Illuminations: Día de los Muertos. Photo by Rio Yanez.
2011 12th Annual Day of the Dead exhibit, October 8 – November 5, 2011 — Exhibition and programming curated by René and Rio Yañez.
El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, provides a way for people to embrace the beauty of life and to honor the spirits of the dead. Intricate, traditional altars and complex art installations are on display in Illuminations: Dia de los Muertos 2011 at SOMArts Cultural Center. Visitors are invited to attend the opening reception on Friday, October 7, to enjoy music, interactive performances and the unveiling of over 30 altars and installations. The exhibition is open from Saturday, October 8 through Saturday, November 5 at SOMArts Cultural Center.
The theme Illuminations was chosen by curators René and Rio Yañez to symbolize a source of light for spiritual and intellectual reflection. This year’s exhibition is dedicated to community pillar and Mission District business owner Marta Sanchez, and renowned artist Pablo Picasso. Each year, more than 80 Bay Area artists from a breadth of cultural backgrounds participate, examining local issues and global disasters such as 2011’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Japan. The 30+ altars and installations range from deeply personal to political and many invite contribution or interaction from the viewer.
"Illuminations presents the old and the new side by side,” says curator René Yañez. “Traditional folk art altars will appear alongside high-tech, experimental installations using 3-D images and projections.”
“We continue to examine the ways technology shapes how we celebrate Day of the Dead. Once again, our Flickr group enables us to accept digital photos as offerings to those who people want to honor,” says curator Rio Yañez.
The public can upload their digital contributions to flickr.com/groups/digitalofferings/. Selected images will be printed and displayed as part of the exhibit. This year’s Day of the Dead exhibition is supported by the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Arts and Education Program, by the Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, and by The San Francisco Foundation, who have generously provided funding.
EXHIBITION CALENDAR LISTING
What: Illuminations: Día de los Muertos 2011
Where: SOMArts Cultural Center Bay Gallery, 934 Brannan Street (between 8th and 9th Streets) San Francisco, CA 94103
When: (Gallery Hours) Tuesday – Friday, 12 – 7 p.m.; Saturday, 12 – 5 p.m.
Opening Reception: Friday, October 7, 6 – 9 p.m.; $5 – $10 sliding scale, dayofthedead.eventbrite.com
Closing Reception: Saturday, November 5, 6 – 9 p.m.; $5 – $10 sliding scale, muertos.eventbrite.com
ABOUT THE CURATORS
René Yañez is an artist and a visual and performing arts curator and producer. A founder and former Artistic Director of Galería de la Raza, Yañez was one of the first curators to introduce the contemporary concept of Mexico’s Day of the Dead to the United States. Since the early 1970s, Yañez has been instrumental in establishing the Day of the Dead as an important cultural celebration, and in teaching others through public programming around the annual Day of the Dead exhibitions he curates.
Rio Yañez, son of René Yañez, was born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District. He is a curator, photographer, and graphic artist. As a curator, he frequently collaborates with his father, and the pair have been developing exhibits together since 2005. Yañez is also a founding member of The Great Tortilla Conspiracy, a tortilla art collective.
ABOUT SOMARTS CULTURAL CENTER
Insurrection, Connection and Community through the Arts
SOMArts (South of Market Arts, Resources, Technology, and Services) was founded in 1979 and operates the South of Market Cultural Center, one of four city-owned cultural facilities in San Francisco. SOMArts supports exhibitions, performances, classes and other collaborations that serve its mission: to promote and nurture art on the community level and foster an appreciation of and respect for all cultures.
For more information about upcoming events, space rentals and technical services, visit somarts.org or call 415-863-1414.
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