Gallery D, 2016.
For this exhibition, artists reflected on the neighborhood of Barrio Logan, having many historically important murals painted during the Chicano movement in the late 1960s/70s when community members occupied parts of Balboa Park in protest of development in the neighborhood. At this time, protests turned creative and people began painting on the concrete structures of the Coronado bridge, establishing Chicano Park. Today, the mural and street art movement is experiencing a resurgence as the Barrio Logan neighborhood has gathered increased interest from development as well as burgeoning arts groups. This group represents an intersection of experienced artists, newer artists, and artists from San Diego and the Baja region, working in a variety of mural and graffiti styles.
Exhibiting artists: Manu Faves, Esther Gamez Rubio, George Garcia, Sake Saratoga, Mario Torero, Melissa Walter, and Anna Zappoli
Gallery wide-angle view.
Artists shown (right to left): Mario Torero, Manu Faves, Sake Saratoga, Anna Zappoli.
Gallery wide-angle view.
Artists shown (left to right): George Garcia, Esther Gamez Rubio, Melissa Walter.
Gallery view.
Mural by Mario Torero.
Artist Statement:
I started my career as an artivist back in 1970 when I participated with my father Guillermo Acevedo in the new human rights Chicano Movement in San Diego utilizing our art as a tool for social change. I got together with other Chicano artists and liberated spaces in Balboa Park’s Centro Cultural de la Raza and in the barrio with the community where we created Chicano Park. Forty-six years have gone by and we have seen how our community has been losing its historical Raza profile due to the closing of the local bay industry and the devastation that highways and the Coronado bridge did our barrio. Then after almost forty years of no growth and stagnation, in 2012, almost overnight, the barrio began seeing the gentrification that we had been fearing. But it was almost very sweet when we Chicano artists were the ones who were driving the energy of opening art galleries and began creating arte branching out of Chicano Park. While feeling the pressures of the downtown developments, now we know that one more downtown stadium would finish the gentrification death blow to our barrio. So when we say “Save our barrios” we are talking about our world, everyone’s world, and not just a few rich men. We must unite and RESIST! “NO TO DOWNTOWN STADIUM”
Mural by Mario Torero
Mural by Manu Faves.
Artist Statement:
The mural is an homage to the past and present generations that have come to America in the pursuit of the various rights we enjoy. These various cultures are represented by the main character "La Gringa". She holds a huge satchel (or flag) in which she carries many roses which she sells. These roses represent the various traditions (Culinary, folklore, language) from around the world and which she now uses and has embedded into American society. The stars represent the rights and freedoms she inherently as a human being has. The tattoos on her represent our present culture, with various visions of how the world is ruled now (corporate America, money, etc.) and her being pregnant represents how we, as Americans, will react to present and future problems. Overall it is a vision of the America of the present, with bold statement of respect for the past but with a strong criticism for the future we will have as a nation.
Graffiti by Saratoga Sake.
Artist Statement:
Logan Heights has always been a topic of discussion for me personally. After moving to California in 1976 and attending Elementary School in Spring Valley, it was around 1978 when I became aware of the gangs in my own neighborhood. I became close with and having friends that were Homeboys who would speak highly and fondly of the gangs in and around Logan Heights. Gang life in Barrio Logan has always made a huge impact in San Diego which for me goes hand in hand with Chicano Park. Not only do they both correlate with each other, I just can't help to think of them as separate. It's just like when some one says "The Bronx", I think of Hip Hop and Yankees at the same exact time. I was first aware of the beautiful murals of Chicano Park around the same time of 1978. My father, who worked at NAS Coronado, on occasion would take me to work with him. Being well aware of my artistic tendencies, he would make it a point to drive past the murals for me to admire at a young age. I chose the idea of using a Vogue model and turning her into Chola/Homegirl with the barely visible “Hits or Placas" from the "Old Neighborhood" behind her. There are also the markings of the New Gang moving in. Yes, it could very well be a comment on "gentrification", also touching upon how covering up what once was with the new and perhaps on making the old new again. Obviously, there has been a huge interest in Logan with hipster-esque types moving in, all the new construction going on and all the new found love for this “Barrio." I wanted the "Gang Placas" to be gone over, but not entirely. It is an idea on “disappearing” and layering of the past to build a foundation. I’m in a place that was once surrounded by Placas and in fact have been “X”'d out by other gangs or by the city which is slowly disappearing. It seems as if it is being replaced by the corporate gangs that will eventually devour this beloved community.
