FOG Design+Art opens on January 16 at San Francisco's Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture, with a Preview Gala benefitting the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) on January 15. This year’s fair features a series of thought-provoking conversations and panel discussions in the FOG Theater that delve into topics and issues relevant to our modern world. The curated discussions include conversations and panels with artists, designers, curators and other innovative thinkers, with a particular eye to art, culture, and technology. 

The programming events will take place throughout the run of the fair, providing a platform for engagement while fostering conversations between leaders in design and art, the Bay Area’s creative community, and the public. Program tickets are free with admission to the fair, from January 16–19, 2020, at Fort Mason Center.

The FOG 2020 Innovators Luncheon will honor Brian Chesky, co-founder, CEO and Head of Community at Airbnb. Showing an early interest in art and drawing, Chesky earned a BFA in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design. After moving to SanFrancisco in 2007, Chesky co-created Airbnb, the world’s largest online marketplace for unique travel and living experiences, driven by local hosts.

“FOG is the anchor point of the San Francisco arts week, and celebrates the cultural vitality and vibrancy of our city,” said Sonya Yu, who joined the FOG Steering Committee this year.“With the 2020 edition of FOG, we will be returning to the fair’s roots, and presenting a smaller, more tightly curated selection of galleries. The fair has continued to grow each year, and for 2020 we are eager to celebrate itsboutique nature, and to provide larger spaces for our exhibitors to present their works. The galleries selected reflect the ethos and vision of FOG, and represent some of the best presentations of art and design happening around the world.” 

The 2020 fair features 48 exhibitors, with six new galleries participating for the first time: Gallery FUMI (London), Jenkins Johnson Gallery (San Francisco), Lehmann Maupin (New York), Mercado Moderno (Rio de Janeiro), Nathalie Karg Gallery (New York), and Tina Kim Gallery (New York). In addition, FOG’s iconic installation 21POP by Stanlee Gatti, which artfully celebrates makers, will return to the fair’s entryway this year.

Programming highlights include:

• Conversations with contemporary artists expanding on exhibitions taking place in the Bay Area during FOG including:

- A talk with artist Simon Denny and Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco curator Claudia Schmuckli.

- A conversation with artist Rashaad Newsome and ARTnews editor-in-chief Sarah Douglas.

- A talk with curator and writer Jacqueline Francis with artists Adia Millett and Cheryl Derricotte, responding to representations of race and identity in the exhibition, Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963–1983, at the de Young Museum.

• Talks looking at the intersection of art and technology including:

- A conversation between Tina Vaz, head, Artist in Residence and Analog Research Lab at Facebook, and Elena Soboleva, Director of Online Sales at David Zwirner, about how tech companies are creating innovative spaces for artists

- A panel discussion about the way digital collecting is impacting and changing the art market with leaders in the field, including Artsy Community Marketplace Strategist Alexander Forbes, Gagosian Director Ken Maxwell, [On Approval] Founder Andrew McClintock, and Lobus Co-CEO Sarah Wendell Sherrill.

• Conversations that address social issues relevant to our modern world, including:

- A discussion, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, about how to balance gender representation in museums and private collections. This panel features artist Andrea Bowers, SFMOMA senior curator Gary Garrels, activist collector Komal Shah, and ARTnews editor-in-chief Sarah Douglas.

- A look at community building through architecture with architects Tatiana Bilbao and Marshall Brown and led by SFMOMA Architecture + Design curators Joseph Becker and Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher.

• Programming that celebrates art and design in its many variant forms, including:

- A talk focused on the intersection of food, art, and design with artist Rosana Castrillo Díaz, MARCH conceptual lifestyle store owner, Sam Hamilton, chef Corey Lee, and gallerist Anthony Meier.

- A conversation about art and museum making with Megan Steinman, director of The Underground Museum and artist Rodney McMillian.

- A discussion about Radical: Italian Design 1965–1985 with The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston curator Cindi Strauss and collector Dennis Freedman, presented by Christie’s.

 More info: https://www.fogfair.com/