MISSION 17 - Information

MISSION 17 is a not-for-profit center for visual culture. We exhibit and support the work of emerging and mid-career artists, with particular emphasis on experimental art forms and the opportunities they present for social and psychological reflection.  And we work to generate public discourse about ideology and the aesthetics of everyday life.  Our programs aim 1) to promote San Francisco’s vital art scene, 2) to engage our local community with questions concerning how we see ourselves and our world, and, 3) through our publications and outreach, to contribute to the international dialogue on contemporary art and culture.

About:   Since its inception in November 2003, MISSION 17 has exhibited the work of over 250 artists. We provide artists with opportunities to produce and present challenging work that might not find an outlet elsewhere; and we help to generate critical discourse about their art.  We often encourage artists to design new projects, based on their previous work, but specific to the opportunities presented by MISSION 17.  And frequently this results in site-specific works that not only exceed the limitations of the local, commercial art market, but furthermore engage the gallery’s architecture, and the surrounding community in provocative and sometimes performative ways.

We also mount exhibitions of extra-artistic artifacts, which bring to bear aesthetic considerations on history, social science, entertainment, and other aspects of everyday life.  These shows complicate the boundaries between the gallery and its cultural surroundings, and extend the critical attention typically granted to fine art to other experiences.  As the centerpiece of this programming, we sponsor an annual residency in visual cultural criticism, which supports an emerging cultural critic in the realization of a writing project, and culminates in a publication and an exhibition based upon the project’s thesis.

And we maintain a curated archive of single-channel video art, which provides local artist with a permanent platform for the exhibition of their work, and gives local audiences access to videos by artists from across the globe.  The archive functions as a library, where visitors to MISSION 17 are invited to view works “on-demand.” And, throughout the year, we draw from the collection to mount a series of video programs, in conjunction with our regular exhibition schedule, based upon timely themes, distinct forms, and works by distinguished producers.

In January 2007, MISSION 17 became a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a not-for-profit arts service organization.  Fractured Atlas will receive grants on behalf of MISSION 17, provide oversight to ensure that grant funds are used in accordance with grant agreements, and provide reports as required by the grantor.

Director/Curator: Clark Buckner holds a PhD in Philosophy from Vanderbilt University. Along with working at MISSION 17, he teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses on video, contemporary art, and critical theory at The San Francisco Art Institute.  Previously he taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Mills College. He has presented papers at the annual meetings of The American Society for Aesthetics, The Canadian Society for Aesthetics, The American Comparative Literature Association, and The Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy.  He has published articles on art and philosophy in academic journals, such as The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism and The College Art Association's Art Journal.  And he has written extensive art criticism for such popular magazines as Art Review (UK), Bomb Magazine, and The San Francisco Bay Guardian.  In 2005, he co-edited a volume of essays on problems in Continental Philosophy, titled Styles of Piety: Practicing Philosophy After the Death of God (Fordham U.P.). And he has contributed to art shows and screenings at, among other venues, Artist's Television Access, The Berkeley Art Center, Swarm Gallery, The Haley Martin Gallery, and The Los Angeles Center for Digital Art.

Assistant Director/Curator: Laura Mott moved to San Francisco after receiving a M.A. from the Curatorial Studies Program at Bard College.  She has a BFA in Art and BA in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin and, prior to her graduate studies, worked as the Assistant Director of Peter Freeman, Inc, New York.   She has held curatorial internships at the International Artist Residency Program in Sweden (IASPIS) and The Whitney Museum of American Art. She has also independently curated projects, such as The Moment Presents Itself in four vacant brownstones in Brooklyn and her thesis Come On Pilgrim: A 110-Mile Exhibition. She writes contemporary art criticism and has been the co-editor of several publications, most notably Robert Mangold Catalogue Raisonné: Works from 1963-66 (New York: Peter Freman, 2004).

Curatorial Interns: Adam Friedman and Katie Sherman

Design Interns: Alexis Petty

Gallery Interns:  Eunice Kim, Jocelyn Shu, and JJ Pakola

Location:
2111 Mission Street, suite 401
San Francisco, CA 94110
above Thrift Town at the corner of 17th St. in the old "17 Reasons Why!" building

Hours:
Gallery Hours: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 1 - 6pm, or by appointment

Contact:
phone: 415.861.3144
email: info@mission17.org