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Dozens of fascinating art exhibits in San Francisco are refreshed and replaced every single month. We’re keeping tabs on the best new temporary displays including San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibitions, fine artย at the de Young and the Legion of Honor, and contemporary art exhibits at the Asian Art Museum.
Read on to start planning your next museum visit, and be sure to see our list of free museum days in SF to get the most bang for your buck.
Table Of Contents
SF museum exhibitions opening soon or recently opened
1. Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine)
SFMOMA commissioned artist Kara Walker, known for her work examining the exploitation of race and sexuality, to create this site-specific installation in the Roberts Family Gallery. See Walker’s automatons trapped in ritualistic cycles, enacting the memorialization of trauma in contemporary society. The mechanized sculptures are set in a landscape of black obsidian, which is thought to be healing.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Viewable with general admission tickets to SFMOMA. The opening reception on July 1 is free to the public with a reservation.
๐๏ธ Dates: July 1, 2024 – Spring 2026
๐ Location: SFMOMA, 151 3rd St, San Francisco
2. Neon as Soulcraft
Neon art organization She Bends curates this new exhibition about the art of neon bending and its significance as a manual trade skill. The installation presents works from neon residencies in three different U.S. cities., showcasing perspectives from both teaching artists and student artists in their exploration of neon as a medium.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Neon as Soulcraft is viewable with general admission tickets to the Museum of Craft and Design.
๐๏ธ Dates: July 20 – Nov. 4, 2024
๐ Location: Museum of Craft and Design, 2569 3rd St, San Francisco
3. Leilah Barbirye: We Have a History
Right: Leilah Babirye, “Prince Ggamotoka from the Kuchu Royal Family of Buganda,” 2021. Private Collection. Photo by Cooper Dodds. Courtesy of the artist, Stephen Friedman Gallery.
Ugandan sculptor Leilah Babirye creates emotive and engaging sculptures using wood carvings, ceramics, and found objects. Whether a tiny talisman or a towering totem, the pieces all serve as portraits of Babirye’s LGBTQ+ community. Walk among dozens of eclectic pieces to discover how she represents her cultural and personal identity.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Leilah Babirye: We Have a History is viewable with general admission tickets to the de Young Museum.
๐๏ธ Dates: June 22, 2024 – June 22, 2025
๐ Location: de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
4. Yayoi Kusama: Dreaming of Earthโs Sphericity, I Would Offer My Love
Yayoi Kusamaโs famous immersive mirror rooms came to SFMOMA for a massively popular exhibition that just recently closed. Luckily, if you missed it, a few of Kusama’s artworks remain on display including the popular Dreaming of Earth’s Sphericity, I Would Offer My Love. The piece consists of a large cube containing a mirrored space that you’ll step into. The external light is filtered through colored holes, creating a dynamic, shifting environment among oversized transparent acrylic dots.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Yayoi Kusama: Dreaming of Earth’s Sphericity, I Would Offer My Love is viewable with general admission tickets to SFMOMA.
๐๏ธ Dates: June 22, 2024 – Jan. 20, 2025
๐ Location: SFMOMA, 151 3rd St, San Francisco
5. ExtraOrdinary!
The Exploratorium’s newest exhibition showcases a collection of art pieces made with everyday objects including LEGOยฎ pieces, shoes, and string. See how nine artists transform mundane items into large and small artistic displays; for example, an interactive LED cloud made with a hodgepodge collection of lightbulbs, expressive masks made from women’s shoes, and simple wooden blocks arranged to create gorgeous shadow art.
๐๏ธ Tickets: ExtraOrdinary! is viewable with general admission tickets to the Exploratorium.
๐๏ธ Dates: On view now through Sept. 8, 2024
๐ Location: Exploratorium, Pier 15, San Francisco, CA
6. California: State of Nature
The California Academy of Sciences has debuted a brand-new, permanent exhibition dedicated to the evolution of California’s ecosystems in collaboration with Indigenous advisors. Guests will explore forest, coastal, desert, and city ecosystems through multimedia installations including two augmented reality experiences and several video kiosks.
๐๏ธ Tickets: California: State of Nature is viewable with general admission tickets to the California Academy of Sciences.
๐๏ธ Dates: Just opened
๐Location: California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr, San Francisco
SF museum exhibitions closing soon
7. Irving Penn
The de Young’s newest exhibition features a large breadth of work from photographer Irving Penn. Known for his fashion photography for Vogue, and portraits of some incredibly famous celebrities and creatives, the exhibition is both visually stunning and a walk through history. A major highlight includes photos of San Francisco counter-culture during the infamous Summer of Love.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Irving Penn is viewable with special admission tickets to the de Young Museum.
๐๏ธ Dates: Open now through July 21, 2024
๐Location: de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr,ย San Francisco
8. Phoenix Kingdoms: The Last Splendor of China’s Bronze Age
At the end of China’s Bronze Age, two previously flourishing kingdoms were conquered and buried beneath 2,000 years of imperialism. Recent archeological advances have unveiled remarkable works from the Zen and Chu states, revealing them to be more technologically and artistically advanced than ever imagined. This exhibition takes visitors through Zen and Chu art within the kingdoms’ cultural and spiritual histories.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Phoenix Kingdoms: The Last Splendor of China’s Bronze Age is viewable with special exhibition tickets to the Asian Art Museum.
๐๏ธ Dates: Open now through July 22, 2024
๐ Location: Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St, San Francisco
9. Takashi Murakami
The massively popular Murakami: Monsterized exhibition drew thousands of visitors to the Asian Art Museum last year. Although the official exhibition has ended, the Asian Art Museum still has some of the artist’s most vibrant sculptures and neon works on display in a floor-to-ceiling gallery that’s perfect for selfies.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Takashi Murakami is only viewable with a ticket to the special exhibition Phoenix Kingdoms.
