And just like that the Bay Area art scene springs back into life, with way too much to see this weekend. Friday is especially crazy, with around a dozen shows I'd like to see. 

But hidden in all the great programing is something bothersome. Oakland has art openings first Fridays, and has had such for a long time. So why on earth are there shows all over San Francisco that evening? I'd love to recommend some of these but I hate the thought of anyone missing the new shows at Krowswork, City Limits, Pro Arts, Royal NoneSuch and Interface because of the activity in the West Bay. (full disclosure: I've a small part in the Pro Arts and City Limits shows)

We need better arts calendars so we avoid this needless overbooking of weekends. No artist/gallerist wants to have a slow opening due to the audience being spread so thin. 

This all being said, I heartily recommend all of the exhibitions set aside as Editor's Picks, so try to do Oakland on Friday and catch up with the SF shows over the weekend/following week.

Thursday:
+ Alfredo Jaar, Dinh Q. Le, Jeanne Friscia, Kota Ezawa, Taha Belal, Todd Lavine "Political Fictions" at Haines Gallery
+ Alana Perino, Arash Fayez, Christie Ginanni Stepan, Donna Brookman, Kristine Eudey, Michael Wilson & Natalie Zimmerman, Rodrigo Valenzuela, Wenxin Zhang "Open Seas" at Kala Art Institute

Friday:
+ Hugh Scott-Douglas "Promises to Pay in Solid Substance" at Jessica Silverman Gallery
+ Ala Ebtekar, Ali Dadgar, Amir Fallah, Amitis Motevalli, Arash Fayez, Azin Seraj, Gelare Khoshgozaran, Haleh Niazmand, Hushidar Mortezaie, Morehshin Allahyari, Sanaz Mazinani, Taravat Talepasand "Theory of Survival: Fabrications" curated by Taraneh Hemami at Southern Exposure
+ Screening: "30-Hour Marathon, Opening Program: Favorites from the Archive" Special 30th Year Anniversary Program at A.T.A.
+ Pablo Guardiola "Maintenance Yard" at Romer Young Gallery
+ Laurie Reid, Manuel Angeja "No Person Is Without A Shadow" curated by Suzanne L'Heureux at Interface Gallery (Temescal Alley)
+ Ben Bigelow "Ellipsis" curated by Aaron Harbour at Pro Arts
+ Rhonda Holberton "You Because Free Instantly New" curated by FICTILUS at Pro Arts
+ "Something Completely Different" at City Limits
+ Abe McNally, Adam Thorman, Bessma Khalaf, Sarah Applebaum "The Way Somewhere" curated by Vanessa Marsh at Royal NoneSuch Gallery

Wednesday, September 3

Patrick Dintino "Speed of Light" at Andrea Schwartz Gallery
SOMA: 525 2nd Street, 5:30-7:30pm

Lecture: "Architecture Lecture Series: Chip Lord & Curtis Schreier" at California College of the Arts (CCA)
Potrero Hill: 1111 Eighth Street , Timken Lecture Hall, free, 7-9pm

Thursday, September 4

Claire Healy, Sean Cordeiro "Architects of Destruction" at Gallery Wendi Norris
SOMA: 161 Jessie Street, first floor, 5:30-7:30pm

Nicolas Lobo "D.O.W." at Gallery Wendi Norris
SOMA: 161 Jessie Street, first floor, 6-8pm

RATUR "Becoming Lucid" at 1AM Gallery
SOMA: 1000 Howard Street, FREE, 6:30-9:30pm

Jessamyn Lovell "Dear Erin Hart," at SF Camerawork
SOMA: 1011 Market Street, floor 2, 6-8pm

Judith Marshall, McKay Otto "The Subliminal and The Sublime" at The McLoughlin Gallery
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94108, Second Floor, 6-8pm

+ Alfredo Jaar, Dinh Q. Le, Jeanne Friscia, Kota Ezawa, Taha Belal, Todd Lavine "Political Fictions" at Haines Gallery
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 5, 5:30-7:30pm

Nigel Poor "San Quentin Prison Report" at Haines Gallery
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 5, 5:30-7:30pm

Fan Ho, Floyd Evans, George Hoxie, IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM, Johan Hagemeyer, Jose Alemany, Karl Baumgaertel, Mitchel Obrimski, Nata Piaskowski, Ruth Bernhard, William Rittase, William Simpson "20th Century Salon Photography: A Tribute" at Robert Tat Gallery
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 4, 5:30-7:30pm

David Park, Manuel Neri, Nathan Oliveira, Richard Diebenkorn "David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, Nathan Oliveira, Manuel Neri: Figures and Landscapes" at John Berggruen Gallery
Downtown: 228 Grant Avenue, floor 2, 5:30-7:30pm

Adam Forfang, Brett Amory, David Choong Lee, John Wentz, Kevin Moore, Kim Frohsin "Mash-up" at Hespe Gallery
Downtown: 251 Post Street, floor 4, 5:30-7:30pm