Graffiti by Saratoga Sake .
Mural (Paint and charcoal) by Anna Zappoli.
Artist Statement:
When the opportunity came to be part of a group of artists to paint in a show called "An intersection of muralists" it felt natural for me to say yes. I began to sketch this desire to express my love and concern that I feel for this beautiful world that we call home, a paradise indeed.
Mural (Painting and charcoal) by Anna Zappoli.
Mural by Melissa Walter.
Artist Statement:
In the 1930s, Barrio Logan lost its access to the beach as U.S. military agencies took over that area of the San Diego Bay. I kept this great loss to the community in mind when choosing a color palette. For example, I simply could not use blue, as I wanted to eschew any representation of water. I chose red and orange to represent the passion of the community, which came together during a pivotal time in the 1960s to fight for the development of Chicano Park. The center of my piece is a coming together of the neighbors at this time, with their passion (red and orange) combined with their love (gold) for their home. In addition, the twelve golden orbs surrounding the piece represent the twelve days Barrio Logan residents demonstrated at the park site, which successfully led to the creation of the park. The edges of the piece
point outward as this rich and diverse community expands.
Mural by Melissa Walter.
Mural by Esther Gamez Rubio.
Artist Statement:
Taking inspiration from the work of female muralists in Chicano park, and the representation of the Coatlicue, I chose to combine it with my current project "Las Worry Dolls" which is a commentary on the female roles of Latino rooted familiar structures. This worry doll, like the Coatlicue, is holding her arms open as a sign of acceptance of your worries, but also has an open and vulnerable resting hand, and holds her own with another. Her ethnicity is mixed, as are the flowers that give birth to her, inspired in Oaxacan embroidery but with newer, brighter, artificial colors.
Mural by Esther Gamez Rubio.
Graffit art by George Garcia.
Artist Statement:
The graffiti piece Garcia painted for the exhibition is a simplified rendering of his pseudonym. Each letter is treated as an archetype with its own personality, characteristics, identity, charm, emotions, and nature. However, they are made to coexist as they represent the artist’s selfhood. The forms live on a stylized Mexican talavera backdrop which is a traditional craft brought to Mexico during the Colonial period by monks who sought to decorate their monasteries. Garcia, like other Mexicans in the 70s was raised by Catholic parents. He recalls commuting to Barrio Logan every other Sunday morning for service. Though he lost interest in the faith shortly after his family migrated to San Diego, the murals around the Barrio soon got hold of his curiosity. The mural can be considered an homage to the Barrio and its community, who deeply rooted the Mexican culture for future generations to celebrate.
Graffiti by George Garcia.
As Gallery D’s debut art exhibition, It Takes An Artist: A Show About Mentorship connects 5 local, professional artists in the San Diego-Baja region and shares from each community they are cultivating as teaching artists. Exhibiting artists are Beliz Iristay, Bhavna Mehta, Lee Puffer, Rizzhel Javier, and Dia Bassett. Following the theme of mentorship, each local, professional artist is exhibiting work alongside the art of their selected students. Students from City Tree Christian School, the Oceanside Library, Rancho El Faro Orphanage, Palomar College, and MiraCosta College are exhibiting artwork.
This exhibition focuses especially on community, and how artists are conducive to building the valuable relationships that foster some of community’s vital elements—growth, and exchange. The artists in this show, for example, have taken workshops from one another, mentored each other, and taught students of diverse ages. The result is an inter-generational exhibition, with students ranging from kindergarten up to college level. Students from different neighborhoods and schools have the opportunity to meet one another as they see their artwork displayed beside that of their mentors. The intent is to model art-making as well as community-building for these students and for them to one day foster their own communities as teacher, leaders, and responsible citizens, using their creative-thinking skills.
