Odonchimeg Davaadorj: Sound of Sun & Michail Michailov: Self-Brainwashing | re.riddle // Minnesota Street Project | San Francisco | Jan 17–March 1, 2025
Odonchimeg Davaadorj: Sound of Sun and Michail Michailov: Self-Brainwashing
January 17–March 1, 2025 Solo Exhibition & Performance Piece Curated by Candace Huey. Image: Michail Michailov. Self-Brainwashing, 2025. Presented by re.riddle at Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco.
re.riddle // Minnesota Street Project 1275 Minnesota Street San Francisco, CA 94107
Odonchimeg Davaadorj. Bella of Night, 2024; Red Poem, 2024; Ulaya, 2024. re.riddle, San Francisco.
Overview
Let me first start off by saying that SF Art Week was phenomenal, with SO MUCH INCREDIBLE ART over the past few weeks. Wonderful people, of course. Fabulous parties. San Francisco is spoiled for choice right now when it comes to great art.
Preview of re.riddle’s Odonchimeg Davaadorj: Sound of Sun. Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco.
“The surreal universes in Odonchimeg Davaadorj’s ink paintings reveal a mythology of uncanny chimeras, blending folk art and speculative fiction.Sound of Sun, her second solo exhibition with re.riddle, evokes synesthesia, conjuring the sun as the genesis of all beings. Inspired by Mongolian traditions, Davaadorj explores the sun’s omnipotent presence, its rhythmic movements calibrating earthly life.
Rendered entirely in sanguine reds, her work symbolizes the body’s interior systems, intertwining arteries with motifs of life cycles, ancestral lineages, and renewal—an ecology of cross-species interdependence.Donna Haraway termed this coexistence ‘making kin,’ recognizing all beings as entwined in unfinished configurations of time and meaning.
Davaadorj’s paintings offer portals to these interior and exterior landscapes, where life is grounded in the sensuality of flesh and the invisible threads binding all existence. Sound of Sun envisions a kinship awakened daily by the pulse of aliveness.”
In this world, blood is the energy binding humans, nature, the cosmos—the sun. I love the many layers of life forces—funny cause there is no real forcing in life—depicted in her work. Hers is a strong example of surrealism, done in a soft hand, heard throughout. ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SHOW. See it before it closes on March 1, 2025.
Michail Michailov’s Self-Brainwashing
Preview of re.riddle’s Michail Michailov: Self-Brainwashing. Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco.
“Inspired by ’90s foam parties, Self-Brainwashing invites participants to don white protective suits and enter a space filled with ethereal foam, creating a duality of delight and disorientation. Foam’s impermanence underscores the subtle ways ideology seeps into daily life, not through force but through consumerism, spectacle, and cultural commodification.”
Originally debuted at the 2022 Venice Biennale, Michail Michailov’s Self-Brainwashing invites attendees to engage as either spectators or active participants in a live foam installation. The 35-minute performance, set to an immersive soundtrack performed by a selection of sound artists, features a choreographed formation in which participants, wearing protective suits connected to a large receptacle, create a circular pool to contain the outpouring foam.
At one point, the foam was so high that it covered many of the participants’ heads. After the performance, some played with the bubbles, tossing them in the air. I wanted to know if the foam was cold, as the warehouse was a bit chilly. Apparently, it was not.
It was interesting for me to see how people, including myself, reacted to the foam. The experience itself (I was an observer, not a participant) was far more intense than I had expected.
Michail Michailov and re.riddle’s Candace Huey with Michail Michailov’s Self-Brainwashing, 2025. Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco.
I felt like I was watching some sort of ritual from a dystopian future—perhaps a religious celebration or a mass space suit cleansing. It was completely hypnotic and left me with a thrilling sense of wonder—and I think that is what good art is about. It stays with you. Sometimes it’s haunting, sometimes it’s joy. It’s the art high I’m always looking for, and once again, re.riddle delivers, as does Minnesota Street Project. Michailov’s Self-Brainwashing has since closed, but its impression remains—a reminder of how art transmutes energy: pleasures, entertains.
🗓 Odonchimeg Davaadorj: Sound of Sun runs until March 1, 2025, at re.riddle gallery located on the second floor of Minnesota Street Project.
💌 Did you see the show(s)? What did you think? Let us know in the comments (in the Reviews section located on the second tab at the top of the page).
