On Wednesday, November 7, the hard-at-work students of 826’s After-School Tutoring Program took a moment’s rest from their homework to welcome the highly accomplished artist, Rio Yañez.
Rio Yañez was born and raised right here in the Mission District. Raised by two artists, Rio has been well immersed in the world of art since his was born. Rio uses a number of different media to address important issues that pervade his community. Through photography, graphic art, and silk-screening tortillas (yes, tortillas), he takes classic Chicano icons like the Virgen to Guadalupe, and Frida Kahlo, and places them within a conceptually and aesthetically modern context.
Rio shared with us bits of his own personal history, as well as some samples of his works of art. Towards the end of his visit, we all got to put on our 3D glasses to enjoy the 3-dimensional graphic photographs that he has been creating. Students greatly enjoyed creating collages inspired by their lives using recycled comic books. They were all thrilled to meet a guest artist that’s creating masterpieces in their hometown!