Top 10 Must-See Art Exhibitions in the Bay Area This Fall
After a long, rainy summer, the Bay Area art scene is beginning to thaw out, with galleries returning from summer vacation and museums kicking off the fall. The country seems to be spiraling ever further towards authoritarian chaos, but a small flame of resistance burns bright in our cultural spaces. This season’s lineup of exhibitions brings together artists and activists across generations, at large institutions and small art spaces alike, offering modes of resistance and community through art. Be it a celebration of local Filipino artists, the newly renovated Museum of the African Diaspora’s exhibition on Blackness and the cosmos, the formal experimentations of Jim Melchert, or Suzanne Jackson’s diaphanous hanging paintings, we are reminded that art itself is a radical act.
Mike Henderson: Truth, Love, and Curiosity
Haines Gallery, 2 Marina Boulevard, Building C, San Francisco, California
Through October 25
Mike Henderson is a force. At 82 years old, the pioneering Bay Area painter’s work remains as fresh and innovative as ever. His solo show at Haines Gallery features 16mm films from the 1970s and ’80s and brand-new paintings, alongside pieces from the ’90s and early 2000s that result from persistent, exploratory revision, earning them the nickname “worry paintings.” On view for the first time, the abstract compositions in Truth, Love, and Curiosity are both explosive and measured, exhibiting Henderson at his most experimental and exacting.
Julio César Morales: OJO and My America
Gallery Wendi Norris, 436 Jackson Street, San Francisco, California
September 19–November 1
Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, 254 Old Davis Road, Davis, California
Through November 29
Returning to his full-time art practice after several years as a curator and museum director in Arizona, Julio César Morales debuts two concurrent exhibitions in the Bay Area: OJO and My America. In both shows, the Mexican-born artist tackles themes of human trafficking and immigration on his own terms. A neon sign heralding “tomorrow is for those who can hear it coming” resonates with intimate watercolors of figures hiding in desperate modes of transportation — perhaps seeking that tomorrow.
Auudi Dorsey: What’s Left, Never Left
Jonathan Carver Moore, 966 Market Street, San Francisco, California
October 9–December 20
Following a six-week residency at the gallery, New Orleans-based painter Auudi Dorsey will open his first solo exhibition at Jonathan Carver Moore. His new body of figurative work imagines scenes from the now-defunct Lincoln Beach amusement park in New Orleans, which was a hub of Black community during Jim Crow-era segregation. Here, Dorsey paints into the absent documentation of this landmark of Black joy and leisure.
Jim Melchert: Where the Boundaries Are
di Rosa SF, 1150 25th Street, San Francisco, California
October 18–January 3, 2026
The first major retrospective dedicated to late artist Jim Melchert, this exhibition mines the continuum of conceptual ceramic art in the Bay Area. Accompanied by the work of contemporary artists carrying on his legacy, Melchert’s geometric abstractions tangle with photography and performance. With a brand of experimentation deeply rooted in materiality, Melchert had his head in the clouds and his hands in the mud.
MAKIBAKA: A Living Legacy
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, San Francisco, California
Through January 4, 2026
Organized with the SOMA Pilipinas cultural organization, MAKIBAKA celebrates the history and legacy of San Francisco’s Filipino community through works ranging from fine art to protest posters. The show takes its title from the Tagalog word meaning to struggle, resist, and defy and features work by over 20 artists and collectives, including Cherisse Alcantara’s luminous paintings of light and shadow in urban scenes and England Hidalgo’s palimpsestic homages to historic Filipino spaces in the city.
Suzanne Jackson: What is Love
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third Street, San Francisco, California
September 29–March 1, 2026
What is Love marks the first museum retrospective to explore the many facets of the formidable Suzanne Jackson’s career. From paintings blending figuration and abstraction to touring as a ballet dancer, writing poetry, working on theatrical set design, and owning an art gallery, this exhibition gives us a complete portrait of the artist. Jackson’s gentle landscapes and surreal figures mesh with her signature hanging sculptures, often composed primarily of acrylic paint and gel exploding with playful color and form.
Black Spaces: Remain & Reclaim
Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak Street, Oakland, California
Through March 1, 2026
The Bay Area’s Black community has a long history of facing