Fraenkel Gallery presents Slice of the Pie: Fourteen Bay Area Galleries & What Makes Them Different, a group exhibition that brings together a vibrant cross-section of some of the Bay Area’s most influential and idiosyncratic art galleries. Featuring work by more than 40 artists, the exhibition illuminates the diverse perspectives and practices that define the region’s rich gallery ecosystem. Taking place at a pivotal moment for the shifting gallery landscape, the exhibition reflects the sense of collaboration that has been a defining attribute of the area’s art scene and a central part of Fraenkel Gallery’s mission. Celebrating the region’s restless spirit of curiosity and invention, Slice of the Pie honors a legacy of creative autonomy and community engagement, highlighting how Bay Area galleries have continuously pushed boundaries and expanded dialogues between local and global practices. A public reception will take place on Saturday, May 30, from 3-5pm.
The fourteen galleries represented are:
Berggruen Gallery founded 1970
Rebecca Camacho Presents founded 2019
Casemore Gallery founded 2015
Catharine Clark Gallery founded 1991
Crown Point Press founded 1962
Euqinom Gallery founded 2015
Fraenkel Gallery founded 1979
Hosfelt Gallery founded 1996
Jenkins Johnson Gallery founded 1996
Anthony Meier founded 1984
Micki Meng founded 2019
Jonathan Carver Moore founded 2023
Gallery Wendi Norris founded 2002
Jessica Silverman founded 2008
Each gallery will be represented by several works from multiple artists, embodying the characteristic elements that make each organization singular in its programming. The interwoven installation builds conversations between works, highlighting unexpected affinities and contrasts. Featuring painting, drawing, prints, sculpture, animation, photography and more, the exhibition reflects a range of histories and concerns, with materials including found fabric, cyanotype, LEDs, Polaroids, porcelain, acrylic paint and silver gelatin prints.
Since the 1950s, Bay Area galleries have been known for their fierce independence, sometimes operating on thin budgets and rejecting establishment conventions to forge new paths. The longest running gallery, Crown Point Press, opened in 1962 as a print workshop while the newest, Jonathan Carver Moore, opened in 2023, specializing in emerging and established artists who are BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and women. The exhibition reflects the diverse approaches of a cross-section of galleries. Places such as Casemore Gallery, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Anthony Meier, and Gallery Wendi Norris focus on intergenerational conversations, while galleries such as Rebecca Camacho Presents have worked to highlight previously underrecognized artists. Others such as Micki Meng have stretched the concept of a gallery’s physical footprint, or like Berggruen Gallery, Jessica Silverman, and Hosfelt Gallery, highlighted the Bay Area’s unique relationship to art.
