The great thing about an exhibition space is that it can be a blank slate, reborn from one show to the next by different artists and curators, transforming from a dormant cube into something exciting, and then perhaps back again.

In Japantown there is a building called the New People Building which opened its doors in 2009. It comprises two floors of boutiques, a coffee shop, a gallery on the top floor, and a full theatre on the bottom. I went to it a few times when it opened to see a film, what I found was Japanese films screened in a pristine theatre with no one there except me. I never made it to the gallery despite trying multiple times due to its strange hours. This disuse eventually caught up with the gallery and theater,

Here we are in 2012. The boutiques have mostly survived, as has a coffee shop, and the theatre has been repurposed as the San Francisco Film Society Cinema, screening an amazing array of interesting films.

And, as part of their KinoTek series, they are hosting a solo show by art cards favorite Nate Boyce in the now mostly unused upstairs 'Super Frog' gallery of hybrid video/sculptures which opens Friday. So, as quickly as they disappeared (or failed to appear), they are back again, occupied by new and exciting projects.

Curiously Direct Picks
Silverman Gallery//Dashiell Manley= First solo show by this recent UCLA grad at Silverman, comprised of a group of double sided paintings and a pair of animations. [...] There is a sense of purposeful obfuscation coupled with a desire to communicate which pushes this well installed exhibition into a memorable show. Definitely worth a visit.
 
SFMOMA//Stage Presence= A group show organized by the media arts department and curator Rudolf Frieling focusing on theatricality and the performative. Within the large and often interesting institution that is our local Modern, the media department and Frieling consistently present exhibitions and works which feel very engaged with vital threads in contemporary art and Stage Presence is no exception. A very excellent show, more of these please.

 

Thursday:
+ Performance: Margaret Tedesco "Catalogue #3 And Cameo. Nights, And Night" Stage Presence Performance Series at SF MOMA
+ Adria Otte, Amy M. Ho, Brandon Drew Holmes, Charlene Tan, Derek Chung, Great Tortilla Conspiracy ℅ Scott Tsuchitani, Jose Navarrete and Debby Kajiyama, Justin Hoover , Kim Anno, Michael Namkung, Patrick Gillesppe, Raymond Wong, Ricardo Rive, Ricky Rivera, Zina Al Shukri "MATCHA: Taking Up Space" curated by a project by Imin Yeh, SpaceBi at Asian Art Museum

Friday:
+ Lecture: Kota Ezawa "Graduate Lecture Series: Kota Ezawa" at San Francisco Art Institute
+ Nate Boyce "San Francisco Film Society and Kinotek present Nate Boyce" at SuperFrog (New People)
+ Performance: a project by Rene Yung, Adrienne Skye Roberts, Amol Ray, Chinese Whispers, Ingrid Rojas, Jordan Minter, Larissa Canney "re:Told Storytelling Event, Book Release & Exhibition Closing Reception" curated by Kija Lucas, Sarah Hirneisen at Root Division
+ Screening: "1968 Film Series: Revolution" at Oakland Museum of California

Sunday:
+ Screening: Ai Weiwei "One Recluse" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
+ Open Studio: "Summer Open House" at Headlands Center for the Arts

Thursday, July 26

Screening: Stefano Savona "Tahrir: Liberation Square" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
SOMA: 701 Misssion Street, at Third Street, YBCA Screening Room, $10 regular/$8 YBCA members, senior, student, teacher/FREE for YBCA: You participants, 7:30 - 9pm

+ Performance: Margaret Tedesco "Catalogue #3 And Cameo. Nights, And Night" Stage Presence Performance Series at SF MOMA
SOMA: 151 Third Street, Mission Street, $18 general; $13 seniors; $11 students; free for SFMOMA members. Ticket includes same-day museum admission., 7:30 pm

+ Adria Otte, Amy M. Ho, Brandon Drew Holmes, Charlene Tan, Derek Chung, Great Tortilla Conspiracy ℅ Scott Tsuchitani, Jose Navarrete and Debby Kajiyama, Justin Hoover , Kim Anno, Michael Namkung, Patrick Gillesppe, Raymond Wong, Ricardo Rive, Ricky Rivera, Zina Al Shukri "MATCHA: Taking Up Space" curated by a project by Imin Yeh, SpaceBi at Asian Art Museum
Civic Center: 200 Larkin St., $10, 5-9pm

