Andy Goldsworthy: Red Flags

This summer, FOR-SITE presents Andy Goldsworthy: Red Flags, a site-specific exhibition by the internationally acclaimed artist, on view at Fort Mason’s Gateway Pavilion in partnership with Fort Mason Art. Marking the West Coast debut of Goldsworthy’s monumental installation Red Flags (2020), the exhibition features fifty 5 x 8-foot flags, each stained red with earth collected from one of the fifty US states. Originally hung in New York’s Rockefeller Center, the flags’ presentation at Fort Mason coincides with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, reflecting on geographic and political boundaries, and on the ties between people, land, and nation. Rather than displaying emblems that differentiate each state, Goldsworthy’s flags ask us to consider what unifies them—and us.

A focused selection of additional artworks in the pavilion’s Main Gallery highlights red earth as a recurring material in Goldsworthy’s practice, which the artist has described as “the earth’s veins.” The exhibition follows Goldsworthy’s 2022 Fort Mason installation Firehouse and continues FOR-SITE’s longstanding collaboration with the artist, including Spire (2008) and Wood Line (2011) in the Presidio, works that have become enduring parts of the region’s cultural landscape.

Andy Goldsworthy: Red Flags is organized by FOR-SITE and presented with Fort Mason Art, with generous exhibition support from Haines Gallery, FOR-SITE’s Board of Directors, and the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. Installation services are provided by Fides Industrial.‍ ‍