What's up everyone? After months of infidelity spent with facebook instead of myspace I have come to the decision to retire my myspace blog. I will now be blogging and updating my artworks at rioyanez.com. I don't want to lose connection with all the amazing people I've come to know here so please come by, bookmark it or subscribe to my rss feed.



Peace y'all,

Rio

Hi everyone,  my ass has been hiding out on facebook for too long. I'm back on the myspace tip and here to jumpstart my page and blog again.

 

I'm very excited to let you all know that the latest and greatest exhibit to feature my work is opening this Friday at MACLA in San Jose, California. I'll be exhibiting alongside some of my favorite artists including Carolyn Castaño and Shizu Saldamando in a show called "The Art of Style."

 

This is your chance to see and purchase prints of my work including my infamous "I have forgiven Guadalupe" Morrissey print, "Hecho en Compton" featuring Eazy-E, and two prints from my Ghetto Frida series.

 

Unfortunately the MACLA website has not been updated and there has been very little publicity for the show so please help spread the word. I look forward to seeing you all there!

 

What: The Art of Style

Featuring Carolyn Castaño, Jaime Guerrero, Bu Nation, Abraham Ortega, Mathew & Sam Rodriguez of Shorty Fatz, Shizu Saldamando, Gustavo Villareal, and Rio Yañez

Where: MACLA

510 South First Street
San Jose, CA   95113

tel: (408) 998-2783
fax: (408) 998-2817

When: Opening Friday, September 5th    7:00pm – 10:00pm

Artist Talk Thursday, October 16 6:30pm (which will include yours truly)

Regular Gallery Hours:

Wednesdays & Thursdays 12n—7pm
Fridays & Saturdays 12n—5pm

 

 

Peace,

 

Rio

Hey everyone! Here's a link to the Frida photos I shot last weekend.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elrio/sets/72157606567091027/

There are still two more chances to be a professional Frida, the next one is this Saturday at SFMOMA . More details below...




Peace,

Rio

Last Friday I stayed up all night to create The Ghetto Frida Reader. I created this new portrait as the cover for the zine. It contains an interview with Ghetto Frida (which was the basis of the short performance piece) and a compilation of images from the series.



I sold a few at Galeria de la Raza on Saturday during the Mission MAPP. When they get their store in order next month they will be selling the reader and my other zine Peligroso Pop.

If you want one in the meantime you can get one from me in person. They're $3.00 with a full color cover. Just hit me up and we can do business.



This black and white illustration was used in the title page of The Ghetto Frida Reader.

Sorry for the quality of this image below, I took it from a .gif slideshow. Heartbroken Frida's Revenge is my contribution to Frida en Papel - Frida on Paper at the Mission Cultural Center. This exhibit, curated by Adrian Arias and Sebastian Davila, contains portraits of Frida cover the front windows of the MCC. Drive down Mission Street and check it out.



For more info check out http://www.missionculturalcenter.org/frida-in-san-francisco.html

Heartbroken Frida's Revenge is a jilted Frida's response to Diego's infidelity based on romance and superhero comic books of the 1960's. I've always been fascinated by the complicated relationship between Frida and Diego. Its mechanics are faulty yet full of understanding and compassion. As a comic book character, I can only imagine Frida not wanting to occasionally throw a punch like an angry guest on Jerry Springer.

I'm still sorting through the photos from the Frida model search but I'll be posting them on tuesday. Until then, peace.

Rio

This is going to be one crazy-amazing project. Hope to see all my Fridas out there on Saturday.



Frida Kahlo Model Search SF MOMA Tableaux Presentation


The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, in celebrating its current
exhibition, is collaborating with curator Rene Yanez in conducting a
Frida Kahlo Look-a-like Model Search for Tableaux (living paintings)
presentations. Located in the Schaub Room on SFMOMA's first floor,
this special presentation will take place on Sunday, September 28th
2008. We are looking for up to 4 to 5 models over the age of 17 to
recreate Frida's paintings or moments of her life on 8'x8' platforms
with painted backgrounds and a live music soundscape.