Adria Otte, Amy M. Ho, Brandon Drew Holmes, Charlene Tan, Derek Chung, Great Tortilla Conspiracy ℅ Scott Tsuchitani, Jose Navarrete and Debby Kajiyama, Justin Hoover , Kim Anno, Michael Namkung, Patrick Gillesppe, Raymond Wong, Ricardo Rive, Ricky Rivera, Zina Al Shukri "MATCHA: Taking Up Space" curated by a project by Imin Yeh, SpaceBi at Asian Art Museum Civic Center: 200 Larkin St., $10, 5-9pm

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Friday, July 27

Gopika Sitwala, Laura Boles Faw, Matthew Marchand, Nancy de Y. Elkus, Rye Purvis, Vita Hewitt "Source [Re] source: Artists with their Interns from the Meridian Interns Program" at Meridian Gallery
Downtown: 535 Powell Street, Free, 5-7pm

Thomas Wood "Myth and Metaphor: The Intaglio Prints of Thomas Wood" at Meridian Gallery
Downtown: 535 Powell Street, Free, 5-7pm

+ Lecture: Kota Ezawa "Graduate Lecture Series: Kota Ezawa" at San Francisco Art Institute
Russian Hill: 800 Chesnut Street, Lecture Hall, Free, 6:30 - 8:30 pm

Lecture: Kota Ezawa "Graduate Lecture Series: Kota Ezawa" at San Francisco Art Institute Russian Hill: 800 Chesnut Street, Free, 6:30 - 8:30 pm

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+ Nate Boyce "San Francisco Film Society and Kinotek present Nate Boyce" at SuperFrog (New People)
Japantown: 1746 Post Street, 3rd Floor, Free, 7-9pm

+ Performance: a project by Rene Yung, Adrienne Skye Roberts, Amol Ray, Chinese Whispers, Ingrid Rojas, Jordan Minter, Larissa Canney "re:Told Storytelling Event, Book Release & Exhibition Closing Reception" curated by Kija Lucas, Sarah Hirneisen at Root Division
Mission District: 3175 17th Street, South Van Ness, Sliding Scale Suggested Donation: $1-$20, 6-9pm

Jessica Skloven "Recent Work" at Z Space (at Theater Artaud)
Mission District: 450 Florida Street , floor 1, Free, 6:30-8:30pm

Panel Discussion: Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes "OMCA Panel | Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes" curated by Rene de Guzman , Susan Miller at Oakland Museum of California
Oakland: 1000 Oak Street, James Moore Theater, Free with gallery admission, 7-8:30 pm

+ Screening: "1968 Film Series: Revolution" at Oakland Museum of California
Oakland: 1000 Oak Street, Oak Street Plaza, 8:30-10:30pm

Saturday, July 28

Screening: Stefano Savona "Tahrir: Liberation Square" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
SOMA: 701 Misssion Street, at Third Street, YBCA Screening Room, $10 regular/$8 YBCA members, senior, student, teacher/FREE for YBCA: You participants, 7:30 - 9pm

Anne Veraldi, Brooke Grucella, Erik Parra, Gail Tarantino, Guy Overfelt, Jack McLean, Karen Barbour, Lauren Ari, Mike Park, Pablo Guardiola, Penelope Krebs, Quenton Miller, Susan Ann Vaclavik "Flat File Program" at Fouladi Projects
Hayes Valley: 1803 Market Street, Free, 1-5 pm

Sunday, July 29

+ Screening: Ai Weiwei "One Recluse" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
SOMA: 701 Misssion Street, at Third Street, YBCA Screening Room, $10 regular/$8 YBCA members, senior, student, teacher/FREE for YBCA: You participants, 2-5pm

Tour: "Behind The Scenes: The Art Of The Japanese Print" at Mills College Art Museum
Oakland: 5000 Macarthur Boulvard, FREE, RSVP to museum@mills.edu, 11:30am

+ Open Studio: "Summer Open House" at Headlands Center for the Arts
Marin Headlands: 944 Fort Barry , off Bunker Road, floor 1-4, Free, 12-5pm

Artcards San Francisco is a weekly email publication led by editor Jackie Im and Aaron Harbour. Email event submissions to sfinfo@artcards.cc or use our submission form. New: you can now add an image to your listing by using the submission form.

+ = Editor's pick
? = Opening not confirmed - check site for updates.