Events on Wednesday, May 28

[SOLD OUT] Chuck Palahniuk

Books: Reading

[SOLD OUT] Chuck Palahniuk

Wednesday 5/28 @ Sundance Kabuki Cinema

Twisted, gruesome, off the wall — in Chuck Palahniuk's world, social norms are made to be broken. With his usual black... 

Jamie Lidell

Music: Electronic

Jamie Lidell

Wednesday 5/28 @ Bimbo's

Supported by a voice capable of Prince-style falsetto and a low, James Brown purr, Jamie Lidell's sound is a fascinating voyage... 

Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares

Music: Global

Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares

Wednesday 5/28 @ Grace Cathedral

There's always an element of exoticism in world music when traditional dress is involved, as is the case with ensemble act... 

The Cure

Music

The Cure

Wednesday 5/28 @ HP Pavilion

Will there ever be a more endearing scary-face than Robert Smith's Joker-esque mug? His band's pre-emo, goth-lite mix of new wave... 

Ongoing Events

Tim Lee

Art

Tim Lee

Wednesday 5/28 @ CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts

Although it's tempting to dismiss Vancouver-based artist Tim Lee's use of comedy-as-conceptual-device as lacking in depth or social concern, to mistake... 

<em>Mister Lonely </em>

Film

Mister Lonely

Wednesday 5/28 @ Landmark Lumiere Theatre

Harmony Korine's much-anticipated directorial return finds the former enfant terrible trying a little tenderness. Korine has always been fascinated by bands... 

Ryan McGinley: <em>Spring and by Summer Fall</em>

Art: Photography

Ryan McGinley

Wednesday 5/28 @ Ratio 3

Ryan McGinley's metier is youth. The often smiling, and more often nude men and women cavorting in his photos are like... 

<em>Reclaiming Materials: Four Sculptors Recycle</em>

Art

Reclaiming Materials: Four Sculptors Recycle

Wednesday 5/28 @ Sculpturesite Gallery

One person's trash is another person's treasure — or sculpture, as is the case at Sculpturesite's current exhibition of art works... 

<em>Hopeless and Otherwise</em>

Art

Hopeless and Otherwise

Wednesday 5/28 @ Southern Exposure

With elections around the corner, many Americans are dreaming of change, but this group of artists remains skeptical, exploring moments of... 

Peter Simon and Roger Steffens: <em>The Reggae Scrapbook</em>

Art: Photography

The Reggae Scrapbook

Wednesday 5/28 @ Babylon Falling

The Reggae Scrapbook is a love letter from two eternal fanboys to Jamaica's best-known export. Drawing from their memories, publications, and... 

<em>Within Two Hands: The Eye of the Collector</em>

Art

Within Two Hands: The Eye of the Collector

Wednesday 5/28 @ San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design

Peter Voulkos founded the Arts Ceramics departments at both Los Angeles' Otis College of Art and Design and UC-Berkeley in the... 

Inkie Whang: <em>American Debut</em>

Art

Inkie Whang

Wednesday 5/28 @ Frey Norris Gallery

Korean artist Inkie Whang's large-scale, pixelated landscapes explore the tenuous balance between his traditional heritage and the digital age. In the... 

Sarah Wagner: <em>Nuclear Family</em>

Art

Sarah Wagner

Wednesday 5/28 @ Patricia Sweetow Gallery

Sarah Wagner turns out delicate textile sculptures that resemble tangled roots and vines. Her faux-plant shapes sprout from the gallery's cement... 

<em>Quarter Century: </em>Creativity Explored's 25th Anniversary

Art

Quarter Century

Wednesday 5/28 @ Creativity Explored

Creativity Explored has long been an outlet for local developmentally challenged adults to express their artistic visions. Now celebrating its 25th... 

Special Event

Dykes on Bikes®

Wednesday 5/28 @ GLBT Historical Society

Like chrome-and-leather-swathed valkyries rumbling down Market Street, Dykes on Bikes have long been the kickoff contingent of the San Francisco Pride... 

<em>After the Revolution: Contemporary Photography from Tehran and California</em>

Art: Photography

After the Revolution

Wednesday 5/28 @ San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery

Between Azar Nafisi's memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran and Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel (and now animated feature) Persepolis, post-revolutionary autobiography has... 

Alex Lukas and Brian Willmont: <em>Feudal Echo</em>

Art

Feudal Echo

Wednesday 5/28 @ Park Life

Some may feel that the twin horrors of global warming and terrorism are hurtling humans into a fiery end of days,... 

<em>Redbelt</em>

Film

Redbelt

Wednesday 5/28 @ Various locations

Redbelt, David Mamet's latest, is an absorbing foray into the world of mixed martial arts. An unconventional fight film, Redbelt centers... 

