Occupying a suite of former military structures in the Presidio overlooking the San Francisco Bay, Home Land Security (10 September - 18 December 2016) brings together works by contemporary artists and collectives from around the globe to reflect on the human dimensions and increasing complexity of national security, including the physical and psychological borders we create, protect, and cross in its name.
The exhibition extends FOR-SITE's focus on provocative art about place, inviting viewers into decommissioned batteries, an administrative building, and a chapel - some open to the public for the first time - that served for decades as key sites in the US Army's Coastal Defense System. The 18 featured artists represent diverse points of origin - including China, Cuba, Iran, Israel, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Syria, the United States, and Vietnam - underscoring the universality of themes of home, safety, and defense in an increasingly pervasive climate of fear and distrust. The artworks, which encompass media ranging from painting and sculpture to video and performance, respond to both personal and cultural concerns, with the historic sites of Fort Winfield Scott providing a new context for signature pieces and a showcase for site-specific commissions.
Home Land Security builds on previous artistic collaborations with the National Park Service, the Presidio Trust, and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and commemorates the park service's centennial.
Image: Do Ho Suh, Some/One, 2005, © Do Ho Suh; photo: Robert Divers Herrick
