NYC - SF - Europe - SF - NYC - HOME
Since September I’ve been on the move. Now settling in again in time for the holidays, when staying home feels like a luxury.
Here I am in front of the Met after a short visit to the Mexican print show and the shop.
Our moulting roommate takes good care of stray protein roaming our friend’s NYC apartment. Watch your step!
NOVEMBER IN NEW YORK
Starting from the last fall trip to the first trip of the season, our most recent short trip was to NYC again. And it was shortly after our last visit which I wrote about in my latest blog about NYC ArtWeek.
This time we celebrated our ex-Bay Area friend’s wedding for several days. We stayed with old East Coast friends where we hung out in our pjs drinking coffee or cocktails into the day and late into the night (where the gecko lives). We celebrated with our Bay Area friends at their multi-day wedding events and snuck in a tad of museum-going, including the Met and the Guggenheim, and the gorgeous Viennese cafe at Neue Gallery. We enjoyed a lovely cool, crisp, fall. I love people watching in NYC more than anywhere else in the world.
Home in SF now (where it has been a lovely, crisp, clear fall with some much needed rain) and sticking around until Feb 2025. It’s all about recuperating, getting back to work, and moving ahead despite post-election trauma.
NYC AT A GLANCE
BACK IN THE BAY
The air smells fresh and the streets feel uncrowded. I’ve returned to weekly walks in the park, our black cat Nigel, the art studio, our book group, lunches and dinners with friends, the ongoing Invisibility Collective, much re-capping and redirecting from the election, and checking out the latest art shows.
We’ve been museum-going here too, and attended the SFMOMA member’s party – which was a crowded bash - but we had a chance to take in a packed viewing of the Amy Sherald painting exhibition. The next day we visited the surprising and important Mary Cassatt exhibition at the Legion of Honor, which is always a gorgeous destination for photo shoots and views. We saw the Tamara de Lempicka exhibition at the DeYoung. Much of her work is graphic, strong, and sensual. Admittedly my knowledge of art history is not what it should be, so when I see exciting exhibitions they’re educational as well as inspirational. These last two women artists, different as they were in style they both painted figures and portraits – and are quite powerful and innovative. These independent feminists invented and re-invented themselves. All three of these SF art museum shows will be open into 2025, so don’t miss this wonderful assortment of women figurative painters.
Autumn light through the Legion of Honor Museum columns. A favorite SF photo site.
SEEN IN SF
EUROPEAN TRAVELS
In October we visited Spain and England and reconnected with old friends and favorite museums, while also investigating new cities and regions. Our old pal Tina, an American we know from Napa and our time in Spain together has resettled on the beautiful Balearic Island of Mallorca. We’d never there been and were surprised at how much we loved it. It’s the perfect landing place for our friend. Next we explored Valencia, the third largest city in Spain and new to us. This was before the storms and floods hit. We ended our time in Spain with a road trip from Valencia to Girona before we headed to visit our friends in London.
Sexy architecture in Valencia, filled with wonders.
ROMANTIC GIRONA
Visiting Girona, Spain (Catalonia) where we lived in 2004-2006 is bittersweet. We miss our old chums in this beautiful medieval city, but we don’t spend much time there anymore. We had a long leisurely outing to a country restaurant, which is a typical Sunday activity, and it was spectacular. We also visited our very favorite beach town, Sant Marti d’Empuries, where we enjoyed a fantastic feast of tapas while sitting across from the ancient church. Hanging out with friends in their homes and favorite restaurants and wandering the narrow stone streets is what I enjoy the most there.
IN AND AROUND GIRONA
MAGNIFICENT MALLORCA
In Mallorca we toured around the island sites, ate and cooked delicious dishes, swam in the sea, took in the vistas, checked out the markets, and visited an outdoor sculpture garden and indoor collection. It is considered the capital of cycling in Spain.
This is “Tina’s beach” on a seaweedy day, but the water was warm enough to swim and the color – turquoise!
INVIGORATING VALENCIA
Mallorca and Valencia are two new areas of Spain for us, and I definitely recommend them both. Somehow we managed to miss the devastating storms that hit the region right after we left. Staying in the historic quarter with its elegant architecture, we took on Valencia by foot, bus, taxi, and Uber from neighborhood to neighborhood. Valencia sports a busy harbor and a beach that resembles Miami with its wide white sand for miles. It boasts a bustling boardwalk lined with seafood and paella restaurants, for which the city is famous. We went to multiple sites and museums, but were floored by the impressive Arts and Sciences area with its ultra contemporary museums and water-filled grounds. We watched a mind-blowing immersive underwater film in the Hemisferic. We lunched in the Science Museum where we were served by a robot. On the opposite end of the spectrum of museums we toured the intimate Silk Museum which became a new favorite for me. We watched a live silk-making demo and learned about Valencia’s critical role in the history of the silk trade. There is some leftover anti-tourism in Spain from their overly busy summer, but I think that overall these places are happy to have the trade continue into their off season. Late fall is a great time to visit.
