At this weekend’s More than 2 Blocks of Art event, go upstairs at the Ikea on Market Street, past the meatballs and the dressers, to the third floor where artist Cara Goldstein’s work will be on exhibit. These bright pieces of digitally-designed art printed on large vinyl banners broadcast her love of buildings, with personal musings written next to depictions of San Francisco structures.
During the pandemic, Facebook friends would engage with Goldstein as she posted the work online. “I kept it going to give us all hope and nostalgia,” says Goldstein. “Some people said it made them appreciate the city even though it was being boarded up and closed down. It was a way to keep the good times alive.” Goldstein moved to the Bay Area from New York to “escape 9/11 and got lost in [San Francisco’s] candy-colored buildings and gay life.”
The pieces depict various buildings she’s lived in, and they’ve been able to move her through breakups and tough times. “Buildings to me are like containers holding me up… they saved me from heartache.”
Goldstein says the San Francisco Examiner purchased four of her artworks last year but was only able to run two of them. “It was amazing to look at the newspaper stands and not be able to find one. The only copy [I could find was through] an ex-girlfriend who the story of heartbreak [on the artwork] was about,” she says. Several of the pieces were also recently displayed with queer and feminist art at Berkeley’s Shotgun Players in combination with the play Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties.
Artist Paul Madonna recommended Goldstein for the Ikea display; you can see Goldstein there this weekend—and maybe pick up a Malm or a Friheten at the same time.
The 11th annual More than 2 Blocks of Art event happens September 21 and 22 from 11am to 6pm along Market Street, roughly between 5th and 8th. See a map here.