Within Eyes Reach

Happy New Year!

2011-12-29T23:16:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a safe and Happy New Year. Thanks for your support of my art this year. Looking forward to cranking out some new work. Stay tuned!!

Dog and Cat Show 2011

2011-12-07T00:04:00.001-08:00

This is a painting going to Skinner/Howard Contemporary Art in Sacramento for their annual dog and cat benefit show. Should be fun. Drop by if you;re in the area.

Studio Redo

2011-10-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

My studio's have always been in big warehouse spaces, but Since Heather and I moved to Sacramento and bought a house I've been painting out of the detached 2 car garage. Well we finally decided to get rid of that ugly garage door and wall it off. I can use more wall space and having french doors will let more light in. So just when I was gearing up to create some new work, it'll have to be on hold for a while till the work is done. Will post photos of the progress.

While I'm taking a break, I'll be shooting some short videos of artists I know. Will post them too!

"Halo-Halo: Bay Area Artists of the Filipino Diaspora."

2011-09-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

I have been invited to participate in a group exhibition of FIlipino-American artists at the University of Hawaii, Hilo. Sounds like it's going to be a great show curated by Jenifer Wofford. Updates to come!!

2011-09-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

I have 2 paintings in the traveling exhibition, "Infinate Mirror," opened in New Hampshire on Sept. 2 at the Thrrone-Sagendorph Art Gallery at Keene State College.

Art in the Streets

2011-08-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

Was in Los Angeles to see my son in a play and was able to catch the show at LAMOCA called Art in the Streets. It was an amazing survey of graffiti art from past to present. Here are some photos on Facebook.

Article - from the Curve

Illiterate Gallert T-Shirts

2011-06-23T22:56:00.001-07:00

Got some t-shirts from Illiterate Gallery in Denver. There is Coco modeling for me. They turned out great. Makes me want to do my own run. Hmmmm. Stay tuned!

Off to Denver

2011-04-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

Finally got the work packed so it's off to Denver tomorrow via FedEx. The drawing is called TayZr. Acrylic on paper.

Illiterate Gallery Pieces

2011-04-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Man, It's been a while since I've posted anything here. I'm in a show in Denver at Illiterate Gallery next month with some cool artists. Here are some piece that I'll be sending.

Video finally up and running!

2011-02-21T14:40:00.000-08:00

SquareCylinder is a website created by writer David Roth which focuses on Northern California art. David, who has reviewed a couple shows in Art, Ltd. and his site, approached me to produce a video and it's finally here.

North Carolina artist, Patrick Dougherty came to Palo Alto to create a sculpture at the Palo Alto Art Center in January 2011. Check it out!

Gottfried Helnwein in the house

2011-02-02T16:32:00.000-08:00

I was at the Crocker Art Museum last week to shoot 2 short videos of Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein discussing his work. The dude looks like he should be in a rock and roll band. very nice guy! the videos will be playing on monitors for visitors.

An afternoon with artist Patrick Dougherty

2011-01-16T20:17:00.000-08:00

I was in Palo Alto this past weekend with Heather to shoot some video of artist Patrick Dougherty at the Palo Alto Art Center. SquareCylinder founder and writer David Roth was there to interview Patrick. David's website is a portal for reviews of Northern California art. Check it out and also Patrick's site. Once the video is completed, I'll post the link from SquareCylinder.

Review of my show at Jack Fischer Gallery in Art, Ltd. Magazine

2011-01-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks to DeWitt Cheng for writing this review of my show at Jack Fischer Gallery in SF.

John Yoyogi Fortes: "Parallel Boondocks" at Jack Fischer Gallery
by dewitt cheng
Jan 2011

It Sounded A Lot Better Before I Said It
2010
John Yoyogi Fortes
Acrylic, enamel and collage on canvas
12" x 9"
Photo: courtesy Jack Fischer Gallery

Eclecticism and hybridity may be common practice these days, but who would have thought that graffiti art, pop surrealism, and identity art (loosely defined) could combine as exuberantly as they do in John Yoyogi Fortes' paintings? Like his postcolonial colleagues Enrique Chagoya and Manuel Ocampo, Fortes employs cultural mash-ups to put a humorous and absurd face on the darker truths of imperialist history: his 2002 Triton Museum show, "Awakening the Sleeping Monkey," dealt with the 1904 exhibition of 1200 captured (aka liberated) Filipinos, at the St. Louis World's Fair, as cannibals. Fortes has also, however, explored how family, memory and identity persist or change in the tumultuous modern world. In "Parallel Boondocks," he continues mining lowbrow/comic imagery from newly met East and West for insights into the funhouse of modern consciousness. Fortes: "It's between the materials and me. It's about aligning that inner space where ideas flow freely and reveling in that moment where actions transcend language." The resultant paintings, with their layers of images and ricocheting meanings, are "map[s] to various levels of consciousness."