A SLIVER OF VALENCIA
LIFE IN LONDON
I could live in London for awhile – in order to spend many more hours in the museums and indulging in delicious spicy South Asian food (balanced out by cream teas). Fall is a perfect time of year – with colorful foliage but still green and blooming. We stayed at our friend’s newly renovated home, took short neighborhood walks to breakfast and cocktails, long walks to exotic restaurants (pubs serving great Thai food!) and saw a not very good play called Barcelona (which was where we all met in 2005). By odd chance we encountered a disturbing right wing rally while we were looking for the entrance to the Tube, just in front of Parliament, and jolted me out of my revery.
There are foxes roaming around London, and we saw them! I was reading a novel called Mr. Fox, an unusual book which I had just borrowed, and which followed my reading of a new novel titled Bear, another haunting story.
In SF we’re all about coyotes…and while writing this I heard a chorus of coyotes outside of our house.
Art museums are a huge part of being in London. We saw the annual Turner Prize recipients’ show at the Tate Modern (what a lovely museum, which I’d rarely visited); The Barbie Show at The Design Museum (with an extensive permanent design collection and a Tim Burton exhibition simultaneous with Barbie - what fun!); and we spent a whole day wandering though the collections of my all-time favorite London destination, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A).
LOOKING AT LONDON
ART EXPLOSION HOLIDAY SHOW AND SALE
What? Did you just miss my very last Open Studio/Holiday Art Sale of the year at Art Explosion on Sunday, December 8? We toasted to the end of 2024, kind of a rough year.
My pal and fellow artist May Shei visited, posted, and bought a drawing.
My studio neighbor, a wonderful bi-coastal painter, Cat Butler bought my Art Socks.
Art Coasters and Socks are in stock now and make the best gifts ever!
Such loyal art supporters, patrons, and this time Claire bought an Art Scarf.
Art Scarves! Have you seen me wear these? They’re huge and wrap all around you. I have 1 for each outfit.
WHAT’S UP NEXT YEAR?
First off - our second group show at SCA (and third figure show in our series). Now even bigger and better. The photos just below are from Jan 2024. And here’s a sneak peek of the art for the show in Jan 2025.
Our first figure show at SCA - here with my co-curator, Catherine Merrill (sculpture in foreground by Charles Stinson).
At SCA with participating artist, May Shei, in front of her wall of work.
ABOUT HERE/NOW
Here/Now: The Bay Area Figurative Movement Grows is my latest and largest curatorial project, with an expanded group of artists, it’s my third iteration of a group figurative show co-curated with ceramic sculptor Catherine Merrill. There will be an Opening Reception and several more events throughout January at Sausalito Center for the Arts (SCA).
CURATORIAL STATEMENT
Today’s narrative, expressive phase of the Bay Area figurative movement is about reflecting on the world we live in. We are telling stories that reach beyond academic achievement and accuracy. We are truth seeking. Sometimes we embrace the unbeautiful. Or create beauty for its own sake. Our work might reflect on our personal struggles or reflect the tensions that surround our lives. We are presenting a range of select artists who focus on the figure and are living and working in The Bay Area. Each is grounded in the figurative movement yet continues to explore and express their humanity through portrayals of the form in context.
EXHIBITING ARTISTS
Joseph Abbati | Doug Andelin | Isidoro Angeles | Adam Caldwell | Sandy Frank | Tebby George | Mary Graham | Susan R. Kirshenbaum | Calvin Lai | Kim Larson | Catherine Merrill | Stephen Namara | Diane Olivier | May Shei | Sandra Speidel
The Drawing Group: Dwight Been | Henry Bridges | Daisy Eneix | John Goodman | Susan R. Kirshenbaum | Pamela Mooney | Alex Rosmarin | Peter Steinhart | Barbara Tonnesen | Dieter Tremp
SHOW EVENTS
OPENING RECEPTION - Sat, January 11, 3-6pm - Curator Talks, Live Music, and Refreshments
CLOSING PARTY - Sat, Feb 1, 3-6pm - Artist/Author Peter Steinhart’s Book Talk, Roving Art Model “Petarious” (Free Life Drawing), Curators’ Closing Remarks, and Refreshments
NCWCA Member’s Tour - Fri, Jan 24, 11-12, Curator’s Remarks
May Shei Painting Demo - Sat, Jan 25, 2-4pm
Show runs from Jan 8th to Feb 2nd | Open Wednesday - Sunday, 11:00am - 5:00pm | Sausalito Center for the Arts (SCA), 750 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 94965 (easy parking and ferry access)
SNEAK PEEK HERE/NOW
HAPPY YEAR END & CHEERS TO ALL HOLIDAYS!
It’s a wrap! Lots to ponder from 2024, and much to look forward to in 2025.
See you next year!
Warmest Regards,
Susan
xox
CONTACT: Susan R. Kirshenbaum, Artist & Curator | 415.425.3632 | www.cherrypits.net | https://theinvisibilitycollective.com/ | ALL: https://linktr.ee/SusanRKirshenbaum (links to Instagram, RedBubble, Patreon, Facebook, and more) | My studio practice is at: Art Explosion, 744 Alabama St, #209, SF, CA - Visit me (but no mail or packages please)!
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