Street Art San Francisco

With 600 stunning photographs, this comprehensive book showcases more than three decades of street art in San Francisco's legendary Mission District. Beginning in the early 1970s, a provocative street-art movement combining elements of Mexican mural painting, surrealism, pop art, urban punk, eco-warrior, cartoon, and graffiti has flourished in this dynamic, multicultural community.
Rigo, Las Mujeres Muralistas, Gronk, Barry McGee (Twist), R. Crumb, Spain Rodriguez, the Billboard Liberation Front, Swoon, Sam Flores, Neckface, Shepard Fairey, Juana Alicia, Os Gemeos, Reminesce, and Andrew Schoultz are among the many artists who have made the streets of the Mission their public gallery. Essays and commentaries by insiders involved with the movement document the artistic, social, and political forces that have shaped Mission Muralismo.

Library Journal
Jacoby, who has directed many public art projects, writes, "The best way to view the murals of the Mission is through the cracked windshield of the Mexican bus that regularly tours the neighborhood." This book admirably imitates that chaotic and stimulating visual experience, documenting over 30 years of street art (murals, graffiti, billboards, and paintings on nearly every conceivable urban surface) in San Francisco's Mission District, a culturally mixed neighborhood that is home to over 500 painted murals and has long been known as an artistic haven. The extensive essays that document the evolution of public and street art in San Francisco take a backseat to the 900 full-color images of the art itself, leaping from each page in vivid colors and conjoined imagery. VERDICT A visual treat, this work adds a historical and sociological foundation to two recent publications by Steve Rotman, Bay Area Graffiti and San Francisco Street Art; together they form a thorough examination of the street art of San Francisco.—Kraig Binkowski, Yale Ctr. for British Art, New Haven, CT

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Biography
Annice Jacoby has directed innovative public art projects incorporating visual arts, literature, theater, and media. Her work includes City of Poets, for the San Francisco Library, and the Fort Point Project, for the Hague Appeal for Peace. Carlos Santana is a Grammy Award-winning musician. Raised in San Francisco's Mission District, he is a longtime mural aficionado.