SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

EXHIBITIONSA KEY OBJECTIVE OF SFMOMA'S MISSION IS TO PRESENT EXHIBITIONS THAT EXPLORE WORKS BY LEADING MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS AND THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ARTISTIC DIRECTIONS OF OUR TIME, IN THE CONTEXT OF AN ACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ART COMMUNITIES. THE MUSEUM SEEKS A BALANCED EXHIBITION PROGRAM THAT INCLUDES MONOGRAPHIC AND THEMATIC EXHIBITIONS OF BROAD APPEAL AS WELL AS THOSE THAT REFLECT SFMOMA'S DISTINCTIVE CURATORIAL VOICE IN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE, PHOTOGRAPHY, MEDIA ARTS, ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN, AND CONTEMPORARY ART. THE EXHIBITIONS PROGRAM INCLUDES TWENTY-FIVE TO THIRTY PRESENTATIONS ANNUALLY, OF WHICH APPROXIMATELY 75 PERCENT ARE ORGANIZED BY SFMOMA AND APPROXIMATELY 25 PERCENT ARE TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS ORGANIZED BY OTHER INSTITUTIONS.SFMOMA HOLDS AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED COLLECTION OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART, AND WAS THE FIRST MUSEUM ON THE WEST COAST DEVOTED SOLELY TO 20TH-CENTURY ART. THE MUSEUM'S CURRENT COLLECTION INCLUDES OVER 51,000 WORKS OF PAINTING, SCULPTURE, PHOTOGRAPHY, ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN, MEDIA, AND CONTEMPORARY ART. THEY ARE DISPLAYED IN 170,000 SQUARE FEET OF EXHIBITION SPACE, MAKING THE MUSEUM ONE OF THE LARGEST IN THE UNITED STATES OVERALL, AND ONE OF THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD FOR MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART. RECENT EXHIBITIONS ORGANIZED BY SFMOMA INCLUDE:SHIFTING THE SILENCE; SPECULATIVE PORTRAITS; SUSAN PHILIPSZ: SONGS SUNG IN THE FIRST PERSON ON THEMES OF LONGING, SYMPATHY AND RELEASE; JULIAN CHARRIERE: ERRATIC; JOAN BROWN (TRAVELING TO CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART AND ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART); FRANK BOWLING: THE NEW YORK YEARS 1966-1975 (CO-ORGANIZED WITH MFA BOSTON); GERMAN ART AFTER 1960; CONVERSATION PIECES: CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE IN DIALOGUE; RAGNAR KJARTANSSON: THE VISITORS; BAY AREA WALLS: TWIN WALLS MURAL COMPANY; CONTEMPORARY OPTICS: OLAFUR ELIASSON, TERESITA FERNANDEZ, AND ANISH KAPOOR; AFTERIMAGES: ECHOES OF THE 1960S FROM THE FISHER AND SFMOMA COLLECTIONS; BAY AREA WALLS: SADIE BARNETTE; CORPOREAL; FREEFORM: EXPERIENCING ABSTRACTION; DIEGO RIVERA'S AMERICA (CO-ORGANIZED WITH CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART); MATTHEW BARNEY, DRAWING RESTRAINT, 14; NEW WORK: TOYIN OJIH ODUTOLA; NEW WORK: ANNA SEW HOY; SADIE BARNETTE: THE NEW EAGLE CREEK SALOON; BAY AREA WALLS: LIZ HERNANDEZ; ALEXANDER CALDER: DISSONANT HARMONY; CONSTELLATIONS: PHOTOGRAPHS IN DIALOGUE; (A)WAY STATION: PAUL KARIOUK AND MABEL O. WILSON; SIGHTLINES; BERND & HILLA BECHER (ORGANIZED BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART); KINSHIP: PHOTOGRAPHY AND CONNECTION; BAY AREAS WALLS: EMORY DOUGLAS; A LIVING FOR US ALL: ARTISTS AND THE WPA; BAY AREA WALLS: MICHAEL JANG; AMALIA MESA-BAINS: VENUS ENVY I; AMALIA MESA-BAINS: MADRINAS Y HERMANAS (GODMOTHERS AND SISTERS); MYTHIC CONSTRUCTIONS: CARLOS MERIDA AND PAUL KLEE; 2022 SECA ART AWARD; KLEE + BSS: PAUL KLEE AND BARBARA STAUFFACHER SOLOMON; SOL LEWITT LOOPY DOOPY; PAN AMERICAN UNITY: A MURAL BY DIEGO RIVERA; JULIE MEHRETU: HOWL, EON (I,II); WU TSANG: OF WHALES; JANET CARDIFF: THE TELEPHONE; AS WELL AS OPEN ENDED AND FISHER COLLECTION PRESENTATIONS.SFMOMA'S EXHIBITIONS TOUR WIDELY AND HAVE BEEN PRESENTED NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY AT SUCH VENUES AS THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART, MUSEE D'ART CONTEMPORAIN DE MONTREAL, FONDATION LOUIS VUITTON, AND THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON.

