August in San Francisco
There is always more happening in San Francisco than even the most diligent social calendar can hold. The trick is separating what is mired in hyperbole from what is worth passing along. Each month, we gather the names, openings and invitations currently making their way through the city’s more interesting conversations: the artist to know, the table to secure, the place everyone will shortly claim they found first. Here is what to clear your calendar for this month.
the new labels no one has yet.
The hunt for the not-quite-discovered designer is never actually finished, nor is the appetite for indie pieces one can claim to have worn first. deMain, a gallery-like, concept shop in the Outer Mission, makes both pursuits considerably easier. Owner Dana Krastev came to San Francisco from Kyiv as a child, which explains the unusually deep bench of Ukrainian talent — Ruslan Baginskiy’s inventive hats, Daily Sleeper’s prairie dresses — hung alongside emerging labels out of Mexico City and Spain, and costume jewelry worth the trip on its own. Head there to be inspired and transformed by craft, and a lesson in expert curation.
The artists to know before the galleries get to them.
A represented artist is a perfectly nice thing to own. An early, unrepresented one makes for brilliant dinner conversation. For the latter, which you can claim to be a part of “founding,” Introductions is Root Division’s annual showcase of emerging talent. Running through September, the show features twelve artists juried this year by Diedrick Brackens, re.riddle founder Candace Huey and Harriet Salmon of Creativity Explored — which is to say, selected by the three sets of eyes you would have curate your own collection if you could. Look for Alieh Rezaei, the Iranian-born and Bay Area–based interdisciplinary artist, who works across fiber, drawing and performance, and for Robert Canali, a master of photography, sculpture, and mixed media.
The show hiding in plain sight.
At the edge of Chinatown and North Beach, almost no one walking past the famed China Live restaurant would guess there is a theater in the same building. Yet, below the bustling restaurant is the discreet, underground venue Palace Theater, a velvet-lined, candlelit performance space small enough that burlesque stars perform at a distance best described as conversational. The current ticket, Rhythm & Ruse, is a sultry mix of cabaret, jazz and vintage elegance, fueled by absinthe.
The grand finale.
Opera’s next generation takes the city’s grandest stage for one night. On August 15, the twenty-eight singers, pianists and coaches of the Merola Opera Program, chosen from more than 1,500 applicants worldwide, close out their summer season at the War Memorial Opera House with arias, ensembles and scenes, conducted by William Long. Merola alumni turn up on nearly every major stage in the world, which is precisely the argument for being in the room while they are still this reachable. Afterwards, head to the reception to socialize with the brightest names of tomorrow.