Posted on Sep 30, 2022
How one Filipino American artist influenced the work of a generation of others
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https://www.npr.org/2022/09/30/ [login to see] /carlos-villa-asian-art-museum-san-francisco-influence
In 1958, when the late Filipino American artist Carlos Villa was studying at the California School of Fine Arts, he asked one of his teachers where he could learn about other Filipino art.
"His teacher said to him there isn't any," said Mark Johnson, co-curator of Carlos Villa: Worlds in Collision, a retrospective of Villa's work at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
That response inspired Villa to go beyond his own art, and make it his mission to help other artists of color.
"His whole career was trying to focus on filling in that story both for himself and for artists in the future," said Johnson.
Villa died in 2013, but his legacy continues. As a professor at the San Francisco Art Institute for four decades and a powerful community organizer and mentor, Villa had an outsize impact on dozens of younger artists. His students included Obama portraitist Kehinde Wiley and Mission School art pioneer Barry McGee.
Villa devoted his career to uplifting others, but now he is getting his due as an artist in his own right: The exhibition at the Asian Art Museum is the first in the country to give a Filipino American artist a major retrospective.
In 1958, when the late Filipino American artist Carlos Villa was studying at the California School of Fine Arts, he asked one of his teachers where he could learn about other Filipino art.
"His teacher said to him there isn't any," said Mark Johnson, co-curator of Carlos Villa: Worlds in Collision, a retrospective of Villa's work at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
That response inspired Villa to go beyond his own art, and make it his mission to help other artists of color.
"His whole career was trying to focus on filling in that story both for himself and for artists in the future," said Johnson.
Villa died in 2013, but his legacy continues. As a professor at the San Francisco Art Institute for four decades and a powerful community organizer and mentor, Villa had an outsize impact on dozens of younger artists. His students included Obama portraitist Kehinde Wiley and Mission School art pioneer Barry McGee.
Villa devoted his career to uplifting others, but now he is getting his due as an artist in his own right: The exhibition at the Asian Art Museum is the first in the country to give a Filipino American artist a major retrospective.
How one Filipino American artist influenced the work of a generation of others
Posted from npr.org
Art
Philippines
San Francisco
Culture
Hawaii
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Reanne Estrada, an artist in Los Angeles, said another of Villa's superpowers was bringing young artists together. "He exposed me to a different way of thinking about how to be an artist," Estrada said. "How you connect with other people."
Estrada is part of the surrealist art collective Mail Order Brides. She said the Brides came into being nearly 30 years ago when Villa introduced her to fellow Filipina Americans Eliza Barrios and Jenifer Wofford.
The Brides' multimedia installation in the exhibition playfully pays tribute to their mentor. Villa's face beams from a video screen, as footage on nearby screens shows Estrada, Barrios and Wofford bumbling around a kitchen making the traditional Filipino breakfast dish silog.
"Even after decades of working together, we're still a bunch of slightly wacky ladies wearing granny panties and egg aprons," Estrada said. "Carlos would be proud to know some things don't change."
..."Reanne Estrada, an artist in Los Angeles, said another of Villa's superpowers was bringing young artists together. "He exposed me to a different way of thinking about how to be an artist," Estrada said. "How you connect with other people."
Estrada is part of the surrealist art collective Mail Order Brides. She said the Brides came into being nearly 30 years ago when Villa introduced her to fellow Filipina Americans Eliza Barrios and Jenifer Wofford.
The Brides' multimedia installation in the exhibition playfully pays tribute to their mentor. Villa's face beams from a video screen, as footage on nearby screens shows Estrada, Barrios and Wofford bumbling around a kitchen making the traditional Filipino breakfast dish silog.
"Even after decades of working together, we're still a bunch of slightly wacky ladies wearing granny panties and egg aprons," Estrada said. "Carlos would be proud to know some things don't change."
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