For the first part of our Summer Session, we’re thinking about labor, and today we’re also considering its opposite—leisure. Steve Ruiz’s review of Sofia Leiby’s most recent show at Devening Projects + Editions considers the artist’s time: “With so much else in an artist’s life productively structured, purposefully performed, and in general feeling like work, what could be more radical than insisting that the center of an[…..]

Today’s essay, written by our new executive director Michele Carlson for our sister publication Art Practical, summarizes Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman’s labor collaborating on Living Condition, a project that “synthesizes hours of interviews, footage, and research” to explore crime, public perception, and capital punishment. This article was originally published on June 26, 2014. Just off the hustle of 24th Street in San Francisco’s Mission district, multimedia[…..]

Today from our friends at REORIENT, we bring you an excerpt from Elnaz Bokharachi’s consideration of Afghan War Rugs: The Modern Art of Central Asia at the Scotsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. In keeping with our Summer Session theme of labor, the author discusses weaving, production, and the impact of war on both. This article was originally published on September 21, 2015. Rug weaving amongst the Iranian peoples dates back[…..]

The first theme in our Summer Session series is labor, and today we’re revisiting Anuradha Vikram’s essay on the so-called creative economy and its effects: “The mythology of the creative economy explains much of why San Franciscans who have pioneered this approach to work are under-invested in the arts despite some apparent affinities. Why support artists with your hard-earned income when you are fully convinced you[…..]

Continuing our labor-themed Summer Session, today we bring you Michael Tomeo’s review of Today I Made Nothing at Elizabeth Dee Gallery in New York City. This article was originally published on August 23, 2010.  I’m so over jobs right now. Sure, we need them, we’re thankful for the paycheck and it’s fun to hang out with coworkers (sometimes), but let’s face it, jobs blow.  While the total[…..]

Continuing our June Summer Session theme of labor, today we bring you this review that deals with gendered, often invisible labor. Author Luise Guest explores the work of several contemporary Chinese artists using embroidery in revolutionary ways. This article was originally published on January 10, 2014. Mao Zedong once said that revolution is not a dinner party. Less famously, he said it is not embroidery, either. Interestingly,[…..]

From our sister publication Art Practical, today we bring you the next installment of our Summer Session—for June, we’re considering the idea of labor. Author Heidi Rabben assesses the exhibition Proximities 3: Import/Export at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and notes that it “provocatively address[es] the larger issue of material and immaterial labor across transactional flows.” This article was originally published on February 17, 2014. Proximities 3:[…..]