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Art
Scene on the Move:
The Changing Tides of San Francisco
David Spalding in
conversation with Jens Hoffmann and Allan de Souza
Over the course of the
last year, San Francisco has experienced an influx of artists
and curators from around the globe. The appointment of
Documenta XI curator Okwui Enwezor as Dean of Academic
Affairs and Senior Vice-President at the San Francisco Art
Institute back in July 2005 has been a magnetic force, drawing
new faculty from around the world such as artist-educator Renée
Green, curator-critic Hou Hanru, and artist-writer Allan deSouza.
Meanwhile, the San
Francisco-London merry-go-round took another turn at the
California College of the Arts Wattis' Institute for
Contemporary Arts, when former Director Ralph Rugoff returned to
London, this time as Director of the Hayward Gallery. Rugoffās
replacement, Jens Hoffmann, is the former Director of
Exhibitions at Londonās Institute of Contemporary Arts, where
his innovative approach to curatorial practice has coincided
with Londonās consecration as a dynamic, international art hub.
With the opening of new galleries and art spaces, the expansion
of old non-profits, and the arrival of international artists and
curators to the once sleepy city, the stars seem to be
aligning÷but what do they foretell? I recently exchanged emails
with Hoffmann, deSouza, and Hanru to try to get a sense of how
their presence might transform San Franciscoās art scene.
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view of exhibition
Sarkis: Alive and After at the San Francisco Art Instituteās
Walter and McBean Galleries, September 22÷December 9, 2006,
curated by Hou Hanru |
David
Spalding: In a recent Artforum interview, you said that
you want to establish a different way of thinking about
exhibitions in the United States. Different in what ways?
Jens Hoffmann: I have been
fortunate enough to be part of a generation of curators who,
over the last ten years, dramatically changed what we understand
as curatorial practice. Many of my exhibitions have contributed
to this particular shift in the understanding of the role of the
curator. Some have changed the way we think about exhibitions
today. My approach to curating is very particular. This has a
lot to do with my background in theater and the idea of
curatorial authorship. I see curating as a practice that is very
similar to directing theater. The dialogue with the artist is
crucial. So is the staging of the set, which in my case is the
gallery. I try to find a different exhibition model for each of
my shows. All the exhibitions I curate are self-reflexive. They
address issues that are specific to the practice of curating. At
the same time, however, all my shows are very open and
accessible.
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view of Surprise,
Surprise, 2006, an exhibition curated by Jens Hoffmann
and Rob Bowman, and presented at the Institute of Contemporary
Arts, London (photo: Valerio) |
DS: Iām
sure youāve had no shortage of opportunities to travel and work
in various cities across the globe. Why choose San Francisco
now?
JH: I had done
what I could do in London. I was ready for a new challenge and
London had become a complicated place to work, a place where
things are more or less set. I was lucky enough to be in London
over the last four years, at the time when it became truly
global for the first time, and to contribute to that
development. But now things are set and it will be hard to
change much. The main art institutions are busy with two things
right now: expansion of their galleries and high attendance
figures. There is no room for serious investigations anymore.
The West Coast÷and especially San Francisco÷offers much more in
that respect. I can actively contribute to making a difference
here by continuing to change things, and by doing so on a larger
scale. I think that San Francisco will, over the next couple of
years, start to be seen as a major place for art. There are many
activities and much energy here right now. This gives me
confidence that things will just get better and better.
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view of Alien Nation,
2006, an exhibition curated by John Gill, Jens Hoffmann and
Gilane Tawadros, and presented at the Institute of Contemporary
Arts, London (photo: Valerio) |
DS:
Some might say that San Francisco is mired in regionalism. Itās
not Los Angeles or New York: it has no biennial, no booming art
market, no art fair, and comparatively few venues supporting the
work of international artists.a
JH: What you say
is true. San Francisco is neither Los Angeles nor New York, and
I am glad it is not. San Francisco has a unique and very rich
history. It also has a vibrant present. This fascinates me, and
it is what we plan to explore with some of the exhibitions at
the Wattis. Should it wish to do so, San Francisco can find a
different way to put itself on the art map. It has that
chance÷unlike most other cities. Maybe San Francisco will become
a hybrid between Vancouver and Los Angeles. In Vancouver, you
find some of the strongest artists working today. Itās also a
place with no art market, no art fairs, and no biennial, a place
where small non-profit art spaces show some of the most
provocative international work. In Los Angeles, you have a long
history of important and influential art schools. The mix could
be dramatic. There is so much potential in San Francisco and
everyone is keen to move things forward.
