At least as exciting as the annual train of MFA exhibitions is the series of open studio events - the most fun and ambitious of these tends to be the one at CCA. The students are quite ambitious at times, producing full-scale installations in their studios versus showing projects that are in the works. This year's edition happens this Sunday at the SF campus at noon and is highly recommended. Also recommended is UC Berkeley's MFA Open Studios this Saturday in Richmond.

On the opposite side of the spectrum of artist careers are the artists in the exhibition at John Berggruen Gallery, opening Thursday. With work by Diane Arbus, Jasper Johns, Ed Ruscha, Richard Prince and Doug Aitken among others, I'm hopeful it will work as an exhibition beyond its blue-chip status.

Looking for something between an open studios and a show with Ruscha-Rauschenberg level artists? Might I suggest Michelle Blade and Hillary Wiedemann's show at Johansson Projects in Oakland. I'm excited about this show. Here's a pro-tip: the exhibition is already open, to avoid the Murmur stress, see the show either earlier this week or closer to 5pm on Friday.

Curiously Direct:

No excuses, but C.D. is behind right now. Suggestion? Trisha Donnelly's New Works show at SFMOMA. It is a welcome flash of peculiarity amidst so much repetition and the sleepy Winogrand show. 

Wednesday:
+ Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries "Pacific Limn" at Kadist Art Foundation

Thursday:
+ Christian Marclay, Darren Almond, Diane Arbus, Doug Aitken, Ed Ruscha, Hans Peter-Feldmann, James Rosenquist, Jasper Johns, Karen Kilimnik, Lawrence Weiner, Lee Friedlander, Linda Ridgway, Michael Craig-Martin, Philip Guston, Richard Artschwager, Richard Prince, Robert Rauschenberg, Stephen Shore, Taryn Simon, Tin Ojeda, Tom McKinley, Ugo Rondinone, Vera Lutter "The Time is Now" at John Berggruen Gallery
+ Matthew Brandt "Water & Polaroid" at Highlight Gallery

Friday:
+ Hillary Wiedemann, Michelle Blade "A Willing Transfer of Belief" curated by Kimberly Johansson at Johansson Projects

Saturday:
+ Lecture: "Curatorial Practice Thesis Symposium" at California College of the Arts (CCA)

+ Orion Martin "Small Paintings" at Important Projects

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+ Aaron Finnis, Andrew Chapman, Christopher Fülleman, Dana Hemenway, Ginger Wolfe-Suarez, Primitivo Wolfe-Suarez "Schrödinger's Cats" curated by Aaron Harbour, Jackie Im at Important Projects

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+ Open Studio: Dru Anderson, Dusadee Huntrakul, Elizabeth Keegan, Erin Johnson, Helena Keeffe, Jason Fritz, Jess Rowland, Jessica Hankey, Joey Enos, Michael Glassford, Sahar Khoury, Sean Talley, Vreni Michelini Castillo "UC Berkeley MFA Open Studio" at UC Berkeley (UC Berkeley MFA Studios/Richmond Field Station)

Sunday:
+ Open Studio: "Graduate Open Studios" at California College of the Arts (CCA)

Tuesday, April 2

Performance: "The News April 2013" at SOMArts Cultural Center
SOMA: 934 Brannan Street, $5, 7-9pm

Lecture: "Larry Sultan Visiting Artist Program Lecture: Mark Steinmetz" at California College of the Arts (CCA)
Potrero Hill: 1111 Eighth Street , Timken Lecture Hall, Free, seating is first-come, first-served, 7:00pm

Wednesday, April 3

"SFAI Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series: Tom Sachs" at San Francisco Art Institute
Russian Hill: 800 Chesnut Street, Free and Open to the Public, 7:30-9:30pm

+ Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries "Pacific Limn" at Kadist Art Foundation
Mission District: 3295 20th Street, at Folsom Street, Free, 5-9pm

Lecture: "Photography Lecture Series: Eric Gottesman" at California College of the Arts (CCA)
Oakland: 5212 Broadway Avenue, at College Avenue, Ralls Painting Studio, Free, 11am-12pm

Panel Discussion: "Design Deliberation: Three Competing Designs for the New Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art" at Nelson Gallery at UC Davis (Nelson Hall)
Davis: 1 Shields Avenue, floor 1, Free, 5:30-7:30pm