The dynamic contemporary art in this exhibition varies in form, style, and subject matter. Ceramic, fiber, paper, and photograph appropriately describe the artistic mediums these artists employ. However, each of these artists also pushes the boundaries of her chosen medium to the edges of possibilities. Craft, medium, and style, are now fluid terms. These artists, though diverse, are connected aesthetically by their experimental use of traditional techniques.
Some of these artists, like Rizzhel Javier, often use and teach mixed media to satisfy their artistic inclinations. Lee Puffer, known for her controversial and humorous figurative sculptures, is currently exploring watercolor in combination with collage. Beliz Iristay has been employing ceramic in unexpected ways to explore the themes of feminism and questions of cultural tradition. Dia Bassett creates abstract sculpture with large, erratic renditions of traditional fiber techniques like crochet, while Bhavna Mehta explores contemporary narratives by interpreting imagery into impressive patterns in her paper-cutting techniques.
We invite you to make the connections between teacher and student and amongst the artists in this group. The connections may be visible in bright or muted color palettes, line quality, figurative elements, material, or theme. Or, the connections may be more subtle and yet to be discovered. The discovery process is something that the artists in this exhibition encourage. It is something they witness every time they teach. And one of the more important aspects of teaching art is that the discovery process spills over to the other parts of life, outside of the classroom.
Artists work shown (left to right): Dia Bassett, Shirin Towfiq, Rizzhel Javier
Artist Dia Bassett
Collaborative fiber sculptures, students from City Tree Elementary School.
Collaborative fiber sculptures, students from City Tree Elementary School.
Collaborative fiber sculptures, students from City Tree Elementary School.
Collaborative fiber sculptures, students from City Tree Elementary School.
Fiber weavings, students from City Tree Elementary School.
Artist Shirin Towfiq, student of Rizzhel Javier.
Artist Beliz Iristay.
Artist Beliz Iristay.
Artist Beliz Iristay.
Students of Beliz Iristay
Artist Lee Puffer.
Artist Lee Puffer.
Artist Lee Puffer.
Artist Lee Puffer.
Artist Lee Puffer
Art by students of Lee Puffer.
Art by students of Lee Puffer.
Art by students of Lee Puffer.
A Moveable Feast was a collaboration between the Mesa College Museum Studies class and the San Diego Art Institute, resulting in Art Lab booth #321 at Art San Diego 2015. Some of the artists selected for the booth were Larry Caveney, Lee Puffer, Loes Venker, David Talbott, David Chen, Stephanie Bedwell, Cindy Zimmerman, Vakseen, Kathy Przekopp, and Jenny Armer.
Cognitive Camouflage was A Ship In The Woods largest exhibition until that time. With over 15 artists spreading over the entire Del Mar property, viewers engaged in unique interactive sculpture, multimedia art, and performance. Artists such as Perry Vasquez, Artemisa Clark, Brian Dick, Jason Sherry, Scott Shumate, Rizzhel Javier, So Say We All, and Margaret Noble participated, creating works that responded to the question and theme of social anxiety.
Girl Talk was a Planet Rooth exhibition featuring artists Kelly Schnorr, Rachel Shimpock and Lee Puffer. These ceramics and metals artists combined efforts to focus on themes of food, ornamentation, and body image from a woman's perspective.
Move(meant) was an exhibition of new work by photographic installation artist Rizzhel Javier. Rizzhel created interactive sculptures in which viewers could open file drawers or spin knobs to see the photographic stories come to life.
This Pop-Up Exhibition featured artists Danny Scheible, a masking tape artist and painter Ian Pines. Danny's unique approach results in sculptural objects and hanging wall art that can be painted or lit up from within.
Multimedia art exhibition of fiber works by Sheena Dowling contrasted with the interactive metal sculptures by artist collaborators David Brelje and Alexis Archibald.
Sweet Spot was a Planet Rooth exhibition in 2014. with the work of painters Emily Halpern and Andrea Chung.
