Kadist Art Foundation curators Joseph del Pesco and Devon Bella
San Francisco’s notoriously insular art world has been broadening its horizons with some help from the Kadist Art Foundation and the efforts of the online magazine Art Practical.
On the corner of 20th and Folsom, in the city’s Mission District, a Kadist-owned building is now home to several local initiatives, including the foundation’s Reading Room, which is maintained by Kadist curators Joseph del Pesco and Devon Bella (who previously ran the reading room at Adobe.) While the collection focuses on primarily European periodicals that lack distribution on the West Coast, it also features a local archive for visiting artists-in-residence to get a handle on the scene.
Adjunct to the reading room is a space for Wednesday-evening events as well as an exhibition space, currently inhabited by The People’s Gallery, a spin-off from Jens Hoffmann and Harrell Fletcher’s The People’s Biennale.
Next door, one can find the offices for The Thing Quarterly, a subscription-based “object publication,” the brainchild of Bay Area fixtures Jonn Herschend and Will Rogan. The latest issue was designed in collaboration with Art World everyman James Franco, and consists of a set of switchblades labeled BRAD RENFRO FOREVER.
The Thing Quarterly, featuring James Franco
Now in its third year, Art Practical synthesizes the art processes of the Bay Area, combining event listings with Shotgun Reviews. With a wide range of contributors and partnerships with existing outlets like Bad at Sports and Happenstand, Art Practical has fast become the nexus of all things art-related, chronicling the changes of a fast-evolving scene. Check out their latest issue, OCCUPY THE ART WORLD, out today.