QUICK GUIDE: re.riddle // MINNESOTA STREET PROJECT
⭐ LOCATION: Minnesota Street Project is located at 1275 Minnesota Street between 23rd and 24th streets (3 min walk from the 3rd Street stop on the T Line) and 1150 25th Street between 24th and 25th streets (5 min walk from the 3rd Street stop on the T Line). *From 1275 Minnesota Street, EXIT LEFT and walk up the hill for the 1150 25th Street galleries.
Dogpatch Saloon [Cozy dog-friendly neighborhood bar.] (5 min walk/2 min drive).
⭐ NEARBY ATTRACTIONS:
Minnesota Grove [Pedestrian path and garden.] (across the street)
*TIP: If you’re visiting the galleries and want to check out the local flora and fauna, be sure to stop at the Minnesota Grove garden located on Minnesota Street between 24th and 25th streets. It’s such a lovely thing to do on a beautiful sunny day in SF.
💌More nearby suggestions are always welcome. Feel free to add in the comments!
MINNESOTA STREET PROJECT GALLERIES
re.riddle
re.riddle is an art gallery located in San Francisco that exhibits socially engaging, multidisciplinary and aesthetically sophisticated contemporary art. We also offer art advisory services for collectors and companies. Discover our latest projects, art exhibitions and artworks for sale.
Altman Siegel
Altman Siegel was founded by Claudia Altman-Siegel in 2009. The program focuses on internationally recognized, museum-level artists whose work contributes to the cultural dialogue domestically and abroad. The gallery presents significant Bay Area artists and brings international artists to San Francisco for the first time. The core gallery program focuses on young and emerging artists, but the gallery also punctuates the program with historical exhibitions to provide depth and context.
Eleanor Harwood Gallery
Established in 2006, Eleanor Harwood Gallery exhibits painting, drawing, sculpture, textiles and photography. The gallery specializes in work with complex craft and concept. The gallery’s aesthetic often includes meticulous work not so much for its order but for its integrity of purpose. Many of the roster of artists are from the Bay Area or have their roots in San Francisco arts community, even if they now live far away. The programming of the gallery focuses on emerging to mid-career artists exhibiting nationally and internationally. The roster includes artists that are represented in major collections. The gallery actively promotes and encourages career growth for represented artists.
Anglim/Trimble
A new gallery with a long history. Anglim/Trimble represents a range of artists who live in the Bay Area and beyond. Opening in 2021, the gallery has deep, historical roots in San Francisco Bay Area art, having emerged from the legacies of Gallery Paule Anglim and Anglim Gilbert Gallery. Today the gallery presents about ten exhibitions a year from September–June. Our artists work across media from drawing to sculpture to video and focus on themes that include time, socio-political issues, climate change, perception, and the body.
Jenkins Johnson Gallery
Jenkins Johnson Gallery, founded in San Francisco in 1996, is a member of the ADAA and represents international contemporary artists working across disciplines. We exhibit the works of 20th century masters including Jae Jarrell, Wadsworth Jarrell, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Gordon Parks, Ming Smith, and Aubrey Williams. Our program also includes established, mid-career and emerging artists, such as Lisa Corinne Davis, Enrico Riley, Alex Jackson, and Gregory Rick. Our artists’ works are in many museums around the world, and they have participated in international invitational exhibitions and have been reviewed in many major periodicals. We are a 100% Blackowned gallery that is expanding the art canon to include overlooked and under-represented artists of the African Diaspora. Led by an experienced Black American gallerist, Karen Jenkins-Johnson, the gallery has developed a diverse curatorial and collector audience. Significant artists of historical importance such as Roy DeCarava, and our 20th century roster were exhibited by Jenkins Johnson before they achieved international acclaim, helping them receive the recognition they deserve.
Rena Bransten Gallery
Since its inception, Rena Bransten Gallery (founded by Rena Bransten in 1974), has sought to define its artistic program by including established and emerging artists whose work engages with contemporary, social, and cultural climates. While originally focused on ceramic sculpture, often by California artists, the physical gallery space and scope of exhibitions quickly expanded to include a multidisciplinary program –while sustaining a deeply rooted connection to the crafted object.
SFArtsED
The San Francisco Arts Education Project was founded in 1968, and for 50 years has stayed true to its mission to enrich the lives of children by facilitating hands-on participation in the visual and performing arts, taught by practicing artists. Over the course of five decades, SFArtsED programs have touched the lives of more than 250,000 children.
Nancy Toomey Fine Art Gallery
Nancy Toomey Fine Art is a venue for established and emerging artists whose work exemplifies the innovation of contemporary art while advancing the standards of its quality.
