5 art exhibits to see in San Diego this fall

Carlos Castro Arias: 'The Splinter in the Eye' | Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

Artist Carlos Castro Arias lives and works in San Diego, Tijuana and Bogota, Colombia. His work is embroiled in myth and histories, with an insightful and piercing glance at the intersection of myth and modern society or popular culture — and he takes a prolifically broad approach to material and format, ranging from stained glass, tapestry, found objects, sculpture, painting, drawing, installation, mixed media, video, sound and even actual fire.

In a new exhibit at the Athenaeum Music & Art Gallery, Castro Arias's "The Splinter in the Eye" is a reflection on trauma, memory and identity, using painting, sculpture and installation. Seeing art in the Athenaeum's La Jolla space often adds a hint of antiquity — the dark wood of the old building, the faint fragrance of old books — and I am especially curious to see the interplay of Castro Arias' memory- and time-defying work with that environment.

Philipp Scholz Ritterman

Roman de Salvo: 'O Petravia' | Two Rooms

Former local sculptor and installation artist Roman de Salvo will hold a solo exhibition at the new Two Rooms gallery in La Jolla. Part of the exhibit is a salvaged 2019 mural, "McCairn," that was installed on a La Jolla billboard as part of the Murals of La Jolla program — when this mural was recently taken down, de Salvo said it spurred a reflection on and a deeper exploration of his process.

"In 'O Petravia' I've revisited certain aspects of my approach to McCairn in creating new works. One aspect is the representation of my deeds through photographs. The construction of a free-standing mountain monogram on top of McGinty Mountain was visible in Bird Rock because of my photos. What other deeds in adventurous locations might I do and document with pictures?" de Salvo mused over email. "Another core gesture of the show has to do with an interest in extending the lifespan of pictures. Making postcards out of the salvaged 'McCairn' vinyl is part of that cause."

The show will feature photography from a shoot on the actual Bird Rock formation off the coast of La Jolla; several ceramic sculptures, and what de Salvo referred to as "60 of the smallest sculptures of my career" — tiny abstract birds made from beach pebbles.

De Salvo's work is marked by curiosity toward nature and human impact, and his astonishing ability to capture and shape artworks that are as much a sculpture as they are something else, whether it's a cairn, a billboard or a giant drinking fountain. There's a thoughtfulness, a drive for unique preservation, and a deep sense of wonder in his art.

Angela Tiatia

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OMA

'PST ART: Art & Science Collide' | Multiple Museums

This is sneaky, but I'm using this remarkable, region-wide collaboration with the Getty's PST ART program to basically double this listicle. PST ART is a program of the Getty, bringing together 60 Southern California exhibitions around a single (though fascinatingly broad) theme: the intersection of science with art.

The last iteration of PST ART was "Pacific Standard Time" which ran from September 2017 through January 2018. This time, the San Diego-region is presenting the following PST exhibits:

• 'Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean'
  Oceanside Museum of Art, Orange County Museum of Art and Crystal Cove Conservancy
  Twenty contemporary artists have created works about the currents of the Pacific Ocean, and the connections, ecology, fragility and force associated therewith. On view Sept. 7, 2024 through Jan. 5, 2025.
  
• 'Helen and Newton Harrison: California Work'
  La Jolla Historical Society, California Center for the Arts Escondido, San Diego Public Library Gallery and Mandeville Art Gallery
  Ecological, conceptual artists Helen and Newton Harrison are the subjects of this multi-site exhibit, spotlighting 20 projects spanning five decades beginning in the 1960s. On view Sept. 19, 2024 through Jan. 19, 2025.
  
• 'Blue Gold: The Art and Science of Indigo'
  Mingei International Museum
  This exhibit centers on the striking deep-blue dye created by the indigo plant, bringing together the botany, chemistry, history, labor and craft of its use with the artforms that use the plant and dye. On view Sept. 14, 2024 through March 16, 2025.
  