These maps are complex and ambiguous. Runt, a large diptych, combines beige, red and gray patches and swatches, some brushy and diffuse, others defined by hard edges, straight or scalloped, with loops, stripes, patterning and writing (manchica, or blot), and a bizarre cast of "actors": a naked, blob-headed muscleman posing atop a pedestal lying between female legs; a wooden duck"s head, bearing a bird photo in its eye and sporting a brick-patterned frying-pan hat; a snake-necked woman's head emerging from an ovoid picture frame; and a cartoon dog head, scowling, with its eyes transformed into probing bloodshot pseudopods. Cartoon animals reappear in the non-rectangular diptych, Repetition, Redemption, Relapse, joined by figure studies reminiscent of David Salle's, but collaged here rather than painted. Smaller works (Art is Evil, Punk, It Sounded a Lot Better Before I Said It) function as funny (in both senses) cartoon portraits reminiscent of Jim Nutt and Roy De Forest.

Happy Holiday!

2010-12-21T08:37:00.000-08:00

Well the show in SF has been down for a while and the paint can lids that remain are going out to those in need of some holiday cheer. Let's kick ass this coming year! Be safe during the holiday!
Best to all of you!
John

Huh!

2010-11-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

Nice photo! Do I really need to change my name now to Forts?

Opening Reception for Parallel Boondocks

2010-11-16T18:20:00.001-08:00

Here is a link to Artbusiness.com. Alan was there taking photos at the opening.

Review a Squarecylinder

2010-11-15T23:04:00.000-08:00

David Roth wrote this review of my show at Jack Fischer Gallery in SF on SQUARECYLINDER.COM

. I hear there are two others out there. We'll see if they actually manifest. Will post them as soon as I know.

Thanks David!

John Yoyogi Fortes @ Jack Fischer

Posted on 16 November 2010
Tags: David M. Roth,

"Runt", 2010, mixed media on canvas, 120" x 84" (diptych)

John Yoyogi Fortes isn’t a street artist but he paints like one – one who’s especially well-versed in American and European Expressionism. His specialty is the urban fever dream, a realm in which subconscious fears and desires play out against backdrops of crumbling paint-spattered walls. It’s brightly hued and richly textured world into which the artist inserts comic- and graffiti-influenced characters that are in psychic pain. They appear — along with forms that are collaged, sprayed, and hand-painted — in colliding planes that rest on layers of scraped paint that recall surfaces where concert posters are continuously stripped and re-stapled.

Fortes creates an electrically charged, claustrophobic atmosphere filled with high-def images and stupefying excess, where little makes sense and everything seems wrapped in a cocoon of white noise. Thus, in Fortes, fans Francis Bacon, Manuel Ocampo, Sue Coe and others of an expressionist bent will find a kindred spirit – one who’s also absorbed the influences of underground comic artists like Robert Crumb, Ed “Big Daddy” Rothand the whole freak-show milieu of RAW Vision, the journal of outsider art.

"Untitled", 2010, acrylic, enamel and collage on canvas, 50" x 40"

Runt, the largest (120 x 84”) painting on view, is typical of the artist’s output over the past few years. Out of a ground of geometric swatches laced with vertical stains and loose spray-painted lines, faces and figures appear like apparitions. Some are vividly rendered; others seem vaporous, as if summoned by a darkroom trickster in an early 20^th century “spirit photograph”. The painting’s most prominent feature is a trio of elongated eyeballs that hang by tentacles from a mask in the manner of Roth’s “Rat Fink” character — an expression of extreme cartooning and, perhaps, a pointed reference to the ubiquity of the surveillance camera. I say perhaps, because Fortes’ works rarely make direct statements about anything; they take an allegorical stance, but their allusions are wide-open.

