Cliff Notes
Each week, our regional Cliff Notes columnists Jaydra Johnson, Brittney Frantece, Blessing Greer Mathurin, and Quintessa Matranga pick the most exciting events and exhibitions on the West Coast.
Charlie Tweedle: Better than Normal!
Et al., San Francisco, CA
June 6 – July 12, 2025
This show ignited some controversy across my two active group chats, but I have no complaints. The sculptures are good. One, the height of a tall bird cage adorned with animal skins, laced with poufs of fur, serving up a platter of small bones preserved in a smoke-tinted acrylic domed display case, stuck with me. It hits a lot of the same notes George Kuchar’s films do. Glamorous, rugged, sci-fi, low-fi, oracle.
The short texts, handwritten notes in vitrines and framed around the room remind me of Gene Beery, another artist I love who has had some recent Bay resurgence. “I enjoy my mind.”
This artist, I learned, was an extremely famous cowboy hat-maker and dental technician. The latter is a career I also considered for myself. In the Bay Area we have two outwardly recognizable modes, mission school and burnt out west coast cosmic hippie. One has a monetary incentive and the other has the mystique of something damn near made up.
Reflection: What would you put on a cowboy hat?
Isaac Julien: I Dream a World
de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
April 12 – July 13, 2025
I was reluctant to go to this show because I heard it would take at least 4.5 hours to view. I’m typically impatient, and video exhausts me, but I loved this show. I watched two films fully – and plan to go back to watch the rest. Lessons of the Hour (2019), a constellation of video screens hanging in various sizes, each playing a piece of a film loosely chronicling the life of Fredrick Douglas via actors, was my favorite. The period details were not only convincing but completely aesthetically pleasing, like 19th century candy. The narrative is played out in notes across the screens like keys on a piano, individually they do something, but together it’s music. He should make a feature.
Reflection: What first edition book would you want a copy of most?