A Running List Of Current And Upcoming Museum Exhibitions In San Francisco

As we enter a new month 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.

Click the exhibition names below to be taken to their descriptions.

Opening soon

• Dec. 17 – 2022 SECA Art Award Exhibition at SFMOMA
• Dec. 17 – Bernd & Hilla Becher at SFMOMA
• Dec. 17 – Lhola Amira: Facing the Future at the de Young Museum
• Dec. 17 – Bookworks: Selected Recent Acquisitions, 2012-2022 at the Legion of Honor
• Dec. 17 – Paperworks: 15 Years of Acquisitions at the Legion of Honor

Closing soon

• Dec. 11 – Contemporary Optics at SFMOMA
• Dec. 11 – Excavation: Past, Present, and Future at Museum of the African Diaspora
• Dec. 31 – VERSE: Art of the Future at the Palace of Fine Arts
• December – Mythic Constructions: Carlos Mérida and Paul Klee at SFMOMA

Palace of Fine Arts

1. VERSE: Art of the Future – Holographic Art Gallery at the Palace of Fine Arts

• Through December 31, 2022
• A powerful mixed reality headset allows you to see your surroundings and fellow guests, while cool augmented art comes to life around you.

SFMOMA

2. Contemporary Optics

• Through December 11, 2022
• 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.

3. Mythic Constructions: Carlos Mérida and Paul Klee

• Through December 2022
• See a dynamic international presentation of abstraction by Guatemalan artist Carlos Mérida and Swiss-born modernist Paul Klee.

4. Bernd & Hilla Becher

• December 17, 2022 – April 2, 2023
• A collection of over 200 photographs and works by German artist couple Bernd and Hilla Becher.

5. 2022 SECA Art Award Exhibition

• December 17, 2022 – May 29, 2023
• Explore the work of award-winning Bay Area artists Binta Ayofemi, Maria A. Guzmán Capron, Cathy Lu, Marcel Pardo Ariza, and Gregory Rick. Each artist fills a different Floor 2 gallery with a site-specific installation.

6. Diego Rivera’s America

• Through January 2, 2023
• A collection of more than 150 works by Diego Rivera from the 1920s through the 1940s.

7. Acción Latina: The ’80s Matter in the Mission

• Through January 9, 2023
• An exploration of art and activism in SF’s Mission District in the 1980s.

8. New Work: Toyin Ojih Odutola

• Through January 22, 2023
• A collection of 21 pastel, charcoal, and graphite compositions focused on skin and surface set in Eko (Nigeria) in 2050.

9. Joan Brown

• Through March 12, 2023 
• An exploration of 80 colorful paintings and sculptures by SF local hero Joan Brown.

10. Sightlines

• Through May 7, 2023
• A new presentation from SFMOMA’s photography archives, through stories and perspectives rather than chronologically.

11. Julian Charrière: Erratic

• Through May 14, 2023
• Explore representations of Arctic and Antarctic landscapes in this solo multimedia exhibition.

12. (a)way station

• Through May 21, 2023
• Artists Paul Kariouk and Mabel O. Wilson present the dilemma of conventional notions of home for migrant families in this sculptural and architectural exhibition.

13. Alexander Calder: Dissonant Harmony 

• Through May 2023
• A collection of whimsical and dynamic mobile sculptures from the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s.

14. Conversation Pieces 

• Through June 25, 2023
• Browse an interesting collection of contemporary furniture pieces that prioritize meaning and materiality over functionality.

15. Ragnar Kjartansson: The Visitors, Again!

• Through January 2, 2024
• The beloved nine-screen video installation The Visitors (2012) will be back at SFMOMA!  Viewers will enjoy an hour-long work presented on nine screens depicting various musicians performing in different rooms of a historic New York mansion.

Get tickets to SFMOMA here.

Legion of Honor

16. Michelle Erickson: Wild Porcelain

• Through April 2, 2023
• Colonial ceramic techniques take on contemporary themes including local environmental issues.

