The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

Carlos Villa: Worlds in Collision

Institution
San Francisco Art Institute
Grant Cycle
Fall 2019
Amount
$100,000
Type of Grant
Exhibition Support
Website
www.sfartscommission.org ↗
Carlos Villa, Orange-a-Boom, 2010. Scored lines though acrylic on wood, hardware, 72 x 60 in. each. Estate of Carlos Villa
Carlos Villa, Artist's Feet, 1979–1980. Paper pulp and feathers, approx. 5 x 15 x 7 in. each.
Carlos Villa, Tatu (Tatu Series), 1971. Ink on Itek photograph, 21 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. Estate of Carlos Villa
Carlos Villa, Third Coat, 1977. Feathers and acrylic on canvas; Inside lining: Bone dolls and acrylic on taffeta, 82 x 80 in. Collection of di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art.
Carlos Villa, Painted Cloak (recto), 1971. Airbrushed acrylic on unstretched canvas with lining of feathers and taffeta, 73 x 124 x 25 in. Collection of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Carlos Villa, My Father Walking up Kearny Street for the First Time, 1995 Feathers, Panama hat, engraved bronze plate: "Desire", plexiglass with vinyl lettering, black gesso, on framed door, 90 x 43 x 5 in. Estate of Carlos Villa
Carlos Villa, Ritual, 1970–1971. Mixed media on unstretched canvas, 97 x 94 x 4 in. Estate of Carlos Villa.
Carlos Villa, Surrender Monkey, 1988. Aluminum, steel, paper pulp, and feathers, 40 x 30 x 30 in. Estate of Carlos Villa

Carlos Villa: Worlds in Collision is the first museum retrospective of iconic Filipino-American artist Carlos Villa and is presented as a joint exhibition at both the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) and the Asian Art Museum.

An alumnus and longtime SFAI faculty member, Villa (1936-2013) is a legend in artistic circles for his groundbreaking approaches and his influence on countless artists, but remains little known to many fans and scholars of modern and contemporary art. 

Villa was inspired by the late 1960s Third World Liberation consciousness in the Bay Area and radically changed his approach to artmaking to reflect non-western perspectives. The exhibition illuminates the social and cultural roots, as well as the global importance, of Villa’s art and teaching career as he sought to forge a new kind of art-world inclusion that reflected his own experience, commitment to diversity, and boundary-bending imagination.

The full arc of Villa’s six-decade career will be on display at SFAI, while the concurrent presentation at the Asian Art Museum features large-scale artworks Villa created in the 1970s.

See Also

“The terrific range of project proposals we receive each year speaks to the mobile and porous disciplinary boundaries of contemporary art practice, and to the rich and inventive ways writers approach art today. They are alert to the urgent need to expand the conventions of art history and criticism with ideas from other discourses, such as black studies, transnational and diaspora studies, gender and women’s studies, and LGBT studies. The work of lesser known and overlooked artists and art communities continues to be mined, with writers articulating new ways to counter the striking imbalances of race, class and gender that continue to affect the arts and the culture industry.”

Pradeep Dalal, Program Director,  The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant