Jenkins Johnson Gallery

SF Art Galleries - Openings & Events Event source calendar Event Link: see venue calendar above ^^ David C. Driskell Wake Up Everybody Opening Reception Friday, October 2, 2026 5:30 - 7:30 pm Special Talk by Julie McGee 6:15 pm 1275 Minnesota St, #200 San Francisco, CA Jenkins Johnson Gallery is pleased to present David C. Driskell: Wake Up Everybody, a new exhibition celebrating the creative legacy of the legendary artist, curator, art historian, and educator David C. Driskell. Featuring works created between 1960 and the early 2000s, the exhibition brings together paintings, works on paper, collage, and printmaking—including linocuts, woodcuts, and serigraphs. As part of the opening reception, we are pleased to host a special talk by art historian and curator Julie McGee, one of the leading experts on the art of David C. Driskell. Wake Up Everybody will open on Friday, October 2, 2026 from 5:30-7:30pm at 1275 Minnesota St, #200, San Francisco, CA. David C. Driskell was a lifelong artist, but he perennially prioritized the support and promotion of other artists ahead of himself. Driskell was an arts educator and scholar for nearly 40 years and a pioneering curator, best known for curating the groundbreaking 1976 exhibition Two Centuries of Black American Art. All the while, he maintained a personal artistic practice which defied categorization. This exhibition samples some of his diverse areas of interest and means of expression: figuration and abstraction, Christian devotional art and traditional African craft, landscapes and natural phenomena, jazz musicians and more rendered through painting, collage, assemblage and printmaking. The selected works also reflect the breadth of Driskell’s life experiences, drawing inspiration from his upbringing in the American South, his travels throughout Africa, and his deep connection to the landscape of Maine. The exhibition title is drawn from the 1975 song Wake Up Everybody, written and performed by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, featuring a young Teddy Pendergrass. The song stands as a call to action, speaking to a variety of communities to rise up and be part of the new consciousness of the era. Taking particular note of the lyric “Wake up all the teachers, time to teach a new way,” we wish to honor Driskell’s enduring influence as a teacher and mentor to generations of African American artists. The exhibition will open on Friday, October 2, as part of the Museum of African Diaspora’s Nexus, the Bay Area’s Black Arts Week. The exhibition opening will be accompanied by a special talk by author and art historian Julie McGee, author of David C. Driskell: Artist and Scholar, and curator of David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History. McGee’s in-depth knowledge of Driskell’s practice and personal connection to Driskell as an individual will bring unique insight into his creative and intellectual breadth and depth. We are honored to have this esteemed expert participating with this landmark exhibition. “Envisioned collaboratively before the artist’s passing, David C. Driskell: Wake Up Everybody is a California homecoming for the distinguished artist and scholar,” McGee commented of the exhibition, elaborating “Driskell’s California network—enduring friendships and institutional connections instrumental to Black arts building—spanned the arc of his career. Showcasing the artist’s creative work from the 1960s forward, Wake Up Everybody is both a remembrance and a call to action. No more backward thinking, time for thinking ahead. The ancestors are watching.” For full press release click the link below. Please send any inquiries or requests to info@jenkinsjohnsongallery.com or call (415) 677-0770. Press Release Dr. David C. Driskell (June 7, 1931 – April 1, 2020) received numerous honors throughout his lifetime, including the National Humanities Medal in 2000. His legacy continues through the annual David C. Driskell Prize, established by the High Museum of Art in 2005, as well as through…