Graphic Art, Tortillas, Comics, and Troublemaking

I’m really proud to announce that Sarah and I continued our creative (and romantic) partnership by having a photoshoot with the Bay Area’s own Las Bomberas de la Bahia. I’ve written about how great the Bomberas are before and I was so excited to work with them creatively again. Photos from our shoot will be posted soon.

Until then here’s a video I shot of Las Bomberas performing live on 24th and York in the Mission. It was an impromptu performance and I was thrilled to capture it with my humble iPhone. Enjoy!

Hella Bomba photos coming soon!

Peace,

Rio

Today is my lady’s birthday and I thought I’d share some music to celebrate the occasion. The graphics I created are recent works in Illustrator (natch). Romance is in the air and I feel so happy.

DOWNLOAD – Sarah’s Birthday Mix (via Mediafire)

Happy Birthday Baby,

Rio

This past weekend the Great Tortilla Conspiracy (including myself) installed an 8 ft. sq. tortilla mosaic portrait of Jesus Christ at the Meridian Gallery in downtown San Francisco. The concept was masterminded by conspirator Jos Sances and took us a little over four hours to build.

It’s all for a print show titled In Extremis: Prints Monumental, Intimate, and Encompassing. The opening reception is this Saturday from 6:00PM to 9:00PM.

During the opening reception we’ll be celebrating with some judgement day themed tortilla art. Don’t get raptured up to heaven without tasting some of our delicious tortilla art first!

Pertinent info below!

In Extremis: Prints Monumental, Intimate, and Encompassing
Curated by Art Hazelwood

Opening Reception: May 21, 6:00PM-9:00PM

The Great Tortilla Conspiracy will create an installation during the opening, while printing delicious edible artwork.

From the tiny to the monumental, from installations to political posters, printmaking has many ongoing traditions. Some of these traditions are complimentary, some at odds with each other. The exhibition, In Extremis: Prints Monumental, Intimate, and Encompassing, explores contrasting approaches to contemporary printmaking in Northern California through the work of more than thirty artists and artist groups.

Peace,

Rio

Ps. I can’t use the word Extremis without throwing back to Hal, Gillian Anderson, and Extremis.

I’ll be in Sacramento this Friday for the opening reception of Miráme: 21st century portraits for Latino/a America curated by my homegirl Ella Diaz. It’s a show of self-portraits and artist facebook profile pictures, I’ll be exhibiting four large-scale purikura prints as part of it.

The Promo text is below:

In the early 20th century, Frida Kahlo revolutionized portraiture by painting intensely personal and unusually small self-portraits. Nearly 60 years after her death, Kahlo’s images continue to capture the attention of viewers.. Some see Kahlo’s works as a modernist shift in the western aesthetic; others are drawn to Kahlo’s unnerving ease with expressions of physical and emotional suffering. Still, others find her work provocative because the portraits ask viewers, “So what are you looking at?”

In the 21st century, self-portraits are everywhere, and they are as meaningful or as meaningless as the time it takes to create them. With the proliferation of social media and online networks, the profile pic presents a new platform for the artist concerned with the representation of his, her, or someone else’s likeness. Meticulously staging oneself in a bathroom mirror; striking a pose with drunk friends at a bar; earnestly attempting irony through shadows, silhouettes, or a favorite pet; each of these is an accidental allegory for a larger social malaise and alienation in the virtual photo albums that we carefully create in our online shrines to self.

Hope to see you all there. I’m super excited to be making inroads into the most gate-kept Chicano art city on Earth. Sacramento here I come!

Rio

I’ll be selling limited edition prints and some of my infamous Pop Crucifixes at SOMArts this Sunday. I’ll be joined by the lovely Nicole Schach (above) and other artists selling items all for $25.00 or under. The details are below.

SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2–6PM
SOMARTS ALL ACCESSS! Open House & Pop-Up Shop
SOMArts opens its doors for a Sunday of art, food and entertainment! Stroll through the community garden, grab lunch from a local food cart, and learn more about our classes, activities and events, including opportunities to:

• Purchase artwork and crafts made by local artists at the SOMArts Pop-up Shop—all within the accessible price range of $5–25. Coordinated by Dia de los Muertos curator Rene Yañez and Main Gallery Curator & Gallery Director Justin Hoover.
• Get a behind-the-scenes look at our studio spaces (print studio, darkroom, dance & ceramics studios), including demonstrations by Katie Gilmartin of Chrysalis Print Studio as well as Tom Ferentz and Rene Jones of Sixth Street Photography Workshop.
• Meet Ajay Deshmukh, coordinator of San Francisco’s longest-running figure drawing class! Ajay will be showing artwork from students and answering questions for the drawing-curious.
• Enjoy writers from Feast of Words: A Literary Potluck who will be eating, reading and sharing work from the monthly series.
• Visit the Mobile Arts Platform’s recreation of its Cherry Blossom Festival exhibit  in the SOMArts Bay Gallery.

Open House Workshop and Demonstration Schedule

2:00-2:30 Origami with Jeremy Shafer of Bay Area Rapid Folders
2:30–3:00 Chrysalis Studio Printmaking Demonstration with Katie Gilmartin
3:00–3:30 Darkroom Q&A with Rene and Tom of Sixth Street Photography
3:30–4:00 Yoga Meditation led by Crystal Nelson in the SOMArts Dance Studio AND Origami with Jeremy Shafer of Bay Area Rapid Folders
4:00–4:30 Chrysalis Studio Printmaking Demonstration with Katie Gilmartin
4:30–5:00 Darkroom Q&A with Rene and Tom of Sixth Street Photography
5:00–5:30 Yoga Meditation led by Crystal Nelson in the SOMArts Dance Studio

Whoa! Mayra Ramirez just let me know that our purikura collaboration is featured in a recent issue of Lowridaz, a Japanese lowrider magazine. I’m finally big in Japan!

I’m trying to get my hands on a physical copy of the magazine. It’s available for sale at Luciano Garage Market and other fine purveyors of Chicano memorabilia in Japan.

Wooohooo!

Doing an endzone dance,

Rio