Carlos Villa (December 11, 1936 – March 23, 2013) was a Filipino-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

visual artist, curator and faculty member in the Painting Department at the San Francisco Art Institute. His work often explored the meaning of cultural diversity and sought to expand awareness of multicultural issues in the arts.

Early life and education

Carlos Villa was born on December 11, 1936 in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, to immigrant parents in the Tenderloin District. He was introduced to art when taking lessons with his cousin,

Leo Valledor Leo Valledor (1936–1989) was a Filipino-American painter who pioneered the hard-edge painting style. During the 1960s he was a member of the Park Place Gallery in Soho, New York City, which exhibited many influential and significant artists of ...

, who taught him to study etchings by

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

. Villa started to display his work in 1958 and went on to receive a B.F.A. in Education in 1961 from the California School of Fine Arts (now known as San Francisco Art Institute), and a subsequent M.F.A. degree in Painting in 1963 from

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

. He studied under

Richard Diebenkorn Richard Diebenkorn (April 22, 1922 – March 30, 1993) was an American painter and printmaker. His early work is associated with abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s he bega ...

Elmer Bischoff Elmer Nelson Bischoff (July 9, 1916 – March 2, 1991) was a visual artist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bischoff, along with Richard Diebenkorn and David Park, was part of the post- World War II generation of artists who started as abstract p ...

Frank Lobdell Frank Lobdell (1921 - 2013) was an American painter, often associated with the Bay Area Figurative Movement and Bay Area Abstract Expressionism. Life and career Frank Lobdell was born on August 23, 1921 in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Miss ...

, and Ralph DuCasse.

Art career

In the early 1960s, Villa was associated with the Park Place Gallery Group in New York City and he was working as a

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

, with a focus on textures. He moved back to San Francisco in 1969, ready to approach his work in a new manner. Villa created multimedia projects and performances that he called "Actions"; these were often group collaborations which dealt with multicultural topics. In 1976, Villa curated a multidisciplinary, multiethnic exhibition entitled ''Other Sources: An American Essay'', that showcased work by Bay Area artists of color. This exhibition was an alternative celebration of the

United States Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...

, and focused on people of color and women. It showcased artists including

Ruth Asawa Ruth Aiko Asawa (January 24, 1926 – August 5, 2013) was an American modernist sculptor. Her work is featured in collections at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.< ...

Bernice Bing Bernice Bing (10 April 1936 – 18 August 1998) was a Chinese American lesbian artist involved in the San Francisco Bay Area art scene in the 1960s. She was known for her interest in the Beats and Zen Buddhism, and for the "calligraphy-inspir ...

Rolando Castellón Rolando Castellón, also known as Rolando Dionisio Castellón-Alegria (born 1937) is a Nicaraguan American painter, author, art historian, and curator. He was a well-known contributor to the arts of San Francisco, California and he has lived in C ...

Claude Clark Claude Clark (November 11, 1915 – April 21, 2001) was an American painter, printmaker and art educator. Clark's subject matter was the diaspora of African American culture, including dance scenes, street urchins, marine life, landscapes, an ...

Robert Colescott Robert H. Colescott (August 26, 1925 – June 4, 2009) was an American painter. He is known for satirical genre and crowd subjects, often conveying his exuberant, comical, or bitter reflections on being African American. He studied with Fernand L ...

, Frank Day,

Rupert García Rupert García (born in 1941 in San Joaquin Valley of French Camp, California) is an American Chicano visual artist and professor. He is known as a painter, pastellist, and screen printer. In the 1960s, as a leader, he led a movement against 'Yank ...

, Mike Henderson,

Oliver Lee Jackson Oliver Lee Jackson (born 1935) is an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, and educator. He was a professor at the California State University, Sacramento from 1971 until 2002 and was one of the founders of the Pan African Studies program at th ...

Frank LaPena Frank Raymond LaPena, also known as Frank LaPeña and by his Wintu name Tauhindauli (1937 – 2019), was a Nomtipom-Wintu American Indian painter, printmaker, ethnographer, professor, ceremonial dancer, poet, and writer. He taught at California S ...

Linda Lomahaftewa Linda Lomahaftewa (born 1947) is a Hopi and Choctaw printmaker, painter, and educator living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Background Linda J. Lomahaftewa was born July 3, 1947 in Phoenix, Arizona. Her late father was Hopi; her mother is Choctaw fro ...

