The San Francisco Bay Area’s art and design community is tight-knit. The artists, designers, and architects living here all seem to know each other’s names. But every year in late January, the community opens its doors to an international audience for an art week that includes FOG Design + Art, an event that’s become one of the best on the West Coast for getting a pulse on contemporary art and design.
Held at Fort Mason Center overlooking the bay, FOG is beloved by locals, but more outsiders are starting to take notice. Its 11th edition features a hearty mix of hometown heroes and international newcomers, with 59 exhibitors from San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and farther-flung locales like Paris, Hong Kong, and South Africa.
Split across two piers with plenty of bars and lounges to break up the spaces (and fuel your wanderings), FOG is digestible in one visit, but will leave you feeling satiated. Photographer Cayce Clifford and I dove headfirst into the preview party and found surprising art and design objects across media and scale that highlighted a range of perspectives. Here’s what stood out at this year’s fair.
Lee ShinJa at Tina Kim Gallery
Although art world behemoths like David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, and Marian Goodman offered a dazzling array of global artists, some of the best international showings at FOG this year were from lesser-known curators, like Tina Kim Gallery. Korean artist Lee ShinJa was one of the first artists to bring textiles into the world of fine art in Korea, and her intricate, abstract wall-hangings were mesmerizing. Keep an eye out for a solo showing of Lee’s work at BAMPFA in Berkeley this fall.
—Lauren Gallow
