Here and home: Larry Sultan’s vivid chronicles of California go on show at SFMOMA

From now until 23 June, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art honours photographer Larry Sultan with a show titled ‘Here and Home’. Until his passing in 2009, Sultan chronicled and re-imagined California through a medium of his own, combining visual and textual artefacts with photographs described as ‘staged documentary’.
This compact yet broad-reaching retrospective brings back Evidence, the pioneering book project from 1977 that explored ambiguity and appropriation by taking archival government and corporate images out of context. ‘This is the closest that Evidence has come to a correct installation, mimicking how they were laid out in the book,’ says Mike Mandel, co-collaborator of the original project.
The exhibition also includes Pictures from Home (1983–92), which treats his parents’ suburban home like a private anthropological study by recreating narratives through intimate portraits, interior photography, and personal belongings – including a letter to Sultan’s father from his employer. The Valley (1997-2003), which began as commissioned work for a men’s magazine, documents the porn industry of his home San Fernando Valley with behind-the-scene shots of film sets juxtaposed with deceptively monotonous details of a cookie-cutter home.
In addition to more than 200 photographs and an actual billboard, the display includes Study Hall, which takes a peek at his creative process through books, ephemera and touch screens displaying discarded images.
If you can’t get enough of Sultan’s work, catch a related exhibition happening at Minnesota Street Project in Dogpatch. Elsewhere, Casemore Kirkeby gallery presents his editorial and commercial projects, including a 2003 assignment for Walllpaper* in which he staged and photographed modern furniture on tacky adult film sets. Fake Newsroom, also available online, is a timely tribute to Sultan and Mandel’s early collaboration Newsroom (1983), in which the duo altered the meaning of real-time wire press photographs by presenting them in new sequences.
Woman in Curlers, from the series The Valley, 2002.
Practicing Golf Swing, from the series Pictures from Home, 1986.
Canal District, San Rafael, from the series Homeland, 2006. Promised gift of Robert Mailer Anderson and Nicola Miner to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Batting Cage, from the series Homeland, 2007. Promised gift of Michal Venera to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Backyard Hercules, from the series Homeland, 2009. Promised gift of Nion McEvoy to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
My Mother Posing for Me, from the series Pictures From Home, 1984.
Business Page, from the series Pictures From Home, 1985.
Discussion, Kitchen Table, from the series Pictures From Home, 1985.
Dad with Golf Clubs, from the series Pictures From Home, 1987.
Untitled, by Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel, from the series Evidence, 1977.
Untitled, by Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel, from the series Evidence, 1977.
Oranges on Fire, by Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel, 1975.
Sharon Wild, from the series The Valley, 2001.
Sunset, from the series Pictures from Home, 1989.
INFORMATION
‘Here and Home’ is on view until 23 July. For more information, visit the SFMOMA website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
ADDRESS
151 3rd Street
San Francisco CA 94103
-
Fluid workspaces: is the era of prescriptive office design over?
We discuss evolving workspaces and track the shape-shifting interiors of the 21st century. If options are what we’re after in office design, it looks like we’ve got them
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This collection of slow furniture is a powerful ode to time
A serene exhibition of David Dolcini's 'Time-made' collection has fast-tracked its place into our hearts and homes
By Ifeoluwa Adedeji Published
-
Is the Pragma P1 the most sustainable watch yet?
Geneva-based brand Pragma combines industrial design with real sustainable credentials
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Desert X 2025 review: a new American dream grows in the Coachella Valley
Will Jennings reports from the epic California art festival. Here are the highlights
By Will Jennings Last updated
-
In ‘The Last Showgirl’, nostalgia is a drug like any other
Gia Coppola takes us to Las Vegas after the party has ended in new film starring Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl
By Billie Walker Published
-
‘American Photography’: centuries-spanning show reveals timely truths
At the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Europe’s first major survey of American photography reveals the contradictions and complexities that have long defined this world superpower
By Daisy Woodward Published
-
Sundance Film Festival 2025: The films we can't wait to watch
Sundance Film Festival, which runs 23 January - 2 February, has long been considered a hub of cinematic innovation. These are the ones to watch from this year’s premieres
By Stefania Sarrubba Published
-
What is RedNote? Inside the social media app drawing American users ahead of the US TikTok ban
Downloads of the Chinese-owned platform have spiked as US users look for an alternative to TikTok, which faces a ban on national security grounds. What is Rednote, and what are the implications of its ascent?
By Anna Solomon Published
-
Architecture and the new world: The Brutalist reframes the American dream
Brady Corbet’s third feature film, The Brutalist, demonstrates how violence is a building block for ideology
By Billie Walker Published
-
‘Gas Tank City’, a new monograph by Andrew Holmes, is a photorealist eye on the American West
‘Gas Tank City’ chronicles the artist’s journey across truck-stop America, creating meticulous drawings of fleeting moments
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Intimacy, violence and the uncanny: Joanna Piotrowska in Philadelphia
Artist and photographer Joanna Piotrowska stages surreal scenes at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania
By Hannah Silver Published