The Marina’s Hotel Del Sol will become home to more than 60 art exhibitions this weekend, as the Startup Art Fair returns after a five-year COVID hiatus for a three-day gallery bazaar.
We remember the pre-COVID days when the Startup Art Fair would do a full takeover of the vintage 1950s motor lodge-style Hotel Del Sol, and transform each room into a different standalone art display. But understandably, the Startup Art Fair went on hiatus during COVID, and the fair has not been held since 2019.
But now it’s back. The Bay Area News Group reports that the Startup Art Fair is back at the Hotel Del Sol this weekend, April 18-20. The art fair’s website and their Facebook feed has a pretty good rundown of the 60+ participating artists. And the Hotel del Sol has been hosting these total-hotel takeovers since opening in 1998 ± you also may recall the similar early 2010s ArtPad events at the Phoenix Hotel in the Tenderloin.
“Hotel fairs actually kind of have a long legacy in the world of art,” a Startup Art Fair spokesperson explained to SFist in 2017. “It started in the 70s at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York.”
There are a few standout installations and performances in the three-day mix. Well-known local queer artist Midori will play Godzilla in a 2 pm Sunday performance art piece called Godzilla vs The Golden Peril, Brazilian performer Guta Gati will do a 2pm Saturday performance of duration-sitting on a chair made of lard, and artist Margaret Timbrell will bring back her “Selfie Wall” where you too can get a misspelled version of whatever autocorrect changes your name to embroidered onto a wall.
There will also be craft cocktails, and DJs spinning sets on Friday and Saturday night.
The Startup Art Fair is Friday, April 18 (2-10 pm) Saturday, April 19 (Noon-9 pm) Sunday, April 20 (Noon-7 pm) at Hotel Del Sol, 3100 Webster Street (at Greenwich Street). $20 advance, $25 at the door, Tickets here.
Related: Art Show Invades Entire Marina Hotel For stARTup Art Fair [SFist]
Image: Startup Art Fair via Facebook