Thursday, April 4

Adrianna Atema, Atsuko Morita, Calcagno Cullen, Candy Chang, Hugh Leeman , Ian Alan Paul, Joseph Grigley, Lauren Gilette, Lori Gordon, Mark Harris, Paul de Jong, Tom Marioni "Dial Collect" curated by Calcagno Cullen at SOMArts Cultural Center
SOMA: 934 Brannan Street, Free, 6-9pm

Arthur K. Miller, Ken Kalman, Margie Lawrence, Mark and Jack Bangerter, Michael Dupille, Owen Smith, Toby Tover "Out of the Park: The Art of Baseball" at George Krevsky Gallery
Downtown: 77 Geary Street, floor 2, Free, 5:30-7:30pm

Mark Steinmetz "Photographs" at Stephen Wirtz Gallery
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 3, Free, 5:30-7:30pm

+ Christian Marclay, Darren Almond, Diane Arbus, Doug Aitken, Ed Ruscha, Hans Peter-Feldmann, James Rosenquist, Jasper Johns, Karen Kilimnik, Lawrence Weiner, Lee Friedlander, Linda Ridgway, Michael Craig-Martin, Philip Guston, Richard Artschwager, Richard Prince, Robert Rauschenberg, Stephen Shore, Taryn Simon, Tin Ojeda, Tom McKinley, Ugo Rondinone, Vera Lutter "The Time is Now" at John Berggruen Gallery
Downtown: 228 Grant Avenue, floor 2, Free, 5:30-7:30pm

+ Matthew Brandt "Water & Polaroid" at Highlight Gallery
Downtown: 17 Kearny Street, Free, 6-8pm

Suhas Bhujbal "Dialogues" at Dolby Chadwick Gallery
Downtown: 210 Post Street, floor 2, FREE and open to the public, 5:30-7:30pm

"Enchanted: A Spring Group Show" at Sandra Lee Fine Art Gallery
Downtown: 251 Post Street, floor 3, Free, 5:30-7:30pm

DAVe Warnke, Kelly DeFayette , Peter Dimick "Kaleidoscope" at Hang Art
Downtown: 567 Sutter Street, Free, 6-8pm

Douglas Schneider "Spellbound" at Caldwell Snyder Gallery
Downtown: 341 Sutter Street, Free, 6-8pm

Shai Kremer "Concrete Abstract & Notes From the Edges" at Robert Koch Gallery
Bernal Heights: 0 49 Geary Street, Grant St., floor 5, Free, 5:30-7:30pm

"UpCycling: Transforming Old into New through Apparel and Furniture Design" curated by Constance Ulasewicz and Carolyn Ho at The Art Gallery at Cesar Chavez Student Center
Sunset: 1650 Holloway Avenue, floor 2, FREE, 5-8pm

Charles Esseltine, Dan Miller, Donald Mitchell, Erin Punzel, Franna Lusson, Tony Pedemonte "HOME 2013: Pattern Response" at Creative Growth
Oakland: 355 24th Street , Free, 5-8pm

Friday, April 5

Erik Scollon "A Moment Lasts Forever Until It's Gone" at Romer Young Gallery
Mission District: 1240 22nd Street, Free, 6-9pm

Mari Andrews "Gathering Gravity" at Chandra Cerrito Contemporary
Oakland: 480 23rd Street, floor 1, Free, 6-9pm

Liz Walsh "Everyone" at Krowswork
Oakland: 480 23rd Street, at Telegraph Avenue, Side Entrance, Free, 6-9pm

Alyssa Pitman, Sasha Duerr, Susanne Cockrell, Suzanne L'Heureux "Manzanita, Yarrow, Nettles, Sweet Gum, and Jade" at Interface Gallery (Temescal Alley)
Oakland: 486 49th Street, Free, 6-9pm

+ Hillary Wiedemann, Michelle Blade "A Willing Transfer of Belief" curated by Kimberly Johansson at Johansson Projects
Oakland: 2300 Telegraph Avenue, at 23rd Street, Free, 5-8pm

Aida Gamez, Conrad M. Meyers II, Emma Spertus, Farley Gwazda, John Tronsor, Kirk Crippens , Melissa Pokorny, Richard Haley, Sandra Ono, Sarah Bliss, Tim Armstrong "A Trapped in Your Mind Feeling" curated by Lucy Puls at Aggregate Space
Oakland: 801 West Grand Street, Free, 6-10pm

