Hell 2 Pay and Other Works

John Yoyogi Fortes, Kids & Art, and Art Guild of Pacifica show at Sanchez Art Center

Sanchez Art Center is pleased to present three new exhibitions opening June 3. The Main Gallery features an exhibit titled Hell 2 Pay and Other Works by John Yoyogi Fortes, curated by Philip E. Linhares. East Gallery offers a heartwarming exhibit, Colors of Healing, by Kids & Art in the West Gallery, Art Guild of Pacifica presents Not for Real. The free opening reception for all three exhibits is from 7 to 9 pm, Friday, June 3, with live music provided by the wonderful singing group Tonal Recall.

Born in a taxi on Yoyogi Street in Tokyo, Japan, John Yoyogi Fortes is a Northern California painter based in Sacramento. His paintings are often large-scale explorations of self that lean toward a whimsical, dark, and obscure world. The artist describes his process thus: “My paintings start spontaneously as I create random areas of color and imagery, building up the surface. There is, however, a magical moment when interrelationships develop between the forms. Eventually a loose narrative is created based on ideas around self. This drives the direction and choices I make towards the painting’s completion.”

Fortes’s paintings have been exhibited in California, Nevada, Chicago, New York, Hawaii, Venezuela, Japan, and Norway, and are held in numerous private collections, as well as the Asian American Art Centre in New York, the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, and the Triton Museum of Art and Crocker Art Museum in California. His work was included in the International Arts & Artists traveling exhibition, Infinite Mirror; Images of American Identity. The exhibit opened at Syracuse University in New York and traveled to museums and universities throughout the Eastern United States. He has received numerous grants and honors, including grants from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and a Visual Artist Fellowship from the California Arts Council.

Fortes is also a videographer and has collaborated with the California Association of Museums and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, producing videos of Bay Area artists Travis Sommerville and Mel Ramos, and Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein. Currently he is working with the Crocker Art Museum on their Block by Block initiative based on community engagement and various projects with the California Endowment.

Fortes and Linhares will also give a free Artist/Curator Talk on closing Sunday, June 26, at 4 pm.

Colors of Healing presents artworks created in a workshop held at Sanchez Art Center on May 1 by Kids & Art, an organization dedicated to bringing healing through art to pediatric cancer patients. Each kid worked one-on-one with a professional artist, and the artworks of both are displayed side by side in the exhibit. Several of the artists who volunteered for this workshop are studio artists or staff at Sanchez Art Center. Artists who participated in the project include: Jennifer Alpaugh (Sanchez studio artist), Jil Coolidge, Jason DePerro, Kimberlie Garg (Sanchez studio artist), Rinat Goren, Jan Hanway (Sanchez studio artist), Helen Lew, Linette Morales (Sanchez executive assistant), Celina Paul, (Sanchez studio artist), and Lisa Warns. “The exhibit was designed to give these children an immersive experience, an opportunity to feel what it is like to show their art in a public gallery space,” said Purvi Shah, Executive Director of Kids & Art. “Forging a connection between separate worlds and separate works, the art speaks to the bonds that are at the heart of the Kids & Art experience,” said Shah.

The Art Guild of Pacifica presents Not for Real, a themed group exhibition that includes all kinds of surreal and fantastic images. And, according to the call for entries, “Not for real” means not only something that is imaginary, but could also include anything strange, pretend, or even fake. It will be an interesting mix.

Come to the opening prepared to make some art of your own by participating in our Community Art Project, titled Coastal Colors. We provide the panels and the paints, and will display your creations in the East Gallery foyer at Sanchez Art Center.

Sanchez Art Center is located at 1220 Linda Mar Blvd in Pacifica, about a mile east of Highway 1. Following opening night, the galleries are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 1–5 pm, and by appointment, through June 26. For more information call 650.355.1894 or visit SanchezArtCenter.org.