Galleries gone wild

A world away from the tortured silences and pretension of art openings, the art-bar scene is the hottest thing on view.

Bill Picture

There’s finally a spot for the hip art fan who can’t stomach another stuffy gallery opening with its tired white-wine-and-cheese spread. The art bar is a gallery-nightclub hybrid, showcasing cutting-edge works of art in a lounge setting with a real bar and, often, a club-caliber sound track. Patrons are free to kick up their heels, but dancing is not mandatory. Instead, the emphasis is on stoking the fires of downtown subculture while providing a place to mingle and throw back a drink or two.

Digital-art/design/party collective Blasthaus’s recently opened Bar of Contemporary Art is the latest and smartest addition to the growing art-bar scene. Housed in a ground-floor loft space behind the Old Mint and situated at the sketchy-cool intersection of SoMa and the Tenderloin, the industrial-style gallery, bar, and club has quickly become a favorite of creative types and forward-thinking San Franciscans looking to get their avant-party on.

Bar of Contemporary Art (BOCA)
11:27 p.m.

THE LOOK
Bowery chic: concrete walls and sparse furnishings, plus tech-inspired art that would make Dad go “Huh?!?”

THE DIVERSION
Record release parties, audiovisual performances, and hip-hop karaoke night.

THE SAUCE
A full bar with dangerously generous pours.

EAVESDROPPING
A party-hearty drag diva reassures her escorts: “I will make it to the EndUp, goddamn it!”

THE CROWD
Eccentric artist types and scenesters rub elbows with label junkies, vintage-boutique-scouring fashionistas, and $200-sneaker-sporting B-boys.

THE SOUND TRACK
Like the art on display, the broad spectrum of danceable grooves skews innovative to satisfy patrons’ thirst for everything on the edge.

414 Jessie St., S.F., 415-777-4278.

Elsewhere

Every true hipster has a story about a drunken night spent under the giant dragonfly installation at 111 Minna Gallery, the city’s first art bar. 111 MINNA ST., S.F., 415-974-1719.

Mellower than nearby 111 Minna, Varnish Fine Art is the happy medium between a quiet night in and a blackout. 77 NATOMA ST., S.F., 415-222-6131.

Rx Gallery, a converted storefront on a charmingly dicey block of Eddy Street, put the previously off-limits Tenderloin on clubgoers’ maps. 132 EDDY ST., S.F., 415-474-7973.

FEATURE

Gone

Our recent story about teen suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge has generated a sometimes heated debate. In the last four years, 16 young people have climbed over the rail and jumped. These kids weren’t crazy. They were in the throes of painful—and impulsive—adolescence. Then, suddenly, they were gone.

Suicide hotlines and resources

If you or someone you know might be contemplating suicide, contact the following resources.

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