Alejandro Rubio, Amy Guidry, Andrew Werby, Anthony Pessler, Art Venti, Barbara Simcoe, Chris Dellorco, Christine Canepa, Cory Sewelson, Daniel Ketelhut, Dennis Angel, Derek Morgan, Diane Abt, Eric Mantle, Henry Anthony Ricci, Isis Hockenos, Jamey Brzezinski , Jason Adkins, Jean Davis, Jean-Claude Langer, John Accurso, Jorge Carol Alberto, Kim Thoman, Leonardo Cuervo Mera, Linda Folk, Lisa Jetonne, Robert Urban, Sarah Ciampa, Suzanne Sbarge, Tony Bellaver , Vann Nguyen, Victoria May, Wesley Wright "Real Surreal" curated by DeWitt Cheng at Sandra Lee Gallery
Downtown: 251 Post Street, floor 3, 5:30-7:30pm

Kai Samuels-Davis "Between Head and Hand" at Dolby Chadwick Gallery
Downtown: 210 Post Street, floor 2, 5:30-7:30pm

Jeff Loehmann, Jennifer Damas "Vestiges" at Hang Art
Downtown: 567 Sutter Street, 6-8pm

Rob and Nick Carter "Recent Work" at Jenkins Johnson Gallery
Downtown: 464 Sutter Street, 5:30-7:30pm

Screening: "OPENSCREENING - ATA FILM & VIDEOS" at A.T.A.
Mission District: 992 Valencia Street, $7-$10, 8pm

"Archive Project" at Kala Art Institute
Berkeley: 2990 San Pablo Avenue, 6-8pm

+ Alana Perino, Arash Fayez, Christie Ginanni Stepan, Donna Brookman, Kristine Eudey, Michael Wilson & Natalie Zimmerman, Rodrigo Valenzuela, Wenxin Zhang "Open Seas" at Kala Art Institute
Berkeley: 2990 San Pablo Avenue, 6-8pm

Friday, September 5

Brandon Shimmel, Brian Dean, Brian Pittman, Brittany Acocelli, Cait Molloy, Christopher Nickel, Ekin Balcioglu, Emmanuel Sevilla, Felicita Norris, Ileana Tejada, Jessica Smith, Jesus Barraza, Joshua Lee, Kim Arteche, Lee Lavy, Leslie Dreyer, Malena Lopez-Maggi, Matt Smith Chavez, Michael Garfoot, Nash Bellows, Scott Welsh, Shannon Abac, Tanja Geis, Xiao Wang "The Annual Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition" at SOMArts Cultural Center
SOMA: 934 Brannan Street, 6:30–9pm

Melissa Arendt, Michael Murphy "Tectonic Array" at 111 Minna Gallery
SOMA: 111 Minna Street, 5-11pm

Jered Sprecher "Stacking Stones" at Gallery 16
SOMA: 501 Third Street, 6-9pm

Alex Styrsky, James Adams at Live Worms
North Beach: 1345 Grant Avenue, floor 1, 6-9pm

Kelley Shields "I'm Not What You Think I Am" at Geras Tousignant Gallery
Financial District: 433 Pacific Avenue, 5-8pm

Stephen Kane "Welcome to Fogland" at Canessa Gallery
Downtown: 708 Montgomery Street, 6-9pm

Guy Overfelt "Guy Overfelt // Free Bird - The Never Ending Joy Ride, 1998-2014" curated by Andrew McClintock at Ever Gold
Downtown: 441 O'Farrell Street, 7-10pm

Ryan Martin "New Paintings" at Mark Wolfe Contemporary
Downtown: 1 Sutter Street, floor 3, 5:30-8pm

Lecture: James Broughton, Jason Jenn "Ecstasy for Everyone" at San Francisco Art Institute
Russian Hill: 800 Chesnut Street, Lecture Hall, free, 8:00 pm

Joanna Gollberg "Collected" at Velvet da Vinci
Russian Hill: 2015 Polk Street, 6-8pm

+ Hugh Scott-Douglas "Promises to Pay in Solid Substance" at Jessica Silverman Gallery
Tenderloin: 488 Ellis Street, 6-8pm

Tim Roseborough "The Rebus Names Project" at ASC Projects
Mission District: 3150 18th Street, #104 (entrance on T, 7-9pm

+ Ala Ebtekar, Ali Dadgar, Amir Fallah, Amitis Motevalli, Arash Fayez, Azin Seraj, Gelare Khoshgozaran, Haleh Niazmand, Hushidar Mortezaie, Morehshin Allahyari, Sanaz Mazinani, Taravat Talepasand "Theory of Survival: Fabrications" curated by Taraneh Hemami at Southern Exposure
Mission District: 3030 20th Street , FREE, 7-9pm

Serena Mitnik-Miller "S W I R L" at Park Life
Mission District: 3049 22nd Street, 5-8pm

