2025
Metaphors of Recent Times
A Dialogue of the Personal, the Political and the Cultural
Produced in partnership with the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) Art in City Hall program and PhotoAlliance
Juried by Linda Connor, Beth Waldman, and Lewis Watts
Curated by Beth Davila Waldman
Thursday, January 16 - Friday, August 1, 2025
Opening reception: Thursday, January 16, 2025, 5:00 P.M.
with opening remarks in North Light Court, 5:30 P.M.
San Francisco City Hall, Ground Floor and North Light Court
1 Dr. Carlton B Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102
Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.
Free and open to the public
The inspiration behind Metaphors of Recent Times was compelled by a desire to provide an extended platform for the various themes and concerns voiced by the PhotoAlliance INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 Portfolio. By providing a call for photographic work that spoke to narratives about our planet, humanity, and societal values, PhotoAlliance highlights not only the spirit of our city’s inclusivity with a group of emerging and established artists in curation, but also in the impact of presenting relevant, pivotal work in a striking setting at the foundation of San Francisco’s City Hall.
Reflecting off the photographs in PhotoAlliance’s INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 Portfolio, Metaphors of Recent Times implored artists to share their personal view of the personal, the political and the cultural. Through the narratives of these twenty-four triptychs by local and international artists, this exhibition provokes a range of raw emotions from pride to heartbreak, hope and loss.
In each artist’s work, we hear the voices of advocacy for women and mothers, the catharsis of the moment, the empowerment to convey our uncertain times, and the conflict of the destructive beauty that is this landscape of our current era. While some of the triptychs bring us to some favorite local spots reminiscent of the “lowrider” cruises down Mission Street with its vivid backdrops of murals and graffiti celebrating culture and identity, others take us into reflection of mornings of ecstatic joy of freedom while feeling the heaviness of being the sole survivor of their community as a result of the AIDS crisis. The imagery carries us through tender and powerful moments that define human connection amidst the clamor of protest and the struggles of urban life, juxtaposed with others that speak to the painful ironies we are faced within our landscapes laden with consumerism.
The presented work enveloping the 2020 Portfolio unfolds as branches which question what is ordinary. With the witnessing of presently non-existent landscapes resulting from the harshness of the elements and time in the Mojave Desert, the forgotten Black cowboy culture rooted in freedom, the lens of horsemanship and ecology, tracing cultural threads often left untold, Metaphors of Recent Times highlights the tension between vulnerability and strength. It portrays moments that, despite their wounds, stare firmly into the future. We see through the eyes of a mother's gaze, the passing of time. We see aging and those caring for the aging exploring new relationships with themselves and those around them. We feel the curiosity for what America may hold for immigrants, while simultaneously being flooded with memories of past times. There are the emotional and relational aspects of living in close proximity to nature and the impacts of loss, questioning what price we are all willing to pay.
As one of our artists quoted author Octavia Butler:
“Everything you touch you change. Everything you change changes you.”
This partnership project between the San Francisco Art Commission Galleries and PhotoAlliance strives to resonate these narratives deeply with you.