A Spirit of Disruption in San Francisco Art

Meet the curators

The San Francisco Art Institute's 150th curators Margaret Tedesco and Leila Weefur at SFAI's historic Chestnut Campus, 2020. Photo by Alex Peterson. Courtesy of San Francisco Art Institute.

The San Francisco Art Institute's (SFAI) 150th anniversary art exhibition, A Spirit of Disruption, highlights work by generations of alumni artists and individuals often overlooked in the historical narrative of SFAI, particularly LGBTQ+ and BIPOC artists. Curated by Margaret Tedesco and Leila Weefur (both LGBTQ+), A Spirit of Disruption includes the work of more than 30 alumni and faculty from the 1960s to the present including many important LGBTQ+ artists: Brett Reichman, Xylor Jane, Nicki Green, M Lamar, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork, N8 Devivo, and Hayward King.

Launching in conjunction with the March 19 exhibition opening is a 10-episode podcast and webseries, created by the curators, that reveals new stories and old gleaned from the archive.

A Spirit of Disruption is on view Mar 19-July 3 and free at the historic Chestnut Street campus. There will be an online version as well.

Jay DeFeo and Hayward King

October 15, 1962. Courtesy of San Francisco Art Institute.

Original caption information on newspaper clipping:
Wanted: props for painting and drawing classes! Artists Jay de Feo and Hayward King demonstrate the College's need for bizarre bric-a-brac, colorful costumes and clothing, discarded furniture, bedspreads, rugs, potted plants and even a bird-cage. Members, please check your attics for old, odd items and give them to the Art Institute. Jame Mitchell photo.

Art: Philipp Weisman

Untitled, 1955. Oil on canvas. 24 x 20 inches. On loan from Pam Martin (MFA'02).

Among the stories woven into A Spirit of Disruption a re those that shed light on some of the seminal, but often overlooked figures of the Bay Area arts scene. Florence "Flo" Wysinger Allen was a beloved and esteemed artist model and the subject and inspiration for countless paintings, sculptures, and drawings made at the school from 1933-1997. Founder of the Bay Area Models' Guild in 1945 and also a civil rights activist, her status at the school was such that her signature can still be found in the concrete in front of Studio 8 at the historic Chestnut Street campus. Ten sketches and paintings of Allen will be shown together in the Diego Rivera Gallery.

Juan Luis Matos: "El Pintor", 2020

Photo, 9" x 16", Courtesy of artist.

Brett Reichman: "Satin Cock", 2006

Oil on canvas, 24" x 48", Courtesy of artist.

Ileana Tejada: "Freak on a Leash", 2016

Charcoal on paper, 72" x 93", Courtesy of artist.

Kezia Harrell: "Finally Know How to Speak", 2021

Marker and gouache on cotton, 30" x 22", Courtesy of artist.

Lindsey White: "Don't Expect Miracles", 2018

Silkscreen, ink on cotton with foam, 6.5 x 8ft, Courtesy of artist.

M Lamar: Discipline 6, Video still from "Badass Nigga", 2014

Archival pigment print on canvas, 40" x 72", Courtesy of artist.

N8 Devivo: Self, Polaroid

5" x 7", Courtesy of artist.

Jenny Odell: "144 Empty Parking Lots", 2021

Digital print on vinyl, 48" x 48", Courtesy of artist.

Xylor Jane: "Via Crucis II Cross", 2010

Oil on panel, 29" x 31", Collection of Penny Cooper and Rena Rosenwasser.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Modern Attack, 2020

Screen print on muslin, velvet, various trimmings and tassels, 10' x 5', Courtesy of artist.