131SHOW PREVIEWget to hate it unless you love it.” Beneath
the house is an anatomical heart. “I like
to draw things that have a push and pull,”
Fish says. “The idea of the heart is cute
and approachable, but the thing itself is
kind of creepy.”
A chapter in David Talbot’s book about
the cultural history of the city relates how
football, Joe Montana and the 49ers were
part of the rebirth of the city. When Fish
was commissioned to create art for the
Pepsi Fan Deck at Levi’s Stadium he had
to admit that he knew nothing about foot-
ball. He told them he had an idea about
football having been “loosely invented
during the Gold Rush by these pioneers
tossing around a live pig.” The idea caught
on and his humorous but reverential
figures are part of the deck’s décor.”
Working at Coit Tower he learned the
story of Lillie Coit who, in her will, left the
city a large sum of money “for the purpose
of adding to the beauty of said city which
I have always loved.” She was also a patron
of the volunteer firemen of San Francisco.
When Fish heard tour guides telling titil-
lating tales about Lillie and the firemen
and that the tower had been designed in
the shape of a hose nozzle, he stepped in
to refute the tales and to defend her honor.
Lillie’s Honor #5 continues his defense.
In the painting, as well as others in the
exhibition, he uses the figure to frame the
central image making the subject’s story
part of the subject herself.
The symbols and references in his draw-
ings and paintings will drive viewers to
look up his references to learn more about
The City by the Bay.Hashimoto Contemporary
804 Sutter Street • San Francisco, CA 94109 •
(415) 655-9265 • http://www.hashimotocontemporary.com243