๐๏ธ Dates: On view now through July 22, 2024
๐ Location: Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St, San Francisco
10. RetroBlakesberg: The Music Never Stopped
A collection of photographs from 1978-2008 by local photographer Jay Blakesberg, who documents San Francisco music events and concerts. At RetroBlakesberg, discover how legendary musicians including the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, Neil Young, Soundgarden, Carlos Santana, and more evolved local music culture.
๐๏ธ Tickets: RetroBlakesberg: The Music Never Stopped is viewable with general admission tickets to the Contemporary Jewish Museum.
๐๏ธ Dates: Open now through July 28, 2024
๐ Location: Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission St, San Francisco
More ongoing SF exhibitions
11. Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style
The de Young’s new fashion exhibition takes visitors through the history of women’s fashion in San Francisco, showcasing pieces by over 50 fashion designers drawn from the Fine Art Museumsโ permanent collections. Most of the pieces were donated to FAMSF by prominent Bay Area women over the years, and the exhibition takes you through their stories. FAMSF has also partnered with Snap Inc. to install AR mirrors in the museum, where visitors can “try on” the extravagant evening ensembles.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Fashioning San Francisco requires special exhibition tickets to the de Young Museum.
๐๏ธ Dates: Open now through Aug. 11, 2024
๐ Location: de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
12. Zanele Muholi: Eye Me
South African visual activist Zanele Muholi presents a collection of photography featuring self-portraits and captures of the South African LGBTQ+ community. See work dating back to 2002, as well as more recent pieces in the realms of painting and sculpture, all of which have a throughline of activism.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Zanele Muholi: Eye Meย is viewable with general admission tickets to SFMOMA.
๐๏ธ Dates: Open now through August 11, 2024
๐Location: SFMOMA, 151 3rd St, San Francisco
13. Art of Noise
SFMOMA presents Art of Noise, a multi-sensory exhibition dedicated to the art of music and sound recording over the past century. Some exciting features include a floor-to-ceiling wall of music graphics and album covers featuring SF legends; a journey through the history of sound design, from the phonograph to a wearable haptic suit; and Devon Turnbull’s HiFi 50-person listening room.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Art of Noise is viewable with general admission tickets to SFMOMA.
๐๏ธ Dates: Through Aug. 18, 2024
๐Location: SFMOMA, 151 3rd St, San Francisco
14. Zuan-cho: Kimono Design in Modern Japan
During Japan’s Meiji era (1868-1912), many Japanese artists incorporated newfangled technologies, designs, and Western trends into their work. Traditional kimono design books evolved into print albums called zuan-cho, meaning “design idea books.” The albums were used as style guides and resources for artists, merchants, and patrons throughout Japan, influencing Japanese visual art and textiles in a way we still see today. This exhibition showcases zuan-cho from the Achenbach collection.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Zuan-cho is viewable with general admission tickets to the Legion of Honor.
๐๏ธ Dates: Through Aug. 25, 2024
๐Location: Legion of Honor, 100 34th Ave, San Francisco
15. !!!!!
This stunning exhibition by painter Rachel Jones explores “Black interiority and personhood” through Jones’ large-scale panel paintings made with oil pastels. The exhibition has many inspirations, one of them being cartoons. We highly recommend you make a stop at MoAD to see the captivating paintings for yourself.
๐๏ธ Tickets: !!!!! is viewable with general admission tickets to MoAD.
๐๏ธ Dates: Through Sept. 1, 2024
๐Location: Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission St,ย San Francisco
16. American Beauty: The Osher Collection of American Art
The de Young Museum presents a collection of delightful Impressionist and Realist artworks from the 19th and 20th centuries. Learn about how these historic paintings influenced the spirit of American culture, with standout works including The Angler (1874) by Winslow Homer, Spanish Bric-ร -Brac Shop (1883) by William Merritt Chase, In Virginia (1908) by George Bellows, and Front of Ranchos Church (1930) by Georgia O’Keeffe.
๐๏ธ Tickets: American Beauty: The Osher Collection of American Art is viewable with general admission tickets to the de Young Museum.
๐๏ธ Dates: Through Oct. 20, 2024
๐ Location: de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
17. Ragnar Kjartansson: The Visitors
The Visitorsย features nine large video screens projecting Kjartansson and eight of his friends as they present an intimate musical composition. The result is an hour-long piece in a single take, presented from nine different musical perspectives that are both highly individualized and inextricably linked.
๐๏ธ Tickets: The Visitors is viewable with general admission tickets to SFMOMA.
๐๏ธ Dates: Through Oct. 13, 2024
๐Location: SFMOMA, 151 3rd St, San Francisco
18. Creative Growth: The House That Art Built
Oakland-based nonprofit Creative Growth was the first U.S. organization dedicated to supporting developmentally disabled artists. In celebration of the organization’s 50th anniversary, this new SFMOMA art exhibit presents recent acquisitions from Creative Growth artists, alongside archival material taking guests through the history of the organization.
๐๏ธ Tickets: Creative Growth is viewable with general admission tickets to SFMOMA.
๐๏ธ Dates: Open now through Oct. 6, 2024
๐Location: SFMOMA, 151 3rd St, San Francisco
From enormous immersive works to intimate gallery showcases, these SF art exhibitions and museum installations are worth an afternoon out of the house. Whether you’re hosting guests or want to take yourself on a solo date, there’s always something new to see in San Francisco. Which one will you visit next?