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view of A Walk
to Remember, 2005, curated by Jens Hoffmann and presented at
Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles (photo:
Valerio) |
Allan deSouzaās photographs,
installations, and performances often explore constructions of
the body and address social space in relation to migration,
desire, and the nation. He is now working between Los Angeles
and San Francisco, where he has recently been appointed
Assistant Professor at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI).
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Allan deSouza, Los
Extranjeros, 2006, triptych, digital c-prints, 55 x
22 inches each (courtesy of the artist and Talwar Gallery, New
York) |
DS: Can you
talk about the differences you see and feel between Los Angeles
and San Francisco in terms of art making?
Allan deSouza: One thing is
the prejudices each place has about the other: Los Angeles
thinks of San Francisco as provincial, and San Francisco thinks
Los Angeles is shallow. Both traits, I think, are abundant in
both places. This rivalry does not interest me much. There are
significant artists in both places. Many of them show neither in
Los Angeles nor in San Francisco. This raises other questions
for me. I'm drawn to broader dialogues. I am more interested in
how we operate in the world than how I might operate in either
Los Angeles or San Francisco. At the same time, living and
working in both places has made me much more conscious of
specific questions of location.
DS: Your
work often deals with the construction of public spaces and how
those spaces, in turn, construct subjectivities. Do you have a
sense yet of how being in San Francisco will impact your work?
Are certain spaces particularly interesting for you?
AdS: Moving between the two
places is forcing me to think in very concrete, specific ways
about the body÷my body. Iāve come to understand the body as both
transitory and multiply-located. As you said, I'm also
interested in the construction of subjectivity through social
space. In San Francisco, I live in the Tenderloin. Every day
when I walk out of my apartment, I see some of the same people
in the stores, at the bus stop, hanging out on the street÷those
who live and/or work on the street. There is a sense of a
community, however inadvertent. At the same time, it's a
community that is highly transitory.
In Los Angeles, I always feel
that I'm negotiating space and distance; in San Francisco my
negotiation is with other bodies and with proximity. The bodies
I encounter are multiply queered÷if I can use that term loosely.
They exist, by choice or not, beyond the frames of normativity.
In this neighborhood, these bodies and their encounters are also
highly visible. Many people are subjected to this high
visibility: homeless people; tourists, who are temporarily away
from home; sex workers; recent immigrants; transgendered or
transsexual individuals; people with disabilities; and children,
since my apartment looks onto a playground. It's forcing me to
rethink the transitory and transitional body, which, of course,
is how I've always thought of myself. Though it's tempting to
think of the transitional body in geographical or spatial terms,
as a body that crosses borders, I want to resist this facile
reading. Instead, I'm being forced to reconsider the ways in
which these transitory, transitioning bodies can be located both
within locales and in relation to each other. While this is
specific to my neighborhood, it's also a function of San
Franciscoās body politics, which allows for the co-existence of
multiple bodies. For me, this is a huge step forward, away from
Los Angelesā pressure to normalize the body, to impose a single,
mythic and plastic, ideal. While it's too early to consider how
this will impact my work, there definitely IS an impact.
DS: Why
choose San Francisco now? What possibilities do you see or hope
to create?
AdS: With new faculty and
recent transplants from other cities and countries, I imagine,
or at least fantasize, a critical mass of new and renewed energy
building upon the incredible histories of thought, cultural
production, and activism that already exist here.
Contributing Editor
David Spalding is a critic and independent curator working in
Beijing and San Francisco.
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