Tales of San Francisco, the inaugural art exhibition at The Moscone Center, highlights the partnership between this iconic event venue and long-serving local artistic epicenter 111 Minna Gallery. The exhibition features the work of three local painters – Alec Huxley, Daniel Chen, and Ursula X. Young – who celebrate the multifarious perceptions of the City by the Bay. The storied home of the Ohlone, the Barbary Coast, the Gold Rush, the Beat Generation, the Summer of Love, the LGBTQA+ Rights Movement, the tech/biotech revolution, and more, San Francisco has attracted dreamers of all kinds, who in turn become immersed in and contribute to its creative culture. 

Daniel Chen explores the way technology has affected our visual language and how it shapes the way we think and remember the past. Much like memories themselves, Chen’s oil paintings at first appear to be blurry, abstract colors and shapes. On closer inspection – and particularly through a phone or camera lens – they reveal specific moments in San Francisco: Giants Ballpark, the Tenderloin, and Market Street. 

Ursula Xanthe Young and her urban fairy-tale imagery have become a hallmark of street culture in San Francisco and beyond. A painter, illustrator, designer, and muralist, Young creates fine-lined illustrations and colorful modern paintings that exude the whimsical, soulful, and free spirit of the city. Her rendering of skin tone blends Impressionism with pixilation, resulting in portraits of universal feminine beauty.

Alec Huxley creates cinematic scenes that serve as imperfect records of place, time, and architecture. His work is simultaneously stark and colorful, depicting space travelers moving through San Francisco neighborhoods. His process combines photography, digital composition, and acrylic painting.

Presented by The Moscone Center and 111 Minna Gallery

Curated by Olivia Ongpin