rio yanez

About me:

..I was born and raised on the mean streets of San Francisco's Mission District. It was on these ghettolicious streets that I fell in love and had many adventures. I have a degree in Photography and Media from.. CalArts ..and an ambition to change the world. Take it from your boy El Rio, don't follow leaders and watch the parking meters. I currently work at the South of Market Cultural Center. My primary interest, as an artist, is in combining icons and mythologies. As a child growing up Chicano I was often frustrated that Chicano art and iconography rarely intersected with my personal mythologies of comic books, pro-wrestling, music, and Godzilla movies. My images bring together my heroes, friends, and childhood fantasies with Chicano aesthetics, traditional images, and politics. They are a fulfillment of my childhood yearnings and an exploration of my relationship to the worlds I walk between.

My newest series of work made with my collective The Great Tortilla Conspiracy, artwork made on and with Corn Tortillas, can be seen at tortillaconspiracy.com.