Established in 1994 in San Francisco, the work of Bay Area practice Jensen Architects spans from parks and playgrounds to high-end residential commissions.
Sam Whiting May 2, 2021Updated: May 3, 2021, 12:28 pm
The David Ireland House at 500 Capp St. in San Francisco. Photo: Stephen Lam / The Chronicle
The David Ireland House at 500 Capp St. is closed Sundays, but artist David Wilson arrived May 2 with his own key to the front door. He jiggled open the old door lock to the 1886 Victorian and dashed across the entryway to disable the alarm as if he owned the place. For the past four months, he essentially has.
In a circumstance made possible by the COVID-19 lockdown of museums and cultural institutions, Wilson, 38, has been alone in this residential monument to the conceptual artist Ireland, who made his home in the Mission his lasting artwork before dying in 2009.
Tony Bravo April 28, 2021Updated: April 28, 2021, 5:30 pm
Carlie Wilmans at the David Ireland House on Capp Street Monday, Dec. 14, 2015 in San Francisco. Photo: Nathaniel Y. Downes, The Chronicle
When longtime arts philanthropist Carlie Wilmans first stepped into artist David Ireland’s house at 500 Capp Street in the Mission District in 2008, she had no idea she would spend 13 years of her life and more than $6 million in service of its preservation.
Beginning in the 1970s, Ireland, a well-known sculptor and conceptual artist, had turned the San Francisco space into a canvas for his site-specific installations, work that could have been lost without intervention.
In a discussion presented by Blaffer Art Museum, Asia Society Texas Center, and Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, four artists addressed the multiplicity of identities and communities they navigate in their individual practices.
Antonius-Tín Bui,
Matt Manalo (moderator), the webcast was held in conjunction with
Stephanie Syjuco: The Visible Invisible, on view at Blaffer Art Museum from October 17, 2020 – January 10, 2021.
Through an hour and a half of discussion, responding to one another s questions as well as those of the audience, the four spent time discussing how they situate their individual practices in the current political and institutional climates, as well as addressing the multiplicity of identities and communities they navigate as they create work that reflects their current realities.
We have transcribed the conversation, which you can access or download below.
Please note that while the transcript has been reviewed for accuracy, it was originally produced by an automated service and may still contain small inaccuracies.