Saturday, April 6

Panel Discussion: Andy and Deborah Rappaport, Anthony Discenza, Chris Vargas, Jamie Austin, Tanya Zimbardo "(New) Media?: Panel investigating novelty in the digital era" at Catharine Clark Gallery
SOMA: 150 Minna Street, Free, 3-5pm

Closing reception: Julian Hoenig "Stain" at 60SIX
Mission District: 66 Elgin Park, floor 1, free, 6-8:30 pm

+ Lecture: "Curatorial Practice Thesis Symposium" at California College of the Arts (CCA)
Potrero Hill: 1111 Eighth Street , Timken Lecture Hall, Free, 11:00am-4:00pm

Matthew Bailey Seigel "Rocks, Waves & Clouds: New Scroll Paintings" at Velcro Gallery
Dogpatch: 560 4th Street, free, open hours are Saturdays, April 6, April 20, May 4, and May 18. Other times by appointment, noon-6pm

+ Orion Martin "Small Paintings" at Important Projects Oakland: 5432 Boyd Avenue, floor 2, Gallery I, Free, 6-9pm

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+ Aaron Finnis, Andrew Chapman, Christopher Fülleman, Dana Hemenway, Ginger Wolfe-Suarez, Primitivo Wolfe-Suarez "Schrödinger's Cats" curated by Aaron Harbour, Jackie Im at Important Projects Oakland: 5432 Boyd Avenue, floor 2, Gallery II, Free, 6-9pm

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Asa Scheibe, Ash Garcia, Brittany Watkins, Caroline Ziep Pham, Daisy Wong, Elsy Tobar, Jessica Tang, Juliana Bradley, Katherine Rudebusch, Katy Kondo, Lindsey Cady, Lucille Raisch, Malena Lopez-Maggi, Rosa Page, Sarah Knight, Sasha Brown, Zoë Frost "Spontaneous Order: 2013 Mills College Senior Thesis Exhibition" at Mills College Art Museum
Oakland: 5000 Macarthur Boulvard, Free, 4-7pm

Linda Hutchins "Echo Chamber" at littlebigspace
Albany: 1341 Thousand Oaks Boulevard, floor 1, Free, 3-6pm

+ Open Studio: Dru Anderson, Dusadee Huntrakul, Elizabeth Keegan, Erin Johnson, Helena Keeffe, Jason Fritz, Jess Rowland, Jessica Hankey, Joey Enos, Michael Glassford, Sahar Khoury, Sean Talley, Vreni Michelini Castillo "UC Berkeley MFA Open Studio" at UC Berkeley (UC Berkeley MFA Studios/Richmond Field Station)
Richmond: 1301 S 46th Street, Free, 1-6pm

Sunday, April 7

Andrea Bergen, Andrea Bozym, Andrea Roelandt, Annalisa Sher, Danielle Smith, Denali Schmidt, Dirk Vandermeer, Dominique Wohrer, Francesca Costanza, Hallie Silva, Heather Santoro, Henri Broyard, Jane Gehrke, Kylie O'Shea Rasmussen, Leinaala Lau, Lynnea-Holland-Weiss, Marcus Lee, Morell Cutler, Saif Azzuz, Sarah Kim, Sarah Lesnikoski "Senior Painting Exhibition" at California College of the Arts (CCA)
Potrero Hill: 1111 Eighth Street , Campus Center Galleries, Free, 3-5pm

+ Open Studio: "Graduate Open Studios" at California College of the Arts (CCA)
Potrero Hill: 1111 Eighth Street , Free, 12:00-5:00pm

"Open-New Artist Studios" at Norton Factory Studios Oakland: 3098 E. 10th Street, 1-4pm

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Monday, April 8

Lecture: "Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series: Linda Besemer" at San Francisco Art Institute
Russian Hill: 800 Chesnut Street, Free and Open to the Public, 7:30pm-9:30pm

Lecture: "Architecture Lecture Series: Kas Oosterhuis" at California College of the Arts (CCA)
Potrero Hill: 1111 Eighth Street , Timken Lecture Hall, Free, 7:00pm

Lecture: "Visiting Artist Lecture Series: Rodney McMillian" at UC Berkeley (University of California)
Berkeley: 116 Kroeber Hall, Corner of Bancroft & College Worth Ryder Gallery , floor 1, 102 Wurster Hall, UC Berkeley Campus, Free, 7:30pm

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