Exhibitions
YBCA's exhibitions feature works that tap into timely ideas and topics, are unabashedly individualistic, and empower the viewer to feel and experience the world more fully. Gallery hours and admission
Mar 28–Jul 5, 2009
YBCA presents the work of visionary sculptor Nick Cave, whose Soundsuits—ephemeral full-body sculptures composed of recycled clothing, beads, bottle caps, toys, twigs and hair— seem poised to explode into dance and ritual while exploring issues of ceremony, identity and myth …
Apr 24–Jul 5, 2009
Six teens from YBCA's Young Artists at Work (YAAW) program curated a dynamic exhibition of work from eleven renowned local and international artists. From the boldly iconic graphic art of Shepard Fairey to the haunting video art of Melissa Day, and the politically charged posters of Juan R. Fuentes to Claudia Bernardi's "frescoes on paper," Through Future Eyes explores the universal and transcendental experience of endurance …
Jul 18–Oct 25, 2009
The highly anticipated curatorial debut of Betti-Sue Hertz, YBCA's new Director of Visual Arts. Wallworks celebrates the unique qualities of YBCA's building designed by acclaimed architect Fumihiko Maki, by commissioning artists to create new large-scale works directly on the walls of both its galleries and its public spaces. These local, regional and international artists use the literal aspects of YBCA's architectural space as a starting point for their contribution to the exhibition …
Nov 5, 2009–Jan 31, 2010
In the 1960s, an artistic movement arose in Brazil, Tropicália, which celebrated the "originality of the culture of people who live in the tropics." Tropicália sought to escape the shadow of the West and create a uniquely Brazilian art culture. This exhibition features Brazil's creative vitality through the works of contemporary Brazilian artists, fashion designers and architects.
Feb 20–Jun 20, 2010
The largest US presentation in 15 years of internationally renowned artist Renée Green. For more than 20 years, Green has been creating works of art around a range of topics including cultural history, transnational travel, feminism and biography. While widely acclaimed internationally, Green's work has rarely been exhibited in the US in its full magnitude …
Sep 26, 2009–Jun 13, 2010
An exciting new series of process-based exhibitions with artists in residence from the Bay Area and around the world. YBCA's galleries act as a laboratory in which artists are commissioned to develop, experiment and translate new and existing bodies of visual artwork. These works include lectures, performances and workshops that transform the exhibition space into a fluid and active experience for gallery visitors.
More PUSH PLAY> YBCA Summer Festival events »
Sep 26–Nov 15, 2009
An interactive multimedia installation by Chinese artist Xu Tan that reveals the hidden motivations and intentions of individuals through a high-tech analysis of their vocabulary. Searching for Keywords began with interviews of different groups of people who are active in Chinese society. While Xu Tan is in residence at YBCA, he plans to hold classes in the gallery and teach the keywords to the public …
Nov 21, 2009–Jan 10, 2010
A cross-generational project which highlights the artistic influences between George Kuchar, a Bay Area legend of independent filmmaking, and Mexican artist Miguel Calderón. The exhibition features an experimental narrative video titled Conversations with a Tropical Vulture …
Jan 23–Mar 7, 2010
YBCA presents Kamau Patton, a Bay Area-based video and performance artist, whose installation experiments with a new type of radio created by the local art community. The artist invites local performance art personalities, musicians and intellectuals to explore a dynamic workshop/studio environment and improvise with installed objects and sounds …
Mar 20–Apr 25, 2010
A collaboration between Los Angeles-based artists Marco Rios and Kara Tanaka, avid fanatics of literature and cinema who have based their exhibition on a 21st century self-invented mythological narrative inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni's 1975 film The Passenger. Rios and Tanaka translate the film through a series of sculptures, drawings and re-appropriated video …
May 1–Jun 13, 2010
YBCA, in collaboration with the Kadist Art Foundation, presents a new project by French artists Patrick Bernier and Olive Martin titled Singing the Net. Interested in the position of the traveler that navigates the Internet, and how that movement might be translated into song, Singing the Net explores Web navigation using the history tool to create texts that eventually become songs …
YBCA's programs are made possible in part by:
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
The Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund
LEF Foundation
The San Francisco Foundation
YBCA Exhibitions 09–10 is made possible in part by:
Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan, Meridee Moore and Kevin King, and Members of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