17. Bookworks: Selected Recent Acquisitions, 2012-2022

• December 17, 2022 – April 16, 2023
• A collection of modern artist-illustrated books including 2 works from Pablo Picasso.

18. Paperworks: 15 Years of Acquisitions

• December 17, 2022 – June 25, 2023
• A collection of prints, drawings, photographs, and artists’ books acquired by the museum over the past 15 years.

19. Sargent and Spain

• February 11, 2022 – May 14, 2023
• An exploration of John Singer Sargent’s paintings of Spanish coastlines, churches, palaces, and dancing.

Get tickets to the Legion of Honor here.

de Young Museum

20. Lhola Amira: Facing the Future

• December 17, 2022 – December 3, 2023
• Solo exhibition by Lhola Amira featuring the site-specific spiritual portal Philisa: Zinza Mphefumlo Wami (2022), which guests may enter to cleanse wounds, honor ancestors, and foster connections.

21. Hung Liu: Golden Gate (金門)

• Through January 8, 2022
• Chinese Socialist Realist painter Hung Liu presents reimagined subjects of archival photographs. Exhibition is viewable for free in the de Young’s Wilsey Court.

22. Richard Diebenkorn in Color at Crown Point Press

• Through February 12, 2023
• A chronological presentation of 20 prints by Richard Diebernkorn of Crown Point Press.

23. Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs 

• Through February 12, 2023
• A presentation of artifacts and jewelry from the reign of Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II.

24. Nampeyo and the Sikyátki Revival

Asian Art Museum

28. Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk

• Through January 23, 2023
• Step into an immersive comic book with this animated futurist fantasy by Kongkee.

29. Bearing Witness: Selected Works by Chiura Obata

• Through January 31, 2023
• Japanese artist Chiura Obata’s reactions to catastrophes including the 1906 SF earthquake and forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

30. Into View: Bernice Bing

• Through June 26, 2023
• A collection of 20 paintings and works on paper by San Francisco painter Bernice Bing, the first of an ongoing series of collections in the Asian Art Museum highlighting under-recognized modern artists.

31. Delightful Luxury: The Art of Chinese Lacquer

• Through July 3, 2023
• Highlights from the museum’s collection of Chinese lacquer including furniture, court accessories, luxury items, and scholars’ objects.

32. Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in Art

• Opening March 31, 2023
• Audiences can experience diverse visual artworks and immersive video works centering on Bollywood.

Museum of the African Diaspora

33. Excavation: Past, Present, and Future

• Through December 11, 2022
• Multimedia artist Trina Michelle Robinson explores the relationship between memory, materiality, and migration through photography and film.

34. The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion

• Through March 5, 2023
• A showcase of the work of 15 contemporary Black fashion photographers from around the world.

Museum of Craft and Design

35. Proxistant Vision

• Through March 19, 2023
• An exploration of aerial imaging technologies like drones and satellites.

36. Concrete Journals: Anne Hicks Siberell

• April 8, 2023 – September 3, 2023
• A collection of diaristic collages from the artist’s life dating back to the 1980s.

37. Fight and Flight: Crafting a Bay Area Life

• April 8, 2023 – September 3, 2023
• An examination of the ways local artists and studios stayed afloat during the pandemic.

Contemporary Jewish Museum

38. 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”).

39. Gillian Laub: Family Matters

• Through April 9, 2023
• A collection of photography from Gillian Laub exploring societal questions through family.

Walt Disney Family Museum

40. Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book: Making a Masterpiece

• Through 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.

41. Spirit of the Season: A Community Art Exhibition

• Through March 20, 2023
• A display of holiday-themed artworks submitted by local adults and teens.

42. Chris Miller: Kaleidoscope

• Through March 20, 2023 
• A vibrant exhibition of paintings by Chris Miller, grandson of Walt Disney.