EXHIBITIONS
Exhibitions featuring Jay’s body of work that celebrate the unique experience of photographing legendary musicians along with the fan communities and relationships that surround and propel them, exclusively using film cameras.
current EXHIBITION
Aug 31, 2023 – July 28, 2024
The Contemporary Jewish Museum
Travel through some of the most explosive moments in music history through the lens of Bay Area–based photographer Jay Blakesberg. RetroBlakesberg: The Music Never Stopped presents photographs of legendary musicians that reveal the evolution of San Francisco’s unique music culture and its wide-reaching influence. The exhibition brings together more than 150 photographs and related ephemera from the years 1978–2008, when Blakesberg shot exclusively on film.
Growing up as a Jewish kid in New Jersey, Blakesberg chased his passion for music and photography to San Francisco, where he chronicled era-defining musicians and moments across rock, grunge, blues, psychedelic, folk, and every genre in between. Featuring images of the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, Neil Young, Soundgarden, Carlos Santana, and many more alongside original tickets stubs, press passes, and other ephemera, this exhibition invites visitors to experience an electrifying visual history of the sounds and stories that have shaped the Bay Area and beyond.
RetroBlakesberg:
THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED
CURRENT & UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
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RetroBlakesberg: the music never stopped
The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
August 2023 - January 2024Jay’s second solo museum exhibition – curated by Ricki Blakesberg.
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Between the Dark & Light: Grateful Dead 1965-1995
Haight Street Art Center, San Francisco, CA
July - August 2023Historic Grateful Dead photography exhibit curated by Jay, featuring the work of twenty different photographers.
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SFO Celebrates – Music in Golden Gate Park
San Francisco International Airport - Terminal 3, San Francisco, CA
August - September 2023 | August - September 2022Terminal 3 is displaying of several photographs in a themed exhibit about Rock and Roll in Golden Gate Park.
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RetroBlakesberg: Captured on Film – 1978-2008
Morris Museum – Smithsonian Affiliate, Morristown, NJ
October 2022 - February 2023Jay Blakesberg’s first solo museum exhibition – curated by Ricki Blakesberg.
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DARK+Light: Retrospective by Jay Blakesberg
Harvey Milk Center for Photography, San Francisco, CA
November 2016 - January 2017A retrospective exhibition of Jay’s iconic photography taken on and off stage over the last 40 years.
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Traveling on a High Frequency – Solo Exhibition
Mr. Musichead Gallery, Hollywood, CA
March 2010Traveling On a High Frequency is a 304 page coffee table book of pure rock and roll intensity created where light and motion, energy and magic all collide together and crystallize on a piece of film.