George Longfish George Chester Longfish (born August 22, 1942) is a First Nations artist, professor, and museum director. His art work blends Pop art with Indigenous motifs, and often features assemblage. Many of his works have been featured in major public mus ...

Ralph Maradiaga Ralph Maradiaga (1934–1985) was an American artist, curator, photographer, printmaker, teacher, and filmmaker. He was Chicano, one of the co-founders of Galería de la Raza and part of the San Francisco Bay Area Chicano Art Movement. Biograp ...

José Montoya José Montoya (May 28, 1932 – September 25, 2013) was a poet and an artist from Sacramento, California. He was one of the most influential Chicano bilingual poets. He has published many well-known poems in anthologies and magazines, and serve ...

Manuel Neri Manuel John Neri Jr. (April 12, 1930October 18, 2021) was an American sculptor who is recognized for his life-size figurative sculptures in plaster, bronze, and marble. In Neri's work with the figure, he conveys an emotional inner state that is re ...

Mary Lovelace O'Neal Mary Lovelace O'Neal (born February 10, 1942) is an American artist and arts educator. Her work is focused on abstracted mixed-media (primarily painting and printmaking) and minimalism. She is a Professor Emeritus, University of California, Ber ...

, Darryl Sapien, Raymond Saunders, James Hiroshi Suzuki, Horace Washington,

Al Wong Al Wong (born 1939) is an American artist and educator, known for his experimental film and mixed media installation art. He is based in San Francisco, California. Biography Al Wong was born in 1939 in San Francisco, California to father Willie ...

René Yañez René Yañez (19 September 1942 – 29 May 2018) was a Mexican-American painter, assemblage artist, performance artist, curator and community activist located in San Francisco, California. He was a well-known contributor to the arts of San Franc ...

. Live performances by Winston and Mary Tong, Mark Izu and Ray Robles, poetry readings by

Janice Mirikitani Janice Mirikitani (February 5, 1941 – July 29, 2021) was a Japanese–American poet and activist who resided in the San Francisco Bay Area for most of her adult life. She managed the Glide Memorial Church with her husband, Cecil Williams. Sh ...

Jessica Hagedorn Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn (born 1949) is an American playwright, writer, poet, and multimedia performance artist. Biography Hagedorn is an American of mixed descent. She was born in Manila to a Scots-Irish-French-Filipino mother and a Spanish Fi ...

, and Al Robles, and numerous others. In 1985, he had a retrospective exhibition, ''Carlos Villa:1961–1984'', held at the

C.N. Gorman Museum C.N. Gorman Museum is a museum focused on Native American and Indigenous artists, founded in 1973 at University of California, Davis (UC Davis) in Davis, California. History The C.N. Gorman Museum was founded in 1973 by the Department of Nativ ...

and at the Memorial Union Art Gallery at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

. In 1995, Villa published ''Worlds in Collision'', a book on

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

in the arts. The contents were transcriptions of presentations and discussions held during the San Francisco Art Institute’s symposia series entitled ''Sources of a Distinct Majority (1989-1991)''. The ''Worlds In Collision'' project continued in subsequent symposia, web projects and courses until 2013. In 2010, Villa organized ''Rehistoricizing Abstract Expressionism in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1950s-1960s'', a web project, symposium and exhibition at The Luggage Store Gallery that focused attention on contributions by women and artists of color (primarily abstract expressionist painters) that were overlooked by art history. In 2011, Villa had a solo retrospective of his work entitled ''Manongs, Some Doors and a Bouquet of Crates'' at the

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) is an arts nonprofit that was founded in 1977, and is located at 2868 Mission Street in the Mission District in San Francisco, California. They provide art studio space, art classes, an art gallery, ...

in San Francisco. In 2020, Villa was part of the group exhibition ''Prospect.5: Yesterday We Said Tomorrow'' at

Prospect New Orleans Prospect New Orleans is a multi-venue contemporary art event in New Orleans. "Prospect.1 New Orleans" ran from November 2008 to January 2009. Conceived in the tradition of the international biennials, such as the Venice Biennale, São Paulo Bienn ...

. He was also the subject of the book ''Carlos Villa and the Integrity of Spaces'' (Meritage Press, 2011) an anthology of essays about his work and influence edited by Theodore S. Gonzalves, featuring essays and poetry by Bill Berkson, David A.M. Goldberg, Theodore S. Gonzalves, Mark Dean Johnson, Margo Machida, and Moira Roth.

