Barbara Stauffacher Solomon: Why? Why Not?

Exhibitions

Barbara Stauffacher Solomon: Why? Why Not?

January 16—July 11, 2027

Barbara Stauffacher Solomon became famous almost overnight in 1966, when she painted giant letters, stripes, and arrows across the walls at The Sea Ranch. Yet her whole practice—as an artist, designer, writer, architect, and landscape theorist—has never been seen in full.

Barbara Stauffacher Solomon: Why? Why Not? brings a wide body of work together for the first time since her death. Trained in Swiss graphic design in Basel and later in architecture at Berkeley, Stauffacher Solomon produced prolifically for over 60 years: everything from books to Supergraphics, from landscape drawings to paintings of ping-pong tables, all relevant to the time in which she lived.

At the center of this exhibition is “Good Mourning California” (1992), her book about the state she loved and never quite believed: its landscapes, its broken promises, and the myths Americans have always told themselves about paradise. Drawing on rarely seen material from her estate’s archive and a new Supergraphic realized from her designs on YBCA’s walls, the exhibition takes visitors on a journey from Swiss grids to California freeways.

Barbara Stauffacher Solomon: Why? Why Not? is curated by Martin Strickland.

Tickets

Gallery 3, YBCA

Exhibition opens January 16, 2027

*Free admission for Youth, Military Personnel, and Museums for All.

Employees of other museums with current valid staff ID receive free general admission for themselves and one guest. Entry ticket must be obtained onsite at YBCA’s Ticketing desk.

Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, West of the West, 1990. Courtesy of the Barbara Stauffacher Solomon Estate, Anthony Meier, Mill Valley, and von Bartha, Basel.

Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, Untitled (Freeway to Sun-Sight). Courtesy of the Barbara Stauffacher Solomon Estate, Anthony Meier, Mill Valley, and von Bartha, Basel.

Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, California Before She was Discovered, 1985. Courtesy of the Barbara Stauffacher Solomon Estate, Anthony Meier, Mill Valley, and von Bartha, Basel.

Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, California Landscape #1, 1990. Courtesy of the Barbara Stauffacher Solomon Estate, Anthony Meier, Mill Valley, and von Bartha, Basel.

Barbara Stauffacher Solomon

YBCA programs are made possible in part by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Blue Shield Of California, Bob A. Ross Foundation, City and County of San Francisco, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Malia Simonds, Mayor Daniel Lurie, National Endowment for the Arts, Pisces Foundation, The Ron Conway Family, Salesforce, San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, The Svane Family Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy, Yerba Buena Partnership, and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Board of Directors and Members.