Where in the past Fortes’ work pointedly referred to issues of race, identity, sexuality and global politics, the paintings here seem less driven by conscious intentions than by an urge to allow his arsenal of self-invented characters and appropriated images to interact freely. Like many of the Lowbrow/Pop Surrealist artists with whom he feels an affinity, Fortes tends to back away from overt proscriptions, preferring instead to play hot potato with live ammunition to see what ignites.

"It Sounded a Lot Better Before I Said It", 2010, acrylic, enamel and collage on canvas, 12" x 9"

Untitled, a portrait of an urban hipster, is cheerfully apocalyptic. Sprouting from its Picasso-influenced face is a thought balloon filled with red splotches of blood. Below the face, which rests on a pedestal, is a severed hand onto which spills more blood. It Sounded A Lot Better Before I Said It features a boxy figure. Its heart is exposed, and one of its severed limbs sports a swastika-like crest. Both are fine examples of how Fortes projects terror into a comic format.

In this exhibition, he fills much of the gallery with small works, many of which seem small-bore when compared to his more expansive, wall-sized excursions. A reoccurring motif these small paintings is a cigarette-smoking primate whose picaninnyvisage appears most memorably on Smoking Monkeys, a series of 18 wall-mounted paint can lids. This racist caricature should shock, but when pulled out of context, as it is here, it loses power. To understand why, look at a prior work like Immaculate Rendition (2008), where Fortes used a similar image to devastating effect, and you see that as an abstract painter with narrative inclinations – however abstruse — Fortes only hits full stride when he has a big canvas.

–DAVID M. ROTH

John Yoyogi Fortes: Parallel Boondocks @ Jack Fischer through Dec. 4, 2010

To learn more about John Yoyogi Fortes watch the video of him creating Immaculate Rendition.

Installed the Work

2010-10-27T23:22:00.000-07:00

Drove to SF today in sunny weather. Much nicer than the day the art movers came! Jack and I installed all the work and to see Runt on the wall was very cool. If you're in the city I hope you'll stop in to see the exhibit. It'll be up till Dec. 4.

Paintings Headed for NY

2010-10-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

The art shipper came today, in the rain and wind, to pick up two paintings for the traveling exhibit Infinite Mirror. First stop Syracuse, N.Y. I was the last stop and it was a packed truck as you can see by the photo. Coco even made the shippers see the art in her room.

Paintings in Progress

2010-10-18T23:38:00.000-07:00

I should be finishing the paintings that I've already started, but I got into this one and will show it next week in SF. The top and bottom are different sizes so there is about a 3 to 4 inch difference on the left. The top is panel and the bottom is canvas. Still in progress.

This is also in progress, but should be finished by the weekend.

Goin to Jack Fischer's

2010-10-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

These are 2 completed paintings that I just finished. Both are 40 x 50 inches. Acrylic on canvas.

Paintings in Progress

2010-10-03T23:02:00.000-07:00

Oops! This one is finished.

188 Kiska Road

2010-10-03T22:59:00.000-07:00

These are three 9" x 12"paintings. The middle one references Hunter's Point in San Francisco where I grew up and went to Kindergarten.

Smoking Monkey Series

2010-10-03T22:56:00.001-07:00

Painting in Progress

2010-09-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

Well I'm on the home stretch for my show at Jack Fischer Gallery next month (Oct. 28). This is a 40" x 50" painting that I've finally gotten back to. Here's the before and after...so far!

Black Dahlia

2010-09-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

This is a piece that will be going into a local Exquisite Corpse exhibit. Mine is at the bottom. The othertwo artists are Melanie Bown and Brad Mossman. The show will travel to Texas later on...y'all!

Updated

2010-09-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

Sheetrockin!

2010-08-10T16:22:00.000-07:00

2 paintings on sheetrock. The frames are from the moulding taken out of our house when we knocked down a wall.

Paintings in Progress

2010-08-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you can't leave it alone. It changes! These are the two paintings that are in the last two postings. the Smoking Monkey is creepin in!

Painting in Progress

2010-07-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

A couple pieces that I'm working on.

Painting in Progress

2010-07-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, after finishing the big painting I've been slackin watching Project Runway with Heather. Time to get crankin again so here is the latest.