Teaching

Villa was a faculty member in the Painting Department at the San Francisco Art Institute where he started teaching in 1969. In the 1970s, Villa taught at

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

Death

Villa died March 23, 2013 in San Francisco from cancer and is survived by his wife, Mary Valledor, daughter Sydney and stepson Rio Valledor. Mary's first husband and the father of Rio was Leo Valledor, Carlos' cousin.

Exhibitions

* 1977 – ''Look, Touch, Rub, Pull, Smell, and Hear'', included Carlos Villa, Chisato Nishioka Watanabe, Phil Weidman, , Phil Hitchcock, Jock Reynold, Laureen Landau,

Sylvia Lark Sylvia Lark (1947–1990) was a Native American/ Seneca artist, curator, and educator. She best known as an Abstract expressionist painter and printmaker. Lark lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years. Early life and education Lark w ...

, William Maxwell, Bruce Guttin,

Paul DeMarinis Paul DeMarinis (1948) is an American visual and sound artist, specializing in electronic music composer, sound, performance, and computer-based artist. Since the 1970s he has been active in creating digital sound sculptures, one of the early inn ...

, and Jim Pomeroy, Artspace, Sacramento, California * 1985 – ''Carlos Villa: 1961–1984'', solo retrospective,

and at the Memorial Union Art Gallery,

* 1987 – ''The Ethnic Idea'', curated by Andrée Maréchal-Workman, including Lauren Adams,

, Dewey Crumpler, Mildred Howard,

, Joe Sam, Elisabeth Zeilon,

Tom Holland Thomas Stanley Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor. His accolades include a British Academy Film Award, three Saturn Awards, a Guinness World Record and an appearance on the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Europe list. Some publications h ...

, Celeste Conner,

Jean LaMarr Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

, Leta Ramos, Judy Foosaner,

Joseph Goldyne Joseph R. Goldyne (born 1942), is an American artist, curator, and author. He is known for his monotype prints and drawing and he was one of the co-founders of 3EP Ltd. Press. Biography Joseph Goldyne was born on 20 April 1942 in Chicago, Ill ...

, Belinda Chlouber, Carlos Villa,

Berkeley Art Center Berkeley Art Center (BAC) is a nonprofit arts organization, community art space, and gallery founded in 1967 and located at 1275 Walnut Street in Live Oak Park, Berkeley, California. History The Berkeley Art Center building was built by the B ...

, Berkeley, California * 2022 – ''Carlos Villa: Worlds in Collision'' (solo exhibition),

San Francisco Arts Commission The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy in San Francisco, Cali ...

Main Gallery, War Memorial Veterans Building, San Francisco, California * 2022 – ''Carlos Villa: Roots and Reinvention'' (solo exhibition), Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, California

Awards

* 1959 – Honorable Mention,

Richmond Art Center Richmond Art Center is a nonprofit arts organization based in Richmond, California, founded in 1936. History In 1936, Richmond-resident Hazel Salmi began teaching classes under the Emergency Education Program (EEP) of the Works Progress Adminis ...

, Richmond, California, * 1973 –

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Grant, * 1973 –

Adaline Kent Adaline Dutton Kent or Adaline Kent Howard, (August 7, 1900 – March 24, 1957) was an American sculptor from California. She created abstract sculptures with forms inspired by the natural landscape. Early life and education Kent was born on ...

Award, San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), San Francisco, California, * 1987, 2000 – Guest Artist,

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects, ...

, Rome, Italy, * 1989 – Distinguished Alumni Award, San Francisco Art Institute, * 1997 –

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expressio ...

Award, * 1998 – Flintridge Foundation Grant, * 2000 – Pamana Award, Filipino American Art Exposition, * 2012 – Guggenheim Fellowship, Creative Arts, Fine Arts.

References

External links

Carlos Villa's official website (artist estate website)

Website for the exhibition, ''Rehistoricizing Abstract Expressionism in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1950s-1960s''

Oral History interview with Carlos Villa, June 20-July 10, 1995
from the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villa, Carlos 1936 births Artists from San Francisco American artists of Filipino descent 2013 deaths Mills College alumni San Francisco Art Institute faculty San Francisco Art Institute alumni Artists from the San Francisco Bay Area California State University, Sacramento faculty