Exhibits

Artwork titled “Self-Portrait as Black-hooded Aratinga” by Yaron Michael Hakim

“Self-Portrait as Black-hooded Aratinga” by Yaron Michael Hakim.

Have You Seen Me?

Fine Arts Gallery, Fine Arts Building Room 2398, San Francisco State University 

Feb. 25 through March 29, 2023 | Tuesdays through Fridays, noon to 4 p.m. | Opening reception 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25

Have You Seen Me? emphasizes the return of the gaze in contemporary self-portraiture created by diverse artists across a wide range of media. The exhibition features work by Marcel Pardo Ariza, Jamil Hellu, Yaron Michael Hakim, and Erica Deeman. Marcel Pardo Ariza is a trans visual artist and curator who explores the relationship of representation, kinship and queerness through constructed photographs, color sets and installations. Jamil Hellu’s work focuses on themes of identity representation and cultural heritage, addressing intersections among race, gender and sexuality while amplifying queer histories and challenging the social construct of masculinity. Yaron Michael Hakim has adopted the formal approach of naturalist illustration to depict imagined anthropomorphic self-portraits. Through these paintings, he examines his South American heritage and the exoticization that has been projected onto him and that he has, in turn, projected onto himself. Erica Deeman’s work reflects on diasporic and transnational movements, Black permanence and the nuances of hybridity within cultural identity. British-born Deeman’s family roots are in the Caribbean. Have You Seen Me? is organized by Sharon E. Bliss and Kevin B. Chen. Major support comes from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Ever-seeking to broaden the canon of contemporary art and future art histories, SF State’s Fine Arts Gallery centers on the presentation of artists of diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. The exhibition program at the SF State Fine Arts Gallery positions emerging and mid-career artists from the Bay Area in conversation with national and international artists to consider global issues.⁠ Have You Seen Me? focuses on contributions of Latinx Americans, Arab Americans and Black and mixed-race Americans, with personal histories that include transnational adoption and the centering of transgender and Queer/BIPOC community, in defiant acts of seeing and being seen. The exhibition catalog features contributions from SF State Professor Dr. Santhi Kavuri-Bauer and a collaborative essay from UC Berkeley Professor Dr. Laura E. Pérez and Maya Elisa Pérez Strohmeier.