These Tableaus are created in the spirit of the 1992 San Francisco
"Pasion Por Frida" exhibition at the Mexican Museum. The process
will consist of 3 auditions;
The first audition will be an open call at the Galeria De La Raza,
2851 24th Street in San Francisco on Saturday, August 2nd at 5:30pm as
part of the Mission MAPP (Mission Art & Performance Project). This
first audition will be conducted in the order of arrival. Please come
dressed as Frida, already costumed or with makeup, for the audition;
you are also encouraged to participate in other Mission MAPP
festivities in the area with the theme of "Frida Was Here". You can
obtain a map of locations at the Red Poppy Art House at 23rd and
Folsom.

Second and third auditions are by appointment only and will be at the
SFMOMA on Saturday August 9th at 1pm and Saturday August 16th at 1pm,
please send a picture and bio to Rene Yanez at rene@somarts.org and we
will contact you to schedule an appointment.

How crazy busy and lame am I that I haven't had time to post about the latest show I'm curating. It has an opening reception tonight. Hope to see you there!

Rio

Ps. Life is good but crazy. I've been sleeping 3 hours a night and working 13 hours a day at the Gallery. It's all in the name of art.



AIM FOR FREEDOM!
A 40 Year Photography & Art Retrospective of the American Indian
Movement

July 16th - July 31st, 2008
SomArts Bay Gallery 934 Brannan Street (between 8th & 9th Streets)
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.somarts.org

Gallery Hours Tuesday-Friday: 1:00pm – 7:00pm, Saturdays: 1:00pm –
5:00pm

Featuring Photography and Art by J.R. Auginash, Dick Bancroft, Dave
Cordova, Ilka Hartmann, Brenda Norrell, Paul Owns the Sabre, Leonard
Peltier, Kerry Richardson, Michelle Vignes, Floyd Red Crow Westerman,
and traditional Dine rugs.

Opening Reception Thursday July 17th, 5:30pm - 8:30pm Honoring the
women in the movement with special guest AIM co-founder Patricia
Bellanger. Also featuring the Vallejo Sweet Medicine Singers, The
California Traditional Pomo Dancers, The All Nation Singers, and The
Tlingit Women's Dance Group.

Friday July 18th, 6:00pm - 9:00pm - A lecture and screening on
traditional basket weaving by Orie Medicine Bull and a performance by
Medicine Warriors Dance Troupe care of Gilbert Blacksmith.

Tuesday July 22nd 2:00pm - 8:00pm Storytelling, poetry and music
Featuring California Indian storyteller Anne Marie Sayers, all ages
welcomed.

Wednesday July 30th, 3:00pm - 9:00pm - Founder's Day Reception &
Fundraiser A silent auction of work by Leonard Peltier and Floyd Red
Crow Westerman with MC Bill Means, a ceremony honoring Lee Brightman
and the completion of the Longest Walk II, a book signing by AIM
authors and photojournalists, The All Nation Singers, The California
Traditional Pomo Dancers, The Tlingit Women's Dance Group, and Dr.
Loco's Rockin' Jalapeño Band.

Curated by Tony Gonzales, Rene Yañez, and Rio Yañez

www.aimovement.org

PPS. Guillermo's New Barbarians was amazing and mind blowing. My full report on all the madness, art, and chisme at the de Young museum coming soon.

What's good everyone?

I'm on a mission from Guillermo Gómez-Peña to get as many Chicanos, Hipsters, Chicano Hipsters, Wassup Rockers Kids, Cholos, Cholas, Artists, Cute Chicana Bloggers, Myspace Superstars, Loca Trannies, Borrachos, and likeminded cabrones as possible into the de Young Museum this Friday. He wants to create a presence of artists and people who would not normally go to the de Young to send a message. His latest project sounds really revolutionary and challenging in an environment like the de Young and I can't wait to see it. For those of you who have never seen a performance by Guillermo this is a chance to see him in action up close. This performance is part of the de Young's Friday Night programming so you can bring the whole family. I'll be there front and center and hopefully you will too.

de Young
Golden Gate Park
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
San Francisco, CA 94118

6:00pm – 8:00pm

Adults $10, Seniors 65 and over $7, Youths 13-17 $6, College Students with ID $6, Children 12 and under FREE.