Jack Fischer Gallery
Jack Fischer Gallery opened 16 years ago with a focus on exhibiting the work of so-called “outsider” artists alongside “insider” artists.
Municipal Bonds
Municipal Bonds in San Francisco is a contemporary art gallery dedicated to material-driven practices in diverse media, focused on conceptual rigor and narrative depth. Founded in 2019 by Emily Miller, its program encompasses exhibitions, monographs, and site-specific commissions. Representing California-rooted and international artists, the gallery champions dialogue across regional and global perspectives.
/ (Slash)
/ (Slash) is an artist-run 501c(3) nonprofit exhibition space founded by Ana İpek Saygı in 2018 to advance and promote the expanding field of contemporary art in San Francisco. Slash brings together local, national, and international artists through guest-curated and open call-based exhibitions, accompanied by publications and public programs.
Bass & Reiner
Located in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco, Bass & Reiner is a contemporary fine art gallery focused on emerging artists. Bass & Reiner was founded in 2014 as a curatorial project concerned with increasing engagement opportunities for the Bay Area contemporary art community. As the project developed, a gallery formed as a space dedicated to the exhibition and promotion of emerging artists and their work. Bass & Reiner is currently run by Cléa Massiani and Chris Grunder.
Casemore Gallery
Opened in 2015, Casemore established itself with a commitment to unique programming concentrated on new methods of photography. Dedicated to San Francisco’s extensive history in the development of photographic movements, the approach of founders Julie Casemore applies long-standing relationships to artists in the roster including the Estate of Larry Sultan, Steve Kahn, Jim Goldberg, Todd Hido and John Gossage, while introducing the next generation of West Coast contemporary photographers including Sean McFarland, Owen Kydd, and Suné Woods.
Hashimoto Contemporary
Hashimoto Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery originally founded in 2013 by Ken Harman Hashimoto. In 2023 the gallery announced two new partners, Dasha Matsuura and Jennifer Rizzo. Our roster consists of an eclectic blend of emerging and established contemporary artists working primarily within our respective local communities. Hashimoto Contemporary provides a dual platform to both marginalized and mainstream voices.
A LOVE LETTER TO ART RECOMMENDS
ONSITE DINING
Besharam
Tucked inside Minnesota Street Project, a contemporary art gallery space within San Francisco’s historic Dogpatch district, Besharam is an Indian restaurant showcasing regional Gujarati cuisine from chef/owner Heena Patel. Roughly translated to mean “shameless,” Besharam features Heena’s bold interpretation of the flavors and dishes that were prevalent throughout her childhood in India, playfully reimagined within a California context.
NEARBY ART
Museum of Craft and Design | 2569 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94107
The Museum of Craft and Design is the only museum in San Francisco devoted to craft and design. Founded in 2004, MCD showcases designers, makers and artists through an exciting and distinctive series of craft and design-focused exhibitions and public programs. As a non-collecting institution, the museum actively collaborates with artists, designers, museums, and universities, as well as design venues and practitioners to create inspirational experiences in the world of craft and design for visitors of all ages.
Letterform Archive | 2325 3rd St Floor 4R, San Francisco, CA 94107
Letterform Archive is a nonprofit center for inspiration, education, publishing, and community in graphic design. We share the joy of letters with design-curious people. The Archive was founded by Rob Saunders, a collector of the letter arts for over 40 years, as a place to share his private collection with the public. We opened to visitors in February 2015 and now offer hands-on access to a curated collection of over 100,000 items related to lettering, typography, calligraphy, and graphic design, spanning thousands of years of history.
NEARBY DINING
Philz Coffee | 1258 Minnesota St, San Francisco, CA 94107
We specialize in customized blends with coffee shops in California and Chicago, IL Buy coffee online or find your nearest Philz location.
Piccino | 1001 Minnesota St. San Francisco, CA 94107
Italian-inspired California cuisine featuring a seasonally driven menu with bright & fresh antipasti, hand-tossed pizza, homemade pasta, mouth-watering entrees, a curated wine selection, and craft cocktails.
Marcella’s Lasagneria | 1099 Tennessee St, San Francisco, CA 94107
A beautiful blend of light, fresh local produce and the finest Italian ingredients that come together in a delicious way. Sit in the café for a relaxed lunch or order to go for a nice late evening dinner. Lasagnas (meat and vegetarian), panini, salads and a nice selection of home made pastas are on the menu.
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