The San Francisco Citizen

Comes now the famous Maya Lin, who asks the question:

“What would happen if you took a hill inside?”

It might look something like what she’s standing on, which is called 2 x 4 Landscape. You can check out this installation and the rest of Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park until January 18th, 2009. 

Official photos are here.

This wire grid depicts an underwater “landscape” we can’t otherwise see:

The affable Ms. Lin with Presenting Curator Karin Breuer and Fiona Chan:

Maya gave a short talk under the shimmering perforated copper walls of the new de Young: 

This is yet another big show from Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Director John Buchanan and Board President Diane B. “Dede” Wilsey. Brace yourselves, more blockbusters are on the way:

Travis Kiyota, PG&E’s government and public affairs director for the Bay Area, said a few words about his employer being the presenting sponsor for this exhibit:

And wouldn’t you like a limited edition Maya Lin to put up your wall as a talking piece? There’s special pricing until December 1, 2008 - $12,500 for non-museum members:

“This new limited-edition sculpture by Maya Lin, created on the occasion of her exhibition at the de Young continues the artist’s exploration of the contours of natural forms. Its thin, sinuous shape traces the path of the Tuolumne River through the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Cast from the reclaimed silver of photo etchings, the work is mounted with pins that fix to the wall. The edition is presented in an elegant, hot-stamped portfolio box.”

Now according to 7×7 Magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle, this representation is meant to show the Tuolomne River before the Hetch Hetchy dam, but it sure looks like you can see both the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and the New San Pedro Reservoir in there. It’s certainly possible to think that Maya meant to depict the dammed river as it appears these days. 

More details after the jump. See you there!

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The Mother of All Museum Exhibitions is coming to Golden Gate Park’s de Young Museum in June 2009. It’s Tutankhamun! It’s on! That’s right, the King of Bling is coming back to San Francisco for the first time in 30 years.

Well, maybe not King Tut himself:

“Tutankhamun’s mummy and the inner sarcophagus are still located in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. The outer sarcophagi and shrines are at the Cairo Museum. Neither the mummy nor any of the sarcophagi have ever traveled.”

But this show, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, is going to be way better than The Treasures of Tutankhamun, which is what what people were able to see the last go around three decades ago.

Check out this gorgeous gorget. Wouldn’t you like to hang it on your chest?  Bling bling, baby. Click to expand:

Pectoral with Solar/Lunar Emblem and Scarab. Dynasty 18, reign of Tutankhamun (1332-1322 BC). Gold, silver, electrum, semiprecious stones. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Carter 267d. Photo: Kenneth Garrett © 2008/National Geographic.

O.K., people, now brace yourselves. Tut is going to cost you some coin. Yes, even if you’re already a member. But this show might be what it takes for you to join the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (800 777-9996) As they say, membership has its privileges and you might appreciate that when all the madding crowds surround you.  

Here’s what you need to know now. The exhibition opens on June 27, 2009 and runs through March 28, 2010. And the ‘zeum will be open until 9:00 PM every day for months just to accomodate all the expected people. So, you’re going to need to get your tickets early for best results. They’ll be available sometime near the begining of 2009.  

If you want to know the moment tickets go on sale, then sign up for the e-newsletter why don’t you?

More details here at the mainstream media’s SFGate, where they (remarkably) cite Wikipedia as a source of information.

See you there in 2009!

Full details after the jump.

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