Celebrating its ninth edition, FOG Design+Art returned to San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture with an international roster of 48 galleries, including longtime participants and first-time arrivals. Benefitting the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s education and exhibitions program, the fair’s preview gala on Wednesday evening drew notable faces such as Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, curator Larry Ossei-Mensah, and actor Owen Wilson.
With an emphasis on group presentations, exhibitors offered the packed aisles of collectors a host of media and materials. Because many booths were filled with sculptures, photography, assemblage, textiles, works on paper, and more, it was difficult to feel fatigue over figurative painting or painting in general, as has been a recent trend at fairs. While some galleries brought the work of New York’s art darlings, a number of exhibitors chose to highlight Bay Area legends and promising local artists beginning to gather larger recognition.
After the first day, blue-chip enterprises had reported a few notable sales, including Hauser & Wirth selling a 2022 Pat Steir painting for $850,000 and Gladstone Gallery selling works by Anicka Yi, Matthew Barney, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and others.
Below, a look at the best booths at the 2023 edition of FOG Design+Art, which runs through Sunday, January 22.
