Exhibition runs February 9 through April 7, 2019

Comprised of artwork created by faculty and students from the School of Art + Design, Futures Past and Present showcases works acknowledging the future in many arenas. The artworks in the exhibition consider not only how the future has been forecast in the past, but also how our present reality will inform what is yet to come. Collectively, the works reflect on personal ambitions, issues of environmental sustainability, urban growth, cultural transformations linked to gender, race, sexuality, and nationality, and technology’s influence on daily life.

Futures Past and Present investigates many possible prospective scenarios, ranging from the utopian to the dystopian. The exhibition takes us on a journey through space and time, as we are invited into places that only exist through technology. The artists also pose existential questions relating to our own satisfaction and the ways in which we navigate a world that has come to rely on digital solutions.

Futures Past and Present is co-curated by Professor Bridget Gilman and Chantel Paul, Director of the SDSU Downtown Gallery, and organized by the SDSU Downtown Gallery in collaboration with the SDSU Library’s Special Collections and University Archives. The exhibition and events are sponsored by the SDSU Common Experience, the School of Art + Design, the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts, and Arts Alive SDSU. Additional support is provided by the San Diego State University Art Council Ambassadors.

All events are free and open to the public.

Events:

Thursday, February 14
5:00 p.m.
“The Urban Future on Film”
Lecture by Colin Marshall
Hepner Hall, Room 214
SDSU Campus

Thursday, February 21
5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Opening Reception with the Artists
SDSU Downtown Gallery

Thursday, March 21
5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Downtown at Sundown
SDSU Downtown Gallery

Holiday Closure:
April 1, 2019