COLLECTIONS AND PURCHASE OF ARTONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS OF A MUSEUM IS TO DEVELOP, CARE FOR, AND MAKE ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC AN OUTSTANDING COLLECTION OF WORKS OF ART, THEREBY CREATING AND OFFERING AN ARTISTIC LEGACY TO THE COMMUNITY, NATION, AND THE WORLD. SINCE 1935, SFMOMA HAS BEEN A PIONEER AMONG MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUMS IN COLLECTING AND PUBLIC PROGRAMMING IN THE FIELDS OF PHOTOGRAPHY, ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN, INSTALLATION, AND NEW MEDIA, EVEN AS IT HAS ASSEMBLED PREMIER HOLDINGS IN THE MORE TRADITIONAL MEDIA OF DRAWING, PAINTING, AND SCULPTURE. SFMOMA'S ART COLLECTION IS REGIONAL, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL IN SCOPE, AND BEGINS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY, WHICH ENCOMPASSES THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THAT MEDIUM (1839 TO THE PRESENT). THE MUSEUM HAS MORE THAN 51,000 WORKS OF ART IN ITS COLLECTION, REFLECTING THE COLLECTING STRATEGIES OF THE MUSEUM'S CURATORIAL DEPARTMENTS AND THE RESEARCH LIBRARY.DEPARTMENT OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURETHE COLLECTION OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURE FORMS THE BACKBONE OF SFMOMA'S PERMANENT COLLECTION AND REPRESENTS THE FULL LEGACY OF THE MUSEUM'S ACTIVITIES. ALTHOUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURE WAS FORMALLY ESTABLISHED IN THE MID-1980S, SFMOMA HAS BEEN ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THE ACQUISITION, RESEARCH, PRESENTATION, AND INTERPRETATION OF A DIVERSE RANGE OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY WORKS SINCE THE MUSEUM'S FOUNDING IN 1935. THE COLLECTION IS DISTINGUISHED BY ITS CONCENTRATIONS IN FAUVISM, GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM, SURREALISM, LATIN AMERICAN ART, ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM, POP ART, POSTMINIMALISM, GERMAN PAINTING, ART FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, AND MAJOR LARGE-SCALE INSTALLATIONS FROM ARTISTS WORKING IN THE 1990S AND THROUGH TO THE PRESENT. WHILE THESE MASTERWORKS FORM THE FOUNDATION OF THE COLLECTION AND THE MUSEUM CONTINUES TO ADDRESS HISTORIC GAPS, THE MUSEUM IS ACTIVELY BUILDING A PREEMINENT COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY PAINTING AND SCULPTURE. THE DEPARTMENT FOCUSES ITS CURRENT COLLECTING PRACTICES TOWARD ACQUIRING THE MASTERWORKS OF TOMORROW, FOLLOWING MID-CAREER AND EMERGING ARTISTS WHO ARE WORKING AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF ARTISTIC MATURITY, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE BROAD DIVERSIFICATION OF OUR HOLDINGS.DEPARTMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHYSFMOMA WAS AMONG THE FIRST AMERICAN ART MUSEUMS TO RECOGNIZE PHOTOGRAPHY AS AN ART FORM. THE MUSEUM HAS BEEN DEDICATED TO THE ACQUISITION, RESEARCH, PRESENTATION, AND INTERPRETATION OF PHOTOGRAPHS FOR MORE THAN SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS, MAKING SFMOMA'S HOLDINGS ONE OF THE OLDEST COLLECTIONS OF PHOTOGRAPHY AMONG ART MUSEUMS NATIONWIDE. THE PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION IS ALSO THE MUSEUM'S LARGEST COLLECTION. THE MUSEUM'S COLLECTION IS PARTICULARLY WELL-REGARDED FOR ITS PHOTOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA AND THE WEST, THE EUROPEAN AVANT-GARDE, AND AMERICAN MODERNISM. OTHER AREAS OF STRENGTH INCLUDE JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHY, VERNACULAR PHOTOGRAPHY, LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY, AND A GROWING CONTEMPORARY COLLECTION. THE SFMOMA PRITZKER CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY IS THE LARGEST PERMANENT SPACE DEVOTED TO PHOTOGRAPHY IN A MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM.DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGNTHROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY SFMOMA HAS BEEN AN ACTIVE FORUM FOR EXAMINING FORMAL AND CONCEPTUAL ISSUES IN THE FIELDS OF DESIGN. THE MUSEUM PRESENTED ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN EXHIBITIONS REGULARLY BEFORE AN OFFICIAL CURATORIAL DEPARTMENT WAS FOUNDED IN 1983. FIVE YEARS LATER, THE MUSEUM BEGAN COLLECTING WORKS OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY DESIGN; TO DATE, THERE ARE OVER 7,000 WORKS OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN. AS THE FIRST A+D COLLECTION ON THE WEST COAST, SFMOMA IS NOW RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE FOREMOST MUSEUMS INVESTED IN COLLECTING, CONSERVING AND