Saskia Leek: <em>Thick Air Method</em>

Art

Saskia Leek

Wednesday 5/28 @ Jack Hanley Gallery

Embracing the same kind of provocative ambiguity and loose brushwork found in Luc Tuymans' paintings, New Zealand native Saskia Leek structures... 

Amanda M. Smith: <em>Candy Garden and Sparkling Sabers</em>

Art

Amanda M. Smith: Candy Garden and Sparkling Sabers

Wednesday 5/28 @ Jack Fischer Gallery

Little children run amok in Amanda M. Smith's series of exquisitely rendered ceramic reliefs. Set in a vivid world of flattened,... 

William T. Wiley: <em>Punball: Only One Earth</em>

Art

William T. Wiley

Wednesday 5/28 @ Electric Works

Pinball machines have largely been relegated to the scrap yard of nostalgia, but that hasn't stopped William T. Wiley from resurrecting... 

<em>Art & Artifice: 75 Years of Design at San Francisco Ballet</em>

Special Event

Art & Artifice

Wednesday 5/28 @ Museum of Performance & Design

Emerging with a rejuvenated image and collection in March, the Museum of Performance & Design mounts an impressive exhibit chronicling the... 

<em>The Rape of the Sabine Women</em>

Art

The Rape of the Sabine Women

Wednesday 5/28 @ SFMOMA

Eve Sussman and the Rufus Corporation's epic video-opera, The Rape of the Sabine Women, is a sprawling, beguiling exploration of classical... 

<em>Protest in Paris 1968: Photographs by Serge Hambourg</em>

Art: Photography

Protest in Paris 1968

Wednesday 5/28 @ Berkeley Art Museum

Forty years after Paris' famous May 1968 protests, the true meaning of the uprisings is debatable — but that's not for... 

Adam5100: <em>The Heart vs the Mind in a Fight to the Finish</em>

Art

Adam5100

Wednesday 5/28 @ Rowan Morrison

The graffiti artist Adam5100 may have started out bombing derelict sections of Albuquerque, New Mexico, but he's brushed up on his... 

<em>2nd Skin: Imaginative Designs in Digital & Analog Clothing</em>

Special Event

2nd Skin

Wednesday 5/28 @ Exploratorium

With a futuristic, tongue-in-cheek vision, the artists featured in the 2nd Skin fashion exhibit challenge the standard notions of practical clothing.... 

Ex Machina<em> </em>presents<em> The Andersen Project</em>

Theatre

The Andersen Project

Wednesday 5/28 @ Zellerbach Hall

Theatrical visionary Robert Lepage has garnered international acclaim for his imaginative productions and dynamic storytelling. The Andersen Project concerns a Canadian... 

Christopher Brown<em> </em>and Clare Kirkconnell

Art

Christopher Brown and Clare Kirkconnell

Wednesday 5/28 @ John Berggruen Gallery

Christopher Brown and Clare Kirkconnell's concurrent exhibitions at John Berggruen Gallery have sympathetic interests: each artist makes work that quietly reinterprets... 

Lacey Jane Roberts: <em>The Master's Tools (Decay Goes Both Ways)</em>

Art

Lacey Jane Roberts

Wednesday 5/28 @ Little Tree Gallery

Little Tree Gallery has now been fortified, thanks to Bay Area artist Lacey Jane Roberts' handwoven barbed-wire fence. Even though every... 

San Francisco International Arts Festival

Festival: Performing Arts

SF International Arts Festival

Wednesday 5/28 @ Various locations

The International Arts Festival situates the Bay Area's creative microcosm in a global context. The calendar is brimming with performances at... 

Gareth Moore

Art

Gareth Moore

Wednesday 5/28 @ CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts

Vancouver artist Gareth Moore takes hold of the reins at the Wattis, presenting the ninth solo exhibition in the gallery's ongoing... 

Christian Marclay:<em> Stereo</em>

Art

Christian Marclay

Wednesday 5/28 @ Fraenkel Gallery

Christian Marclay pioneered the turntable as a musical instrument in the late '70s, scratching out experimental sounds with vinyl found in... 

<em>Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design and Culture at Mid-century</em>

Special Event

Birth of the Cool

Wednesday 5/28 @ Oakland Museum of California

Fashion designer Christian Lacroix put it most directly: "...the history of cool in America is the history of African-American culture." That... 

<em>The Way That We Rhyme: Women, Art & Politics</em>

Art

The Way That We Rhyme

Wednesday 5/28 @ Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

American culture always seems poised to pronounce feminism down for the count, when it clearly still has plenty of fighting to... 

<em>Dalai Lama Renaissance</em>

Film: Documentary

Dalai Lama Renaissance

Wednesday 5/28 @ Roxie Theater

Beloved throughout the world as a symbol of enlightenment and peace, the Dalai Lama has achieved significant acclaim as a world...