Jason Roberts Dobrin "Jason Roberts Dobrin" curated by Jennifer Marshall at Adobe Books Backroom Gallery
Mission District: 3130 24th Street, Free, 7-10pm

+ Screening: "30-Hour Marathon, Opening Program: Favorites from the Archive" Special 30th Year Anniversary Program at A.T.A.
Mission District: 992 Valencia Street, 1pm - 7pm

Laurina Paperina "Proud to be a Hero" curated by Holly Fouladi at Fouladi Projects Hayes Valley: 1803 Market Street, 6-8pm

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+ Pablo Guardiola "Maintenance Yard" at Romer Young Gallery
Dogpatch: 1240 22nd Street, 6-9pm

Kim Miskowicz "Formation" at Krowswork
Oakland: 480 23rd Street, at Telegraph Avenue, Side Entrance, 6-9pm

Andrzej Michael Karwacki, Lola, Victor Cohen Stuart "Paint & Pool" at Slate contemporary
Oakland: 473 25th Street, floor 1, 6-8pm

+ Laurie Reid, Manuel Angeja "No Person Is Without A Shadow" curated by Suzanne L'Heureux at Interface Gallery (Temescal Alley)
Oakland: 486 49th Street, 6-9pm

+ Ben Bigelow "Ellipsis" curated by Aaron Harbour at Pro Arts
Oakland: 150 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza , entrance on Kahn's Alley, 6-8pm

+ Rhonda Holberton "You Because Free Instantly New" curated by FICTILUS at Pro Arts
Oakland: 150 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza , entrance on Kahn's Alley, 6-8pm

+ "Something Completely Different" at City Limits
Oakland: 300 Jefferson Street, 7-11pm

+ Abe McNally, Adam Thorman, Bessma Khalaf, Sarah Applebaum "The Way Somewhere" curated by Vanessa Marsh at Royal NoneSuch Gallery
Oakland: 4231 Telegraph Avenue, 7-10pm

Misako Inaoka "Fractured Fauna" curated by Kimberly Johansson at Johansson Projects
Oakland: 2300 Telegraph Avenue, at 23rd Street, free, 5-8pm

Saturday, September 6

Panel Discussion: Claire Healy, Hesse McGraw, Nicolas Lobo, Sean Cordeiro at Gallery Wendi Norris
SOMA: 161 Jessie Street, first floor, free, 1-2pm

M.K. Brown "Stranger Than Life: The Cartoons and Comics of M.K. Brown" at Cartoon Art Museum
SOMA: 655 Mission Street, 4-6pm

Barbara Takenaga at Gregory Lind Gallery
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 5, 4-6pm

Joel Daniel Phillips "I Am Another Yourself" at Hashimoto Contemporary
Downtown: 804 Sutter St, 6-10pm

David Van Gough "Purgatorium" at Bash Contemporary
Tenderloin: 210 Golden Gate Avenue, 6-9pm

"Kubrick" Art show tribute to the films of Stanley Kubrick at Spoke Art
Tenderloin: 816 Sutter St., 6-10pm

Workshop: Ala Ebtekar, Ali Dadgar, Amir Fallah, Amitis Motevalli, Arash Fayez, Azin Seraj, Gelare Khoshgozaran, Haleh Niazmand, Hushidar Mortezaie, Morehshin Allahyari, Sanaz Mazinani, Taravat Talepasand "Theory of Survival: Fabrications Saturday Bazaar" curated by Taraneh Hemami at Southern Exposure
Mission District: 3030 20th Street , FREE, 12-6pm

Clem Crosby "Short Ride in a Fast Machine: New Paintings" at George Lawson Gallery
Potrero Hill: 315 Potrero Avenue, 5:30-7:30pm

Closing reception: Andy Diaz Hope, Jon Bernson "Beautification Machine" at Catharine Clark Gallery
Potrero Hill: 248 Utah Street, Media Room, 4-6pm

Jim Campbell "New Work" at Hosfelt Gallery
Potrero Hill: 260 Utah Street, 4-6pm

Anthony Delgado, Chiyomi Longo, Willard Dixon at SFMOMA Artists Gallery (Fort Mason Center)
Marina District: Building A, 3-5pm

Max Stadnik, Sam Vaughan "Stone Soup - A show of stone lithographs" curated by Patrick Mercer at Nielsen Arts Berkeley: 1537 Solano avenue, 7-9pm

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Workshop: "Portfolio Review" at Berkeley Art Center
Berkeley: 1275 Walnut Street, free for members / $20 for non members, 10am - 4pm

Sunday, September 7

Partick Hillman "Everything is Dangerous" at A.T.A.
Mission District: 992 Valencia Street, 7-9pm

Monday, September 8

Workshop: "Alternative Exposure Information Session #3" at Southern Exposure
Mission District: 3030 20th Street , FREE, 6:30 – 8:00 PM

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 and add an image to your listing here. Powered by phpList.

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