EXHIBITING WORKS OF ARCHITECTURE, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, FURNITURE DESIGN, PRODUCT DESIGN, AND GRAPHIC DESIGN. THE COLLECTION IS INTERNATIONAL IN SCOPE WHILE REFLECTING THE DISTINCTIVE CHARACTER OF CALIFORNIA. OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, THE MUSEUM HAS BUILT SIGNIFICANT HOLDINGS IN CONTEMPORARY VISIONARY ARCHITECTURE, BAY AREA DESIGN, POLITICAL POSTERS, AND PRODUCT DESIGN WITH DIGITAL INTERFACE. THE DEPARTMENT AIMS TO AFFECT POSITIVE CULTURAL CHANGE, ENCOURAGE IMAGINATION AND CRITICAL THINKING, AND PRESENT AN EXPANSIVE VIEW OF DESIGN. THE DEPARTMENT IS DEDICATED TO INCREASING VISIBILITY OF WORKS BY DESIGNERS OF COLOR, FOSTERING DIALOGUE ABOUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND OBJECTS IN IT AND AMPLIFYING TOPICS THAT ADDRESS THE UNREALIZED POTENTIAL OF A MORE INCLUSIVE SOCIETY AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT. DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA ARTSTHE SFMOMA DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA ARTS, ESTABLISHED IN 1988, WAS AMONG THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE UNITED STATES. MEDIA ARTS ORGANIZES EXHIBITIONS, PUBLICATIONS, AND SELECT EVENTS, AND PARTICIPATES IN RELATED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS. THE MEDIA ARTS COLLECTION ENCOMPASSES THE DIVERSITY OF TIME-BASED MEDIA WORKS AND INSTALLATIONS, INCLUDING VIDEO, FILM, SLIDE, SOUND, COMPUTER-BASED, ONLINE PROJECTS AND PERFORMANCES. REFLECTING THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGICAL AND CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENTS IN ART SINCE THE 1960S, THE MEDIA ARTS COLLECTION AND EXHIBITION PROGRAM FEATURES LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS. BAY AREA ARTISTS ARE ONE ONGOING FOCUS OF THE COLLECTION AND PROVIDE A CONTEXT FOR UNDERSTANDING THE REGION AS A HISTORIC CENTER FOR EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA. DEPARTMENT OF CONTEMPORARY ART THE DEPARTMENT OF CONTEMPORARY ART IS THE NEWEST COLLECTING AREA AT SFMOMA, ESTABLISHED IN 2017 TO DEEPEN SFMOMA'S COMMITMENT TO EXHIBIT AND COLLECT THE ART OF OUR TIME. THE DEPARTMENT ORGANIZES TEMPORARY, TRAVELING, AND PERMANENT COLLECTION EXHIBITIONS; PERFORMANCES; AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS INCLUDING SCREENINGS AND SYMPOSIA. IT ALSO DIRECTS THE NEW WORK EXHIBITION SERIES FEATURING COMMISSIONED WORK BY LIVING ARTISTS. THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ACCESSIONS COMMITTEE (ICAC) IS THE NEWEST ACQUISITIONS COMMITTEE AT SFMOMA, DEDICATED TO CONTEMPORARY ART BY PRACTITIONERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD WHOSE WORKS REFLECT KEY ISSUES, MODALITIES, AND FORMAL CONCERNS OF OUR TIMES. THE ICAC COLLECTS ACROSS DISCIPLINES AND WELCOMES CO-ACQUISITIONS WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND INSTITUTIONS. SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2018, THE ICAC HAS ACQUIRED OVER ONE HUNDRED FIFTY WORKS IN DIVERSE MEDIA RANGING FROM INSTALLATION, VIDEO, PHOTOGRAPHY, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTING BY ARTISTS BASED IN THE UNITED STATES, MEXICO, BRAZIL, VIETNAM, LEBANON, KOREA, AND ELSEWHERE. SIGNIFICANT RESEARCH AND ACQUISITIONS, INCLUDING WORKS BY ARTISTS NOT PREVIOUSLY REPRESENTED IN THE COLLECTION, CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMPLEXITY OF THE HISTORY OF ART THAT SFMOMA WILL BE ABLE TO TELL TODAY AND IN THE FUTURE.SPECIAL COLLECTIONS IN THE SFMOMA RESEARCH LIBRARYTHE SFMOMA RESEARCH LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS INCLUDE RARE BOOKS, MAGAZINES, JOURNALS AND PRINTED EPHEMERA. THESE MATERIALS DOCUMENT THE HISTORY OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART, DESIGN AND PHOTOGRAPHY. THE SCOPE OF THE LIBRARY'S HOLDINGS MIRRORS THE SCOPE AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE MUSEUM COLLECTION, AND THE LIBRARY ALSO HOLDS A COLLECTION OF ARTISTS' BOOKS, WHICH TRACES THE HISTORY OF ARTISTS' EXPERIMENTS WITH PUBLISHING AND BOOKMAKING, PARTICULARLY FROM THE MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY UNTIL THE PRESENT. OTHER COLLECTION STRENGTHS INCLUDE HISTORIC DOCUMENTATION OF EXHIBITION-MAKING IN THE BAY AREA FROM THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY, MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY PHOTOBOOKS, AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO INFLUENTIAL MODERN ART AND DESIGN EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS. THIS COLLECTION CONTAINS OVER 4,000 BOOKS, PERIODICALS AND EPHEMERA FILES.