October 2026
Glen Helfand is an Oakland-based writer, critic and independent curator whose writing has appeared in art and general-interest publications. He is a professor in the Graduate Fine Arts program at California College of the Arts. This winter, he'll teach “Entering (Demystifying) the Art Matrix” with us in conjunction with BAMPFA.
First, some quick background: what is BAMPFA's MATRIX?
It's a 50-year-old program focused on small exhibitions of new, groundbreaking art and artists. It has involved conceptual art, film and video, and discoveries of artists who may not have been known in their lifetime. It's been a way for the museum to exhibit more challenging art.
What is it about the Bay Area that makes it a fertile place for experimental art?
California has often been the outskirts of the art world– on the frontier so to speak. It's different now, since Los Angeles is much more of an art world center, but for many years this was off New York's radar, so artists here could experiment more. In the '70s in particular, this was where a lot of nonprofit and alternative art spaces existed, outside the commercial framework. These galleries focused on performance, on conceptual work, on experimental projects that weren't necessarily saleable. MATRIX is part of that tradition.
I'd also say that aspects of art in the Bay Area have roots in the experiential: hippie-era psychedelia, moments that were more open to mind-expanding rather than architecture-expanding. Even the new de Young, now a beloved museum building, was hated at first for being too modern and ugly.
How did you find your way into the art world?
I studied art in school, but I didn't think I had the commitment it takes to be an artist. I definitely knew, though, that I needed to be in a creative community. I started off doing graphic design for artists and galleries, and I was in an art community with friends who were artists, some pretty amazing ones. I didn't want to be the person who goes to openings just for the free wine. If I was going to be there, I needed to be giving something back.
So I found ways to write for alternative weeklies, SF Weekly and the Bay Guardian, which kept me in it. I also curated exhibitions, which let me be on both sides of the equation: writing about art, and having people write about the exhibitions I organized. It was important to be part of a dialogue.
That led to teaching, which I've been doing for more than twenty years. I've taught MFA students at San Francisco Art Institute and Mills College, where I first taught, and I'm still at CCA through its final year. I do a lot of one-on-one meetings in artists’ studios. That's where I've really gotten to learn about the intentions behind the work.
Contemporary art can be intimidating. Like you need to have some secret key to unlock the meaning.
Contemporary art can be off-putting to a lot of people, and that's not unfounded. A lot of times, art is just opaque. What is going on here? Why should I care? There's no secret key, but there are ways in. I think one real way to learn how to see is to get the context, the backstory, the human details, the intentionality, the sometimes whimsical reference points. I've been lucky to write about art, because that lets me sit with things longer than we're encouraged to at a museum, where people look very quickly. And if you sit with something long enough, something might click.
What MATRIX artists are you most excited to discuss?
I think a key introductory area is the Bay Area conceptual artists: David Ireland, Paul Kos, Tom Marioni. They express the Bay Area ethos we started off talking about. They worked with the body and were influenced by Eastern religion and philosophy, yet they had a real sense of whimsy. Their gestures are literally delightful, like Tom Marioni drawing as far as his arm will reach. It's like, okay, I get that.
Beyond the artists, what other ideas will you introduce?
Contemporary art is contemporary, and it reflects what's going on. Some aspects of the exhibition will point to aesthetic trends of their moments. MATRIX did an AIDS timeline, for example, bringing queer artists into the museum in the '90s. It's interesting to look at identity-based work then and now, in a moment when there's again so much discrimination and so many perspectives are endangered. I've seen a lot of the MATRIX shows, so it will be interesting to see what that work looks like now.
As a museum nerd, I'm also interested in the way institutions are involved. Why this artist? Who owns this artwork? How does the MATRIX idea change when the market changes? In the '70s, fewer people were interested in photography or conceptual work. Now there may be emerging painters who are creating a traditional form yet have some element of difference. Institutional trends have an effect on what we're seeing.
What do you hope OLLI members take away from the course?
That contemporary art may seem opaque, but there are ways to enter into it and enjoy it. I also hope they can feel okay that certain things may not be interesting to them. It's okay if something's not your thing, even if it's an art world darling. It's okay to disagree, to know what works for you and trust your aesthetic interests. And at the same time, I hope the participants will allow for things to change their minds.