SF Art Events: Week of 11.16.25
THING ONE: Alejandro Cartegena, Ground Rules
November 22, 2025–April 19, 2026
Alejandro Cartagena: Ground Rules is the first major retrospective of the acclaimed photographer, presenting over two decades of his work through an expansive, multi-series exhibition. Born in the Dominican Republic and based in Monterrey, Mexico, Cartagena explores pressing social and environmental issues through a striking range of photographic practices, including documentary images, collage, appropriated vernacular photographs, and AI-generated video. His work captures the complexities of suburban sprawl, the US-Mexico border, and increasing economic inequality. As visually dynamic as they are politically incisive, his photographs prompt viewers to question the systems that shape our world. Though rooted in Mexico, Cartagena’s photographic series speaks to shared global conditions of migration, environmental crisis, and unchecked development, offering a powerful reflection on the broader forces defining life in the 21st century.
Learn more about the artist and exhibition in New Rules for Storytelling: The Photography of Alejandro Cartagena.
LOCATION: SFMOMA, 151 Third St, San Francisco, CA (map)
HOURS: Mon–Tue 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Wed Closed, Thu Noon–8 p.m., Fri–Sun 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
THING TWO: What’s Left, Never Left, a solo exhibition by New Orleans-based artist Auudi Dorsey
AUUDI DORSEY
Last Swim #2, 2025
Acrylic on canvas
16 1/4 x 24 in
Ongoing - December 20, 2025
Jonathan Carver Moore is pleased to present What’s Left, Never Left, a solo exhibition by New Orleans-based artist Auudi Dorsey. The exhibition features a new body of work developed during Dorsey’s six-week residency at the gallery and features his largest works to date. The artist continues his research into the history of African American communities and water, a subject he began exploring in 2022.
Drawing on archival photographs and records, Dorsey highlights the once-vibrant history of leisure spaces central to African American communities—spaces that fostered joy, community, and resilience, yet have largely been erased through systemic neglect, environmental shifts, and redevelopment. Through his research and artistic practice, his paintings reframe these histories to challenge contemporary narratives of distance between African Americans and aquatic life.
Centering the experiences of African women in particular, Dorsey’s work draws attention to the generational loss of swimming knowledge that has contributed to disproportionately high drowning rates within African American communities. Through this work, Dorsey also seeks to restore a sense of confidence, ownership, and belonging in aquatic spaces. What’s Left, Never Left reimagines the cultural relationship between African Americans and water, bridging past and present while offering a vision of reclamation and empowerment.
Auudi Dorsey (b. 1992, New Orleans, LA) is a New Orleans-based painter whose deeply intuitive practice is rooted in the everyday lives and cultural traditions of the American South. Drawing inspiration from the “day-to-day people and circumstances that exist in southern culture,” Dorsey elevates ordinary figures—celebrating ancestral heritage, ritual, and communal joy—through a visual language that bridges past, present, and future Black Southern experiences.
His work centers on narratives often overlooked by mainstream art histories: blue-collar workers, family gatherings, street scenes, and cultural symbols such as white tees, cars, and cigarettes serve as textured markers of identity, remembrance, and belonging. Painting with a controlled palette—often sepia, walnut, or darker tones—Dorsey underscores emotionally rich, familiar atmospheres that draw viewers into intimate, evocative scenes.
LOCATION: Jonathan Carver Moore, 966 Market Street, San Francisco, CA (map)
HOURS: Thursday – Friday: 12 pm to 6 pm, Saturday: 12 pm to 4 pm or by appointment
THING THREE: Altman Siegel Farewell Party
Shinpei Kusanagi
Grow Old, 2025
Acrylic on canvas
23 7/8 x 19 3/4 in
November 20th, 6-8 pm
As Altman Siegel comes to an end, we invite you to join us for our closing celebration. Join us as we gather one last time to celebrate 16 years in the Bay Area art community at our farewell party on November 20, 2025, from 6-8 pm.
Through November 22, we are offering event attendees and gallery visitors complimentary Altman Siegel ephemera and discounted artist publications. Exhibition posters from our original location at 49 Geary Street are available at the gallery on a first-come, first-served basis. Additionally, a selection of books from our artist archive is available at a discounted price of $10 each.
LOCATION: Altman Siegel, 1150 25th St, San Francisco, CA (map)
HOURS: Closing party 6-8 pm