Collaboration with Coco

2010-07-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

I've been drawing over my daughter's (she's almost three) watercolor's, but the other day she got mad at me for using her artwork. She said she didn't like it. So now I have to ask permission and have her select them. Seems reasonable!

Coco Meets Sandow Birk

2010-07-18T17:36:00.002-07:00

We were in San Francisco this past weekend and stopped in to see our friend Nathan at Catherine Clark Gallery. Sandow Birk was there with his wife and 4 month old daughter so we asked if we could get a photo of him with Coco to add to her web page. Thanks Sandow!

Coco is figuring out the painting by Scott Greene

Done?

2010-07-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

I know my paintings are sometimes cluttered with stuff, so I'm taking it easy on this one. As Heather said the other day, "don't screw it up! Well I don't think I will and it is after all my painting, but I have been known to paint over paintings that looked pretty good at one time. It does make me question though what pair of eyes I'm using when evaluating a piece.

Painting in Progress

2010-07-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

Just started this one last night.

DONE! July 10, 2010

2010-07-10T16:54:00.000-07:00

Finally finished this painting today. Need to live with it for a while, but glad to get it done. Next!

Painting in Progress

2010-07-09T18:01:00.000-07:00

New Starts

2010-07-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple paintings that I'm starting on. With the bog one almost out of the way I can almost feel some breathing room!

40" x 50"

About 24" x 24"

Painting in Progress

2010-07-04T19:35:00.001-07:00

Ok,

I think I'm done with this one. Just need to sit with it for a while. Happy 4th of July!

Michelle Meunnig at Jack Fischer Gallery

2010-07-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Michelle Meunnig has a show up at Jack Fischer Gallery in SF. Here is a link to see some of her work on ArtBusiness.

Painting in Progress

2010-06-30T14:29:00.000-07:00

Got back this weekend from a cool 3 days in Monterey to 105 degree heat in Sacramento. Paint dries really fast! that's all I can say. The studio was so hot and steamy I might as well be doing Bikram Yoga. The big painting is coming along, but at a snails pace. I've been over thinking a lot for no reason other than not wanting to screw it up! After this show I'll work on that one! ok...here's where I'm at!

A little macho man self image, Rapunzel hair fetish and what not! Go figure and if you do, please let me know!

Painting in Progress

2010-06-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but can't explain it! latest installment of Painting in Progress!

Painting in Progress

2010-06-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

Mo Monkies!

2010-06-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

The Smoking Monkey Series is a good filler for time when I'm not working on my paintings. It's somewhat mindless and somewhat therapeutic. I'm running out of paint can lids so I might have to go dumpster diving tomorrow behind some paint stores. My goal is 50-100 by my show in Oct. Not sure if I'll make it, but it's the goal.

These are the ones I have so far hanging in the bathroom. Heather is out of town so I don't know how she'll respond to the larger grouping, ha! Oh well!

Rest in Peace Sigmar Polke

2010-06-11T21:56:00.000-07:00

Sigmar Polke passed away on June 10, 2010. He was one of the many artists whose work I was drawn to and influenced by.

Sigmar Polke 'This is all that remains of the original statue', 1974, Exhibition 'Wir Kleinbürger – Zeitgenossen und Zeitgenossinnen' (We the Bourgeoisie – Comrades of Our Time), Galerie der Gegenwart (Museum of Contemporary Art), Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany

Smoking Monkey Series

2010-06-11T00:26:00.000-07:00

This is a drawing on paper in acrylic, enamel pen and Sumi ink.

Gallon lid

Quart lids

Painting in Progress

2010-06-11T00:08:00.000-07:00

Making very slow progress these days. Feelin a bit brain dead. In the mean time I've been cranking out more Smoking Monkeys on paint can lids. Will post those photos.

Here's a detail of the head

Lauren's Open Studio

2010-06-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, heather, Coco and i went to visit Lauren Ari who was having an Open Studio. She had some really cool pieces for sale, both ceramic and on paper. I'm looking forward to collaborating with her on some pieces.

Smoking Monkeys

2010-05-31T12:57:00.001-07:00

This is a series that I've been working on for a while now. Got the smoking monkey bug. I've been scrounging around trying to get as many paint can lids as I can to do a wall of these guys. Also did a couple on white panels.

