There’s no time like dream time -- propelled by information streams and reads on radical culture, race and feminism, as well as journeys, both pleasurable and migratory, and histories, both national and personal. And it's time to dive into a sizable overview of San Francisco artist (and Dean of Graduate Studies at the San Francisco Art Institute) Renee Green’s time-based work when Yerba Buena Center for the Arts presents the largest US exhibition of her pieces in more than a decade: “Renee Green: Endless Dreams and Time-Based Streams.”
The opening night party kicks off Friday, Feb. 19, at YBCA and gets loud and raucous with tunes by Bay Area psych-folk combo Colossal Yes, garage-rock group Wounded Lion and DJ Scott Soriano. Acid-trip projections by Liquid Light round out the fun -- and if this event is anything like past YBCA openings, it’ll be a must for carousing artists, scene-making aficionados and the like.
Of course, you’ll also get a sneak peek at the show, which showcases two large installations by the multimedia artist. Endless Dreams and the Water Between will be given its US premier -- linked to a memoir by George Sand, the work encompasses banners inscribed with “space poems,” audio pieces, and an experimental feature.
The other major installation, United Space of Conditioned Becoming, is an exploration of passages of time, allowing visitors to travel to Berlin, LA, Kent State University, Kwangju and other sites at various points in history, via films, videos, websites and sound pieces. Described as “engrossing” by Time Out New York when it was exhibited at Participant, Inc., in NYC two years ago, the latter saw Green “less concerned with reconstructing specific histories than with documenting the rapid, transcultural mutations of the globalized present,” according to critic Roger White.
As for the present, Green takes us up to the moment with some new works, too -- viewers will be able to listen to the artist’s writings and, in the evening, see outdoor projections of Green’s videos.
Consider this retrospective a chance to look back, catch up and trace many of Green’s ideas, icons, and images.
The opening party for “Renee Green: Endless Dreams and Time-Based Streams” happens Friday, Feb. 19, 8-11 p.m., at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St., SF. $12-$15. The exhibit runs Feb. 20-June 20. Renee Green also gives a talk March 5, 6 p.m. Free with gallery admission. (415) 978-ARTS.
