SF Art Events: Week of 10.19.25
THING ONE: Jim Melchert: Where The Boundaries Are
This fall, the esteemed career of Jim Melchert (1932-2023) will be the focus of a long-overdue survey exhibition and first-ever monograph of one of America’s great artists. Melchert challenged ceramic traditions of expression, form, and function and helped elevate the medium’s acceptance into mainstream contemporary sculpture. He is often described as ‘the great philosopher of the post-war craft movement.’ The exhibition, curated by Griff Williams, presents over 60 artworks spanning six decades of Melchert’s esteemed and influential career. Beginning with his involvement with the California Funk movement, groundbreaking 1970s performances and work in conceptual art, the exhibition also showcases many of the thrilling broken tile works that preoccupied the artist at the end of his long career.
Embedded in his late tile artwork, we see a philosophical concept that when something is broken, it can be repaired to become stronger and more beautiful. We see in Melchert’s tile work a metaphor for life. What lies behind these broken shards in Melchert’s mesmerizing works is something remarkable: Optimism. Nothing is beyond repair. These remarkable works are born from the belief that we have the power to bring positive change from our misfortune and contribute to the depth of our shared story.
Melchert was a seminal figure in a community of California artists who elevated the field of ceramics to a contemporary artform in the 1960s. Along with his friends Pete Voulkos, Robert Arneson, Ruth Asawa, Joan Brown, Bruce Conner, Mildred Howard, Roy De Forest, and Bruce Nauman, he became a landmark figure in American art.
He was well known for his experimentation and his encouragement of that in others. While championing the new with particular emphasis on conceptualism and clay, he also set standards of integrity and grace among artists. He cast a remarkably long shadow of grace and influence. Jim has left behind an inspiring legacy of kindness, curiosity, compassion and a lifetime of uplifting the agency of others.
LOCATION: di Rosa, 1150 25th Street, San Francisco, CA (map)
HOURS: Tuesday – Saturday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
THING TWO: Shinpei Kusanagi: It is not far to the sea
Shinpei Kusanagi, Grow Old, 2025
October 17 - November 15, 2025
Altman Siegel is pleased to present It is not far to the sea, an exhibition of new paintings by Shinpei Kusanagi. This will be the final exhibition at Altman Siegel before the gallery closes.
Shinpei Kusanagi’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; SHOP Taka Ishii Gallery, Hong Kong, China; Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Gallery Sora, Tokyo, Japan; Bankart Studio, Yokohama, Japan; Makii Masaru Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan; and Janjanble, Tokyo, Japan. Group exhibitions include Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan; Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan; Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan; Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago, IL; Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan; and Palace Pocia, Vienna, Austria, among others. The artist’s work can be found in the collections of the LOEWE Foundation; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan; The Rachofsky Collection, Dallas, TX; and the UBS Art Collection, London, UK.
LOCATION: Altman Siegel, 1150 25th Street, San Francisco, CA (map)
HOURS: Tues–Fri 10am–6pm, Sat 11am-5pm
THING THREE: Root Division Annual Benefit + Auction
October 23: HOST 6 PM | VIP 6:30 PM | EVENT 7-10 PM
Arleene Correa Valencia
April 8, 2024, 2024
Textiles on Linen
17.5 x 17.5 in. (framed)
Gallery Partner: Catharine Clark Gallery
Collect art, support arts education, and be inspired by artists at Root Division’s largest annual fundraising event!
We are proud to feature an eclectic mix of high-quality artwork from over 160 established and emerging Bay Area artists, including plenty of shining and rising stars! The artwork is on display at Root Division’s gallery. All artwork is available for online bidding. Our Main Event will feature both a silent and a live auction (led by esteemed Bonhams Auctioneer Aaron Bastian). Check out the options to join the fun and #SupportRD below!
Proceeds directly support local artists, free art classes for Bay Area youth, and the continued success of Root Division’s unique model for keeping artists working at the heart of San Francisco.
Purchase tickets here
Preview auction
LOCATION: Root Division, 1131 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA (map)
HOURS: Wednesday, October 23: HOST 6 PM | VIP 6:30 PM | EVENT 7-10 PM