Farewell Louise Bourgeois

2010-05-31T12:50:00.000-07:00

Just read that Louise Bourgeois passed away. Man a lot of deaths these last few weeks.
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/bourgeois/index.html

Photo from: http://blog.art21.org/2008/07/07/bourgeois-at-antholgy-film-archive/

Painting in Progress - Day...(lost count)

2010-05-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

Slow progress if anything. With Memorial Day and the family out of town, I hope to gets some work done on this or the other pieces I'm starting.

3 Day Show at SFMOMA Artists Gallery

2010-05-24T23:27:00.000-07:00

These were taken by Heather while the SF Art Fair was going on at Fort Mason. The work on the left is Don Ed Hardy.

This is my painting, Pump It Up in the back room.

Painting in Progress - Day 9

2010-05-24T08:48:00.001-07:00

Got a bit more done, but spent the majority of this weekend cleaning my space and doing small drawings. Heather came back with photos from the SF Art Fair that I'll post later. Nice to have one again in SF after a 10 year hiatus. Just hope it doesn't disappear again! We need one close by.

Painting in Progress - Day 7

2010-05-22T00:57:00.000-07:00

Shot this before I get cranking this weekend while Heather and Coco are out of town. I have a couple days to get ahead.

SF Art Fair at Fort Mason

2010-05-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

During the SF Art fair the SFMOMA Artists Gallery will be having a Special 3 Day Show that I'm be included in. Stop in if you're planning to go to the Art Fair.

SFMOMA Artists Gallery is having a SPECIAL 3 DAY SHOW featuring work by Steve Allen, E.G. Crichton, Kirk Crippens, Laura Dufort, John Yoyogi Fortes, Don Ed Hardy, England Hidalgo, Terry Hoff, Misako Inaoka, Robert Ogata, Adrienne Pao, James Torlakson, and Lewis Watts.

Friday, May 21, noon - 8pm
Saturday, May 22, 11am - 7pm
Sunday, May 23, 11am - 6pm

2010 Headlands Center for the Arts Benefit Art Auction

2010-05-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

Property of the Man Cave

2010-05-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here is Heather pointing out her drawing that I appropriated for my painting. Anything left in the Man Cave belongs to me! Sorry babe!

Painting in Progress - Day 5

2010-05-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Moving along faster than I hoped and still not finished for the day!

Painting in Progress - Day 4

2010-05-15T22:29:00.001-07:00

Rest

2010-05-13T12:07:00.000-07:00

A small piece painted on paper that looks like wood grain. It's even embossed with the grain. Wish I had more.

Poison

2010-05-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

Small 9" x 12" painting. Acrylic and oil stick on canvas

Ok...I'm done!

2010-05-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

Painting in Progress - Day 3

2010-05-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

What to do with old stickers

2010-05-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

An untitled piece painted on paper and adhered to canvas covered in plastic glittery stickers.

Painting in Progress

2010-05-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

What the hell is going on here! Too much left brain dragging me down!

Painted over Coco's work!

2010-05-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

Post Mother's Day makeover. This is a 6 x 10 foot dyptic I hope to complete in time for my show at Jack Fischer's Gallery in October.

Detail

Mother's Day!

2010-05-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqxaD3UFhUU

Done!

2010-04-27T23:22:00.001-07:00

Didn't feel like this one needed a whole lot to finish up. Next!.....

Hmmmm?

2010-04-26T22:56:00.000-07:00

Acrylic on canvas

9" x 12"

Paintings in Progress

2010-04-20T22:00:00.001-07:00

I feel like this one is getting somewhere, but it's a ways from being finished. Once I'm done, I'll post some details shots too.

An Interesting Last Few Days!

2010-04-19T22:50:00.000-07:00

Friday was a tough day with some major layoffs at work. I was a lucky one and slipped through to keep my job. My thoughts go out to all my friends that were let go. I'll miss you.

Saturday and Sunday I had to get into the studio and clear my mind. Finished these three pieces over the weekend.

Today when I got home there was a knock at the door and my wife called me in a frantic voice that our neighbor needed help. Her husband in his 80's was having a diabetic seizure. When I got to their house and saw him I called 911. The ambulance took him away, then I drove her to the hospital and waited for her son to arrive. I'm glad he is ok!