New Barbarians at the de Young
Performance/installation by La Pocha Nostra's Guillermo Gómez-Peña,
Roberto Sifuentes, Violeta Luna, and Michele Ceballos

de Young Museum Commission:
Cultural Encounters at the de Young: Artist-in-Residence at Large
Friday Nights at the de Young, July 11

What happens when performance art intervenes the permanent collection of a museum? On July 11, the internationally renown performance troupe La Pocha Nostra will present a commissioned performance/installation piece entitled, New Barbarians at the de Young from 6 to 8 pm. The project challenges both the audience to look at the museum in a new way and the museum itself to incorporate live art into gallery spaces. The de Young Museum, designed by Herzog & de Meuron and located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, showcases American art from the 17th through the 21st centuries, international contemporary art, textiles, costumes, and art from the Americas, the Pacific, and Africa.

The artists in La Pocha Nostra, including Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Roberto Sifuentes, Violeta Luna, and Michele Ceballos will present four powerful performance art pieces or "living dioramas" contained inside display cases and on platforms. Each performance intervention will be located in a different permanent collection gallery at the de Young and together they will generate a critical dialogue between contemporary performance and the artwork in the museum's collection. The "living dioramas" will feature contemporary and live versions of the collection's iconography, echoing the narratives of the surrounding artwork while creating surprising juxtapositions. The live art pieces will also explore the decorated human body as cultural artifact and ethnographic freak.

The performance/installation pieces will be located in the upper level galleries at the de Young, including several American art galleries and the Jolika Collection of New Guinea art galleries. For more information about the performances included in New Barbarians check out
http://www.famsf.org/deyoung/calendar/day.asp?categoryid=32&calendarid=4025&day=7%2F10%2F2008

La Pocha Nostra
Since the early 1990s, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, and his colleagues Roberto Sifuentes, Violeta Luna, and Michele Ceballos from the performance troupe La Pocha Nostra, have been exploring the ways that museums represent cultural otherness by experimenting with the colonial format of the "living diorama." They have created interactive "living museums" that parody various colonial practices of representation including the ethnographic tableau vivant, the Indian Trading Post, the border curio shop, the porn window display, and their contemporary equivalents. These performance/installation pieces function both as bizarre set designs for contemporary enactments of "cultural pathologies" and as ceremonial spaces for people to reflect upon their attitudes toward other cultures. Recent museum interventions by La Pocha Nostra include performance/installations at the Tate Modern, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, the House of World Cultures (Berlin), and Arnolfini (Bristol).



Media Contact: Jordan Robbins 415.750.3554 jrobbins@famsf.org

Peace,

Rio

Hey everyone! I'm gonna be in Los Angeles for an art opening this Friday. Come by if you want to hang out and party with my old art school fam. Hope to see ya there!



I also wanted to share some of my recent portrait work. Here's Mariela and my homegirl Samantha Saturday.





Peace,

Rio

Man, I've had the worst day today at work. There have been all sorts of crazy politics and arguements over big decisions that have fried my brain. All my stress was just put into perspective though with the news that Cyd Charisse has just passed away.

My Mom raised me on old school MGM musicals. I remember watching Singing in the Rain long before I could walk and I've never stopped loving them. My favorite performer from that era has always been Cyd Charisse. Homegirl was talented and all kinds of sexy. Rest in Peace.






Rio

Augh! I have a long overdue show announcement. Come party with me, buy some art, enjoy plenty of amazing entertainment, and all for a good cause. A Ghetto Frida print will be on exhibit and for sale benefitting City College of San Francisco. It's free too! The announcement is below.






For an article about the show, check out this link to El Tecolote: http://news.eltecolote.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=85bbf94c329b1c71cb01e7d7ec3b695a

Frida-Frida Y'all,

Rio