• 'Embodied Pacific'
  UC San Diego, Birch Aquarium and Kosay Kumeyaay Market
  Artists worked with Scripps Institute of Oceanography and UC San Diego scientists to create a massive collection of works that explore Indigenous history with oceanography and marine sciences. On view Sept. 21, 2024 through Feb. 5, 2025.
  
• 'Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World'
  San Diego Museum of Art
  Looking back to the 7th century, this exhibit combines manuscripts, books, paintings, maps, scientific and mystical objects and more, juxtaposed with contemporary art. This is a collaboration with the Balboa Art Conservation Center, and also features two new commissioned pieces by artists Ala Ebtekar and Hayv Kahraman. On view Sept. 7, 2024 through Jan. 5, 2025.
  
• 'Science Fiction Creates the Future'
  New Children's Museum
  The kids get their share of science and art too: Author readings, artmaking workshops and other programming will help families explore science fiction and the unique interests of Octavia E. Butler. Dates TBA, but an author event with Zetta Elliott takes place at 10 a.m. on Sept. 14.
  
• 'For Dear Life: Art, Medicine, and Disability'
  Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
  This first-of-its-kind survey of American art that deals with disability, illness and impairment spans the 1960s through the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. To learn more, check out my feature on curator Jill Dawsey here.

Arts & Culture

Art, disability and learning to hold on

Julia Dixon Evans

Listen • 19:58

Ron Kerner

San Diego Design Week: World Design Experience | Multiple Locations

While San Diego's annual fall Design Week is always a significant gathering of all things design, this year it's a global event. One of the anchor points of our binational region's World Design Capital designation, the week of programming is intended to reflect and celebrate the importance of design in ideas of belonging — particularly in the border region.

Courtesy of the artist

Design Week features close to 100 programs, panels, tours, exhibitions, performances, culinary events, workshops, film screenings and lectures, spotlighting architecture, visual art and design, gaming, food and drink, animation, industrial design, landscape design, user experience and interface design — to name a few. Events are held across San Diego and Tijuana.

Don't miss the Port of Entry Live event with our KPBS Port of Entry crew and artist and graphic novelist Charles Glaubitz and actor and filmmaker Giancarlo Ruiz. The discussion, which will take place here in our newly renovated KPBS studios, is from 2-5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22, and costs $10.

Another event on my radar is the Klaman Africa Vibe Festival, themed around the origins of textile art in Africa, with a fashion show, arts and crafts for kids, plus an evening event with music from the Gene Perry Afro Salsa Jazz Duo and the Afro Rumba Caribbean Jazz Quintet. It takes place Sept. 21 at UC San Diego Park & Market. $10-$60.

While some workshops and special events have a cost or require tickets, many Design Week functions are free. Some events are virtual or hybrid format.

Christina Valenzuela

'Picturing Health' | Best Practice

Curated by Elizabeth Rooklidge, a curator, professor, artist and scholar on disability in art, this exhibition at Best Practice (inside Bread and Salt) includes work by local artists Philip Brun Del Re, Maria Mathioudakis, Bhavna Mehta, Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio, Rooklidge, Akiko Surai and Christina Valenzuela. Many of these artists comprise the advisory committee for the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego's "For Dear Life" exhibition (a major historical survey of disability in art) — and it's significant that these living, local artists also have a space and exhibition to showcase their own work on disability, illness and impairment.

Each artist brings a unique approach and style, and many will be familiar to San Diego visual art audiences. Brun Del Re's text-based work is accessible, disruptive and delightful; Mathioudakis' sculpture is profound and simultaneously beautiful and disturbing; Mehta's papercut and embroidery works are stunning both in scale and detail; Ortiz-Rubio's murals and large-scale works often play with concepts of physics, memory and time; Rooklidge's recent series, "Sick Women," collects and collages stills of women in their sick beds in modern cinema; and Surai's work draws on a variety of mediums like embroidery, collage, photography, drawing, found objects and poetry to insightfully comment on highly researched concepts like memory, neurology and more.

San Diego's best arts and culture this fall

This fall, discover our picks for the best art and culture in San Diego, including visual art, theater, dance, music and literature — and even some picks for kids.

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