Cliff Notes
Each week, our regional Cliff Notes columnists Fox Whitney, Alitzah Oros, Melika Sebihi, and Kaya Noteboom pick the most exciting events and exhibitions on the West Coast.
A Soft Place to Land
SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
July 20 to August 25, 2024
I’ve heard conflicting opinions on the ethics of centering joy in times of crisis. Many believe it is critical to engage in self preservation, which often involves play, rest, and a right to take a break from active advocacy. Others believe this approach is indulgent, and that the belief that rest is revolution is simply passivity in disguise. Does having a soft place to land matter during global crises? I’d like to think so.
The crucial nature of care is explored in A Soft Place To Land, a multidisciplinary group exhibition that opened at SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco in July. The exhibition highlights the ways we use community, joy, home, and connection to spirit as means of caring for oneself as we prepare for the upcoming election, withness the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and cope with legislation that continues to threaten vulnerable communities. The exhibition features the work of Lara Aburamadan, Alyssa Aviles, and others. I was especially excited to see Sarah Smith’s work in this show—I admire her tender, sympathetic portrayals of women, often in their domestic spaces.
Reflection: Where is your soft place to land, be it physical or metaphorical?
Rose D’Amato & Jeffrey Sincich: Everybody Knows This Is Someplace
Gallery 16, San Francisco, CA
July 11 to August 31, 2024
There is a particular kind of intimacy in handmade things. I still sleep with a blanket my grandmother crocheted. When I finger the stitches, I feel not only a connection to her, but a devotion that is entwined with craftsmanship.
Everybody Knows This Is Some Place captures a similar feeling.
I first noticed the transparent materiality of Jeffrey Sincich’s quilted fabric pieces. It was a reminder that people literally make things, taking me out of the illusion that everyday objects magically appear before us. We live in a time where technological advancements can bring us almost anything—quickly and easily—giving us little time and incentive to reflect on what it took to create it. These items lack bespoke familiarity, deprived of individuality by the corporate need for consistency. I’m grateful that I was taken out of this capitalistic mirage!
D’Amato’s work had a comparable effect on me—her paintings are a nod to hand-crafted methods of production informed by a family history of sign making and possess that same inimitable warmth. While asserting that hand-lettering is alive and well through the very existence of her work, she also honors the past by alluding to legacy businesses in San Francisco. These references build a point of convergence of viewers, reminding us of the people and places that make up our lives. It’s in this way that her work is no longer about the craft itself, but rather, devoting oneself to the communities and cultures that define us.
Reflection: What is your relationship to craftsmanship?
Introductions 2024
Root Division, San Francisco, CA
August 14 to September 21, 2024
In the 18th iteration of their Introductions exhibition series, Root Division centers up and coming Bay Area artists whose work contains throughlines of memory, identity, and place.
Introductions is a microcosm of Root Division’s values: community empowerment, supporting emerging artists, and a love for the Bay Area. I am embarrassed to say that I still have not been in their lauded gallery space, but I have heard their lore and I’m super excited to check out this particular exhibition. The roster consists of twelve skillful artists who work with a diverse array of mediums and subject matter. Shamelessly, I want to invite you to chew on the work of my close friend Sophia Ramirez, who investigates third spaces as crucial places of care and the historically fluid nature of queer identity in her playful yet poignant photographic installations.
Reflection: If you could acquaint your community with any group of artists, who would be on the lineup? How do you hope it would impact them?