Incline Gallery

Pretty cool space, down a tiny brick-​lined alley way off Valencia with a small upstairs loft and several storage rooms that look like they could be turned into exhibit spaces. Saw the #HomelessLivesMatter exhibit last weekend — powerful, eclectic take on the urban refugee crisis in SF. I’d go again.

Ever have the though, a old mortuary would make an awesome art gallery? Gallery owner Christo sure did. Quite brilliant and a little Freudian because who doesn’t want to look at beautiful art where people were once embalmed? The embalming room was actually super beautiful and one of my favorites. They collected postcards from all over the world and the display was really whimsical. I’ve visited this gallery twice within the span of one weekend for their Anniversary Salon Show for my artist friends Nicole Hall and Benjy Blanco’s awesome film collaboration
because it was just that awesome.
Even when getting to entrance of the gallery will set the spacial tone of the night. I really, really loved coming in because there were lights along the side and it was just. really beautiful. Opening nights are always really fun but I had to keep in mind that 40 artists, friends & family, art goers, and strangers is a large crowd. It does get a little hard to navigate on opening nights due to the hallway light, but fun to mingle with all the interesting people. DJ spinning fun tracks and with $ 3 beers is a good Friday night.
If you are looking for a more quieter scene to really psychoanalyze the artwork, come another again on another day. When I came back, I got to meet Christo and had such a lovely talk with him. Incline also had shown the work of ArtReach
which is where I used to work so we had a really nice conversation about that. Super introspective and reflective about the art world in the Bay Area. I’m really excited to see what the next show will be and see where he will take Incline next!

I love Incline Gallery… I love the experience of it! Unassuming, you might not even realize it’s there, tucked away between that new hipster clothing store in the old New College building and the bicycle store… but sometimes they put the sign for the gallery out front… inviting you down a dark, narrow alley, until you come into the light and the wood-​floored ramp entices you to come up…
And keep coming up! In fact, this long ramp IS the gallery. From what one of the gallery founders told me, the building used to house a mortuary, and the long ramp was how they rolled the deceased into the building in order to embalm. It’s long since become a mix of commercial and residential units, but that back ramp was just sitting there… that is, until several local artists decided to make it into an ad-​hoc gallery for less-​mainstream modern art.
The result is a fun space that is 100% WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE, stroller-​friendly, and a fun place to check out something you probably haven’t seen before. When they have their openings (which you can keep track of on their twitter or FB pages), they offer beer for a «donation», music, and lots of hipsters milling about, socializing, and being surprisingly friendly (must be the beer?). It’s a much more relaxed art opening scene than most galleries I’ve been to in my life, and I appreciate that!
I’m glad this place exists, and even though I’m not generally into «modern art», I definitely appreciate that it exists, enjoying seeing something I haven’t seen before, and feeling at the same time like even just visiting the space is kind of a fun adventure!

The place feels good to stop in at. The art ranges from great, to that was interesting or thought challenging. People are good too.
Hours are somewhat random, but with a strong tendency to be the same hours that most people are walking on Valencia.

This gallery is well named for the fact that the entire gallery sits on an continuous upward «spiral» ramp that goes on an incline. Pretty clever! They were showing some exhibits by a guy named Peter who had this interesting KAWS like obsession with bunnies and old records. The bunnies part was pretty awesome. They even had paper airplane dropping paper bombs…
The staff was friendly and un-​intrusive, which I liked because sometimes you walk into a gallery you just want to check it out. You don’t need any help. The ramps were self guiding and there’s a nice view at the top from the high ceilings. A cool gallery to check out!

This place is aptly named and although I have only been to one show here (Papergirl) it is really sweet. As the name implies, it is actually on an incline since it’s like a spiral ramp that goes up three levels and the art is along the walls. At the top this particular opening was a place to grab some wine and a charming guy working the table. A nice spot and I look forward to checking out more exhibitions there!