SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The SFMOMA Artists Gallery ushers in the fall art season with two new shows. Bay Area artists David Ivan Clark, Emily Payne and Kerri Lee Johnson present their most recent work in individual one-person shows in the main gallery. Upstairs in the gallery’s loft space Kirk Crippens and Max Lawrence show work on the theme of technology as part of the series “New World Order.” Both shows are celebrated with a reception for the artists on Friday, September 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

In David Ivan Clark’s works, landscape is implied. His layers of oil hint at nature as a tangible object and at the same time assert the abstract idea of paradise. He credits the plains of western Canada, where he grew up, as a strong influence on his work.

Emily Payne is also interested in the dialectic of nature and man-made materials. Comprised of gouache layered over X-Acto knife marks, her works are reminiscent of ocean waves. Other pieces incorporate wire sculptures as well as the shadows they cast in paint on paper. Each piece has an ethereal quality, suggesting something more than the immediately visible.

Kerri Lee Johnson, like Clark and Payne, is influenced by surroundings, both natural and manufactured, historical and fantastical. The figures in Johnson’s drawings are part of a fanciful society where ceremonial rituals are performed.

New World Order is a series of five exhibitions held in the Loft Gallery. In each presentation, the artists explore the rapidly changing world through artworks with social, political, and ecological contexts.

In this segment, two artists look at technology using their distinct media. For Kirk Crippens, the everpresent electronic screen is revealed by his camera to be a generator of formal compositions in glowing color. For Max Lawrence, technology is the medium. His complex and visually stunning art installations live and almost breathe as they respond to the viewer’s response to the art piece. The result is a dynamic, multisensory experience created by artist and viewer.

Representing Northern California artists, the SFMOMA Artists Gallery offers a diverse selection of original artwork for sale and rent.

Located on the top floor of the Artists Gallery, the loft gallery is a new exhibition space devoted to artworks not typically found in our rental inventory, such as installations, unframed works on paper, and wall and floor sculptures. Similar to a "project room," this space welcomes exploration and experimentation.