The most interesting aspect of Viva la Revolucion: A Dialogue with the Urban Landscape is in the subtext. As I neared the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, I ran into a young couple on bikes who were excitedly pointing out street-art locations on the exhibition map and setting off on a self-guided tour.

At the private opening of Survey Select, a narrative-art show featuring 65 international artists, curator Mark Murphy looks a little worried. More than double the number of expected guests are wandering around the Wonderbread Factory, lingering at some of the more eye-catching pieces—Bonnie M. Smith’s collection of small, macabre sculptures; Logan Hicks’ meticulous, minimal black-and-white spray-painted etching; and Shawn Barber’s bold “Tattooed Self Portrait”—but in the back of Murphy’s mind is a wildfire blazing up the southern slope of Mission Valley and threatening his University Heights home, which is filled with his personal art collection.
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San Diego 2010 Comic-Con coverage

Randall Christopher describes himself as a skinny white dude with a ’fro. He’s sitting on a red couch at Influx Cafe with a Mac and a sketchbook in front of him. He’s scrawled the word “STUPID” in big letters across the front of his sketchbook, and a Vans “guest” sticker is stuck crookedly across the cover—a relic from a day-job-related meeting with the skate-apparel company earlier in the day.
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 In January of 2007, San Diego’s James and Kim Keeline received a life-changing series of e-mails. The first one was from James’ friend, informing him that a certain John Jankowski saw photos of an airship painting online and was looking for the owner. James assumed Jankowski simply wanted to buy it. “We do have the painting, but we’re not selling it,” he wrote Jankowski. “Why do you want to know?”
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And you missed the artists who go simply by Brian Ryan. The pair put on a show by playing an intense game of ping-pong while encased in a plastic bubble pumped full with a constant stream of air.

Barrio Logan collective wants to wake up the neighborhood and spread its political messages

For Bonnie Wright, music appreciation wasn’t just a phase—a grandma now, her Henceforth Records unleashes experimental music on San Diego and the world

Writer and poet Lizz Huerta seduces her audiences with a uniquely frank outlook

New exhibit turns music gear into works of art