Plastic bags, straws from perfume bottles and shoelaces – these are belongings you don't normally associate with high art. But why not? Many recognized artists in the fashionable canon draw inspiration from humble materials, from Tim Noble and Sue Webster's sculptures constructed from household trash and stuffed animals to Charles Long's cigarette butts and bird droppings recovered from the LA River.

“The Poetics of Dimensions,” a brand new group exhibition in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, celebrates the clever reuse of such common objects—in lots of cases, plain old trash. Hosted by Ghanaian-American curator Larry Ossei-Mensah, the exhibition brings together nearly a dozen artists who work with materials reminiscent of recycled leather, cosmetic containers and single-use plastic.

Anthony Akinbola, a Brooklyn artist who has exhibited on the Guggenheim, weaves colourful abstract tapestries out of durags, the hair coverings you may buy for 19 cents on Amazon. Moffat Takadiwa, who lives in Zimbabwe, uses post-consumer waste that Western countries dump in his country's scrapyards to create intricate sculptures from toothpaste tubes, computer keyboards and spray cans.

You might just walk away from this with a brand new hesitation about throwing things within the trash.

Details: The exhibition runs Wednesday through Sunday through February 23, 2025 on the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco, 345 Montgomery St., San Francisco; Free admission, icasf.org

Originally published: October 30, 2024 at 6:30 am PDT

For far too long, stories about Native Americans have been told by non-Native people, whether in movies, television shows, books or the visual arts.

That's not the case with “Re-Discovering Native America: Stories in Motion with The Red Road Project,” a surprising photography exhibition on the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek through June 23, or a panel discussion June 1 with Native American leaders artists, including Oakland novelist Tommy Orange.

The exhibition features around 100 photographs, personal stories and other artworks collected by Red Road Project founders Danielle SeeWalker and Carlotta Cardana. The photographs document the lives of Native Americans today, from the sprawling landscapes of distant reservations to their living rooms in cities, where they have fun their communities, traditional customs and achievements or give voice to the continued challenges of historical displacement and oppression.

SeeWalker can even take part in the June 1 panel discussion with “There There” writer Orange. They will discuss their inspiration and the strategy of creating their work. Rounding out the panel are: Tazbah Chavez, co-creator of the FX series “Reservation Dogs”; and host Jackie Keliiaa, a comedian, author and actress known for Amazon Prime’s “First Nations Comedy Experience.”

Details: Both the photography exhibition and panel discussion “Contemporary Voices” might be presented on the Lesher Center for the Arts. The exhibition runs until June 23 on the Bedford Gallery and entry is free. The panel discussion might be held on the Margaret Lesher Theater on June 1 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $35 to $40. https://www.lesherartscenter.org.