Rio Yañez (born in 1980) is an American curator and artist. He is based in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

Biography

Rio Yañez was born in 1980 at San Francisco General Hospital in San Francisco, California to artists

Yolanda Lopez Yolanda may refer to: * Yolanda (name), a given name derived from the Greek ''Iolanthe'' Places * Yolanda, California * Yolanda Shrine, monument located at Barangay Anibong, Tacloban, Leyte Film * ''Yolanda'' (film), a 1924 film starring ...

and

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 ...

. His parents separated after a few years but they remained as neighbors in the same building in the

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

in San Francisco. Yañez attended

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

and received a BFA degree in 2005. Rio and René Yañez collaborated on art for many years, starting in 2005. He has been active with his art at Galeria de la Raza, SOMArts,

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, ...

, among others. Yañez was a member of the food-based art group ''The Great Tortilla Conspiracy ''making

tortilla art Tortilla art refers to fine art that uses tortillas as a canvas. The tortilla(s) are baked, often coated with acrylic and painted or screenprinted. The purpose of tortilla art is to reflect the Chicano cultural roots of the artist. Tortilla art i ...

, other members include Joseph "Jos" Sances, René Yañez, and Art Hazelwood. In 2014, Rio Yañez moved to the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland. After his father passed away in 2018, Rio took up the role as co-curator of the annual

Día de los Muertos The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...

in the Mission District.

References

1980 births Artists from San Francisco American artists of Mexican descent Artists from the San Francisco Bay Area Mexican-American culture in California California Institute of the Arts alumni Living people {{US-artist-stub