Man, these last few days have been pretty interesting! Time to get busy again, ha!

What's goin' on in there!

2010-04-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

Back in the grind dodging the black widows in the studio. It's just a matter of time before I get them all! Here are a few pieces that I have been plugging away at to get back into the groove.

These three are paintings that are in progress and will most likely be shown in Oct

Under painting under way!

Book on Blurb

2010-03-31T23:34:00.000-07:00

I just uploaded a book of recent works that were exhibited at SFMOMA's Artists Gallery at Fort Mason in San Francisco in January 2010. Here's the link if you'd like to see the first 15 pages. the book has a total of 22 pages.

http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/1260550

Untitled by John Yoyogi Fortes | BOOK INFO

Painting in Progress

2010-03-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

This is a 40 x 50 inch painting that I've been working on here and there, but am liking the face. the photo of the whole piece isn't very great, but the details look much better.

Who has time to be in the studio?

2010-03-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

After being sick for almost 2 weeks, crappy weather, working on the house and a job!...I'm finally finding some time to be in the studio. I wonder how other artists do it when life demands their time and they can't crank out the work.

Here are a few pieces I' started yesterday, but am still playing with. Just the beginning of more to come so stay tuned.

Painting in Progress

2010-02-25T08:40:00.000-08:00

This is a painting that I never finished for the show at Fort Mason, but it worked out since I had enough work for the space. I've worked on this painting a couple times since the show, but getting into the studio yesterday got me amped to get going again.

Here are some surface details.

Eliza@Djerassi

2010-02-14T00:44:00.000-08:00

Heather, Coco and I headed to the coastal mountain range today (3 hours away) to visit our friend Eliza Barrios who is spending three weeks as a resident artist at the Djerassi Artists Residency Program near Woodside. Just a stones throw to Neil Young's Ranch. Eliza gave us a tour of the artists barn which at one time really was for cattle, but now is studio space for the selected artists in the program. Ironic that artists can feel like cattle sometimes. It's a beautiful property and a great place for an artist to concentrate on their work without interruption. I put my application in for 2010 so we'll see what happens. Eliza says that around 800 artists apply and only 70 are selected. Stay tuned good or bad.

Here are a few photos from the trip. Will post a video once I finish editing it. While we were there we were quite fortunate to meet the program founder, Dr. Carl Djerassi, who just happened to be showing a scientist from Stanford around the property. Djerassi is best known for the invention of the first oral contraceptive... The Pill. Fortunately Heather and I wanted a child so Coco had her photo taken with Dr. Djerassi. :-) He asked what Coco's discipline was in the arts. I said, "performance art!"

Dr. Carl Djerassi

Amor Fati @ Joyce Gordon Gallery

2010-01-29T09:18:00.000-08:00

Some video I shot at the opening of a show with friends, curated by Lian Ladia. Mel Vera Cruz installation in the basement.

Main gallery.

Amor Fati
January 8 - February 8, 2010
Opening Reception: January 8, 2010, Friday, 6pm-9pm

Kwatro-Kantos
(England Hidalgo, Marcius Noceda,
Carlo Ricafort, Mel Vera Cruz)
with
Malaquias Montoya
Miju (Michele Muennig & Juan Carlos Quintana)
Favianna Rodriguez
Carlos Villa

Amor Fati, love of fate, represents works that have passion towards life. Parallel to turmoil, history and progress - is a creative process of color, narrative and subjectivity. This is when an artist comes in to deliberate, paint, and tell stories of justice, torment, truth or even chaos - to the

devotion to " what is ". Curated by Lian Ladia.

House Cleaning on My Website!

2010-01-25T10:56:00.000-08:00

Finally got off my ass ( well actually I was sitting down to do this) and cleaned up my website. I took some work out and added some new ones. Take a peek!

My splash page and my painting thumbnail page.

In the Slow Lane

2010-01-22T23:02:00.000-08:00

Not having a show for a while has been really nice. I'm actually hanging out with my wonderful wife, and my 2 year old is calling me daddy again. So much for being a studio hermit! I've been plowing through all my slides and photographing work to build a digital archive. It's been a real pain, but once it's done, it'll be pretty sweet. I'm using Bento 3 by Filemaker if anyone is interested. I think it's for a Mac though. Let me know and I can give you a template.

