Rashaad Newsome Promises Radical Futurity at Fort Mason

The preview for Rashaad Newsome’s exhibition To Be Real actually came to town months ago, in the small screening room of an institution miles away from Fort Mason. The videos STOP PLAYING IN MY FACE! and ICON, both still on view at the Museum of the African Diaspora, are electrifying mergers of digital animation, spoken audio clips and pulsing beats. To Be Real showcases Newsome’s work in other media, including collage, sculpture and an “AI work.” The exhibition draws from a variety of sources—black and queer culture, the internet, advertising—and promises to reflect on “the radical futurity of emerging identities.” –Sarah Hotchkiss