitions. Now’s a great time to take stock and plan ahead to see some of these wonderful displays before they’re gone.
Miscellaneous exhibitions
1. Gone, Gone Beyond 360° cinema
- May 12-27
- A 360° audiovisual cinema experience seeks to “break the rectangle,” expanding your typical cinema experience through the use of 10 screens and an 8-channel speaker system.
2. VERSE: Art of the Future – Holographic Art Gallery
- Through June 26
- A powerful mixed reality headset allows you to see your surroundings and fellow guests, while cool augmented art comes to life around you.
3. Stranger Things: The Experience
- June 4 – July 31
- Join El and the gang to explore interactive Hawkins hotspots like the palace arcade, Scoops Ahoy, and even the Bayers’ living room.
- Through September 4
- LEGO® artist Nathan Sawaya brings over 70 brilliantly intricate works including colorful animals, recreations of classic paintings, and brand-new never-before-seen sculptures.
SFMOMA
- May 22-29
- A collection of diverse artworks created from common objects, to create works that are greater than the sum of their parts.
6. New Work: Wu Tsang Presents Moved by the Motion
- Through June 5
- Step into an experiential sound installation showcasing minor compositions, spoken word, and more.
- Through June 5
- Architecture firm Rael San Fratello explores possibilities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
8. Venus Envy, Chapter I: The First Holy Communion Moments Before the End
- June 18 – November 6
- Artist Amalia Mesa-Bains presents autobiographical works depicting her childhood experiences with Catholicism.
9. Outward Sight and Inward Vision: Paul Klee and Lee Mullican
- Through June 26
- Explore meditative Modernist works by Paul Klee alongside Lee Mullican’s paintings, which they inspired.
10. Center for Asian American Media: Representing Chinatown
- Through June 30
- A multimedia exhibition works to capture the sights, sounds, and nuances of San Francisco’s Chinatown.
- July 16 – January 6, 2023
- A collection of more than 150 works by Diego Rivera from the 1920s through the 1940s.
- Through July 24
- SFMOMA presents items from its collection of Depression-era artworks, all of which were funded by the US government’s Works Progress Administration (WPA).
13. Constellations: Photographs in Dialogue
- Through August 21
- New additions to SFMOMA’s photography collection complicate and expand upon preexisting narratives.
- Through September 5
- 32 women artists explore the world through abstraction.
- Through September 5
- New expressions of portraiture and identity inspired by technology and scientific research.
- Through December 11
- Four sculptures inspired by natural spectacles test the physiology of perception. Featuring Olafur Eliasson’s popular One-Way Colour Tunnel on the museum’s suspended walkway.
Legion of Honor
- Through September 5
- Widely acclaimed Chinese designer Guo Pei, whom you may know from Rihanna’s famous yellow Met Gala dress, presents an exclusive display of pieces from Beijing and Paris runways.
18. Michelle Erickson: Wild Porcelain
- Through November 20
- Colonial ceramic techniques take on contemporary themes including local environmental issues.
De Young Museum
19. Alice Neel: People Come First
- Through July 10
- The first west coast presentation of radical painter Alice Neel’s work.
20. Hung Liu: Golden Gate (金門)
- Through August 7
- Artist Hung Liu elevates archival photographs by re-painting them in the Socialist Realist style.
21. Nampeyo and the Sikyátki Revival
- Through February 26, 2023
- A showcase of 32 pots by Tewa-Hopi potter Nampeyo, one of the most renowned potters of the American Southwest.
- June 7-12
- The museum’s annual display of floral installations inspired by different artworks, celebrating the summer season.
- June 18 – August 14
- The official portraits of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama, painted by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald.
24. Faith Ringgold: American People
- July 16 – November 27
- Track the evolution of acclaimed artist Faith Ringgold’s figurative style through her exploration of the American experience.
Asian Art Museum
25. Seeing Gender
- Through September 5
- Sixteen museum works explore the themes of gender and sexuality across Asian art.
26. Carlos Villa: Worlds in Collision
- Opening June 17
- A collection of works from local Filipino-American artist Carlos Villa.
Museum of Craft and Design
- Through June 5
- Forty artists and designers explore olfactory design through both practical and aesthetic lenses.
28. The Object in its Place: As Designed by Ted Cohen
- Through June 5
- Exhibition designer Ted Cohen showcases a variety of aesthetic “worlds” through a diverse collection of art pieces.
29. Iris Eichenberg: Where Words Fail
- June 25 – October 30
- A collection of German artist Iris Eichenberg’s contemporary jewelry, metalwork, and more.
30. Robyn Horn: Material Illusions
- June 25 – October 30
- Explore geologic time through Robyn Horn’s sculptures and paintings using wood as a medium.
Museum of the African Diaspora
- Through June 12
- Textile artworks examine labor, industry, slavery, weddings, gender, and more in the African diaspora.
32. Elegies: Still Lifes in Contemporary Art
- Through August 21
- An international group of artists explores the genre of still lifes within a framework of Black diasporic identities.
33. David Huffman: Terra Incognita
- Through September 18
- David Huffman’s Traumanaut series follows futuristic beings in search of home in the galaxy, with influences from the Black Power Movement, cartoons, and more.
- Through September 18
- Artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s multimedia artworks depict dense foliage from Eastern Nigeria in honor of Earth Day.
35. Sam Vernon: Impasse of Desires
- Through September 18
- SF-based artist Sam Vernon’s museum-wide exhibition investigates queerness within a vast network of Black faces and familial structures, using drapes of colorful fabric and a vibrant yet loose constellation of images.
Contemporary Jewish Museum
36.The Jim Hensen Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited
- Through August 14
- Discover Jim Hensen’s work in film and television, from Sesame Street to Labyrinth.
37. Tikkun: For the Cosmos, the Community, and Ourselves
- Through January 8, 2023
- Thirty local artists interpret the Jewish concept of tikkun (Hebrew for “to repair”).
Tenderloin Museum
38. Punk/Performance in the ‘Loin
- Through July 2
- A gallery show explores punk rock and performance in the Tenderloin of the 1980s.
Walt Disney Family Museum
39. Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book: Making a Masterpiece
- June 23 – January 8, 2023
- An exploration of the 1967 classic film The Jungle Book, with over 300 artifacts on display including model sheets, story sketches, concept art, and more.
40. Creative Conservation: The Art of Endangered Animals
- A collection of art created by endangered animal artists, as well as some watercolor wildlife paintings by human artist Andreas Deja. Presented in conjunction with Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book: Making a Masterpiece.
Featured image: “Barack Obama” by Kehinde Wiley and “Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama” by Amy Sherald. Courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Images courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.