Here are a few slides I scanned of work from the 1980's.

Pan 2!

2010-01-09T01:08:00.000-08:00

The Pan!

2010-01-09T00:59:00.000-08:00

At the end of the pan are Maria Medua, SFMOMA Artists Gallery Director and Steve Pon.

SFMOMA Artists Gallery Reception

2010-01-08T23:41:00.000-08:00

Thursday's turnout was great with many friends making the trek to the city. I appreciate all your support and as usual it's always great to see and talk to you. Here are some pictures from the opening.

My super supportive wife doing Vanna White!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T17:55:00.000-08:00

Another Great Idea!

2009-12-23T16:47:00.000-08:00

Small piece that went to SF. It's acrylic on sheetrock. The frame is made of door trim that came from a wall we tore down between our living room and kitchen. great stuff!

FINALLY!

2009-12-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

Heather, Coco and I delivered all my artwork to SFMOMA's Artists Gallery on Monday. It was raining, but it went without a hitch. The last few weeks have been a bear trying to get it all done: painting, framing .....

The reception is in January 2010 so I have a few weeks to clean up what the sunami left behind in the studio, watch a few episodes of Mad Men and be a father and husband. If you're in the area, hope you can stop by. I'll be posting the majority of the pieces on my Facebook page and website later.

This is the 6 footer, "A Temporary Paradise."

SFMOMA's Artist Gallery

2009-12-18T12:10:00.001-08:00

John Yoyogi Fortes, Jessalyn Haggenjos, Mike Narciso

January 7 - 29, 2010 Main Gallery

Opening reception: Thursday, January 7, 2010 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Getting Close

2009-12-17T23:23:00.001-08:00

Delivery to Fort Mason is this Monday so it's going to be a rough weekend tying up all loose ends. Here are some pieces that I feel pretty good about. If you're in the Bay Area (San Francisco) on January the 7th, please stop by for the reception, Here's a link to SFMOMA's Artists Gallery.

Last One!

2009-12-16T00:41:00.000-08:00

This is a 40 x 50 inch painting that I started the other day. With delivery next Monday, I had to try and finish this before Friday. Saturday I'll be finalizing all the work and getting it ready for packing. I'll have to get them all photographed this week too. Lots to do!

Maybe...Maybe Not!

2009-12-07T23:58:00.000-08:00

Tonight was freakin COLD! They say it's supposed to get down in the 20's. Well, all I can say is tennis shoes aren't a great barrier from cold cement. I think I'm done with the 6 footer that I've been working on, but I'll have to live with it for a few days.

Here's a quick piece of video I shot while working on it.

Paintings in Progress

2009-12-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks to delivery and I'm still pluggin' away. A few pieces are finished, but there's a ton of smaller work that still need to be mount on panels. Looks like this weekend will be spent with my chop saw and a lot of coffee!

Here's a detail shot of the Manila Folder!

Damn it's cold!

2009-12-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

It's been really cold these last few days. So much so I had to finally break out the thermals. This guys chillin'!

Paintings in Progress

2009-11-25T11:43:00.000-08:00

Here's another video of recent work that will be going to SFMOMA's Artists Gallery at Fort Mason in January 2010

Current State - Paintings in Progress

2009-11-22T19:25:00.000-08:00

This is where I'm at with the three 40" x 50" paintings for the January show. After taking the photos, I added to them. Just need to live with them for a while since I've been trying to get them as far as possible with the little time I have in the studio. Plus delivery is next month on the 22nd! Yikes!

Over Inflated

Idea Lost

Started this 6' x 6' painting today and had to dig out the hair dryer to get the paint to set. The nights have been so cold that its still pretty tacky in the morning. So far I like the progress on this one.

(Detail)

Painting in Progress

2009-11-19T22:44:00.000-08:00

Got on this one again, but had to take today off to frame pieces going to Fort Mason. Not too bummed since it's freezing out there. Frost on the ground this morning. Might be time to break out the hair dryer since the paint isn't setting as quickly.

Paintings in Progress

2009-11-16T22:43:00.000-08:00

Still working on these damn things. Just started the 6 footer so I hope to have something up here soon. These two are 40 x 50 inches.

Here's a detail of the eye... eyes!

