I left my _______ in San Francisco?

Liz Hickok, San Francisco

Zhan Wang, San Francisco

Click either image to enlarge.

Two surprising exhibitions offer a unique view of San Francisco's cityscape. In one current exhibition, at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the city's skyline is rendered in kitchenware. In another, older exhibition, San Francisco architecture is rendered in jello. Each provides a a tactile wallop (dollop?) that plays with our sense of the essence of the elegant city on the bay. The works also play with our seriousness about architecture.

The kitchenware exhibit is constructed by Beijing-based artist Zhan Wang. The jello exhibit, is the work of Liz Hickok, one of America's, perhaps, happiest artists. It is interesting to juxtapose the hard surface of Wang's materials against the soft surfaces of Hickok's, and, it is always fun to see architecture in a different light.