I have about a week to go before installing my show at Jen Tough Gallery in Benicia. It's been a long haul, but I like what I have and it should be a fun show. If you are in the area I hope you can make it out. The reception and opening are on October 5th from 5 to 7PM. The last painting is by Baton Rouge artist and friend, Jonathan Mayers. He helped me with all the translations from English to Louisiana Creole (Kouri-vini).
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Kit pa ça filé Bayou! / “Don’t let it pass/go Bayou!”
October 05 - November 17, 2019
A solo exhibition in our Benicia Gallery / Historic Arsenal / 940 Tyler St, Benicia, CA 94510

Opening reception: Saturday, October 5, 5:00-7:00

Jen Tough Gallery is pleased to present the solo exhibition by gallery artist John Yoyogi Fortes at our Benicia gallery, October 05 - November 17, 2019. This will be the artist’s first solo exhibition at the gallery, having been in numerous group exhibitions in our Benicia and San Francisco spaces, as well as Art Santa Fe 2018 and Art Market San Francisco 2019.

John Yoyogi Fortes was born in a taxi on Yoyogi Street in Tokyo, Japan, and is a Filipino-American painter based in Sacramento. This exhibition will focus on work and ideas explored at his residency at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans in the early spring of 2019. While John’s work has consistently had themes of identity and culture, upon learning that Filipinos had settled in Louisiana after escaping Spanish ships in the 1700’s, his work shifted to deeper explorations of Filipino life related to the bayous near New Orleans.

This new body of work is deeply personal, but not precious, and has darkly humorous undertones. In an installation consisting of a series of new paintings, numerous drawings and sculptural assemblages, John’s eclectic choice of materials, from water buffalo hide, plastic Mardi Gras beads to red beans and rice, reflects further explorations of culture specific to location, community and history.

Gallery open Wednesdays - Sundays, 12:00-5:00 or by appointment

Jen Tough Gallery
940 Tyler Street, Benicia, CA 94510
jentough.gallery.com
info@jentough.gallery
833-278-5683