Paintings in Progress

2009-11-14T23:24:00.000-08:00

Started another in this series of paintings. Here are a few photos from tonight.

Tabi Tabi Po @ 1AM Gallery

2009-11-11T23:29:00.001-08:00

I'm in a show with quite a few Filipino artists from the U.S., Philippines and Norway. If you're in the city (SF) this Friday, drop by to the opening at 1AM Gallery.

What's goin' on in there!

2009-11-11T00:53:00.000-08:00

I was in the studio last night and decided to make this short video of some current work for a show in January at SFMOMA's Artists Gallery at Fort Mason in San Francisco.

Hmmm?

2009-11-09T23:35:00.000-08:00

Finally feeling like I'm getting someplace with these paintings. Ok, my studio is thrashed, but it's functional.

New Year's resolution...."Don't leave crap laying around so you can trip over it trying to make art...or what you call art!" I tripped twice tonight almost impailing myself on a paint brush handle.

Within Eyes Reach

Happy New Year!

Dog and Cat Show 2011

Studio Redo

"Halo-Halo: Bay Area Artists of the Filipino Diaspora."

Art in the Streets

Illiterate Gallert T-Shirts

Off to Denver

Illiterate Gallery Pieces

Video finally up and running!

Gottfried Helnwein in the house

An afternoon with artist Patrick Dougherty

Review of my show at Jack Fischer Gallery in Art, Ltd. Magazine

Happy Holiday!

Huh!

Opening Reception for Parallel Boondocks

Review a Squarecylinder

John Yoyogi Fortes @ Jack Fischer

Posted on 16 November 2010 Tags: David M. Roth,

Installed the Work

Paintings Headed for NY

Paintings in Progress

Goin to Jack Fischer's

Paintings in Progress

188 Kiska Road

Smoking Monkey Series

Painting in Progress

Black Dahlia

Updated

Sheetrockin!

Paintings in Progress

Painting in Progress

Painting in Progress

Collaboration with Coco

Coco Meets Sandow Birk

Done?

Painting in Progress

DONE! July 10, 2010

Painting in Progress

New Starts

Painting in Progress

Michelle Meunnig at Jack Fischer Gallery

Painting in Progress

Painting in Progress

Painting in Progress

Mo Monkies!

Rest in Peace Sigmar Polke

Smoking Monkey Series

Painting in Progress

Lauren's Open Studio

Smoking Monkeys

Farewell Louise Bourgeois

Just read that Louise Bourgeois passed away. Man a lot of deaths these last few weeks.http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/bourgeois/index.html

Painting in Progress - Day...(lost count)

3 Day Show at SFMOMA Artists Gallery

Painting in Progress - Day 9

Painting in Progress - Day 7

SF Art Fair at Fort Mason

During the SF Art fair the SFMOMA Artists Gallery will be having a Special 3 Day Show that I'm be included in. Stop in if you're planning to go to the Art Fair.

During the SF Art fair the SFMOMA Artists Gallery will be having a Special 3 Day Show that I'm be included in. Stop in if you're planning to go to the Art Fair.

SFMOMA Artists Gallery is having a SPECIAL 3 DAY SHOW featuring work by Steve Allen, E.G. Crichton, Kirk Crippens, Laura Dufort, John Yoyogi Fortes, Don Ed Hardy, England Hidalgo, Terry Hoff, Misako Inaoka, Robert Ogata, Adrienne Pao, James Torlakson, and Lewis Watts.

Friday, May 21, noon - 8pmSaturday, May 22, 11am - 7pmSunday, May 23, 11am - 6pm

2010 Headlands Center for the Arts Benefit Art Auction

Property of the Man Cave

Painting in Progress - Day 5

Painting in Progress - Day 4

Rest

Poison

Ok...I'm done!

Painting in Progress - Day 3

What to do with old stickers

Painting in Progress

Painted over Coco's work!

Mother's Day!

Done!

Hmmmm?

Paintings in Progress

An Interesting Last Few Days!

What's goin' on in there!

Book on Blurb

Posted on 16 November 2010
Tags: David M. Roth,

Just read that Louise Bourgeois passed away. Man a lot of deaths these last few weeks.
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/bourgeois/index.html

Friday, May 21, noon - 8pm
Saturday, May 22, 11am - 7pm
Sunday, May 23, 11am - 6pm