Altar @ SOMARts dedicated to 5 Latinx killed by police brutality. KQED interview: https://shorturl.at/JpssZ
ADRIAN ARIAS
Email: adrian.arias@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adrian_arias_art/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AdrianAriasPeru
Adrian Arias is an international multidisciplinary artist working at the intersection of visual arts, poetry, and social justice. As a descendant of the Mochica culture of ancient Peru, he uses the gifts from his ancestors to connect communities by promoting messages of equality, peace and beauty.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Corazones / Hearts. Drawings and prints. Red Poppy Art House, San Francisco, California. Link to Red Poppy website: https://shorturl.at/04mwZ
2024 Divinations & Dreams. Drawings and paintings. The Eleventh House, Fairfax, California.
2023 Dear Angel, don’t try to colonize me. Drawings and paintings. ATA (Artist Television Access) Gallery, San Francisco, California.
2023 Playlist to draw. Drawings. Freight & Salvage Gallery, Berkeley, California.
2023 Drawings & Dreams. Medicine for Nightmares Gallery, San Francisco, California.
2019 Dream #8: The Border. Berkeley Art Museum (BAMPFA), Berkeley, California.
2018 Dream Escapes Paintings. Red Poppy Art House.
2017 Angels in Time of Dictatorship. Drawings. Studio Grand, Oakland, California.
2015 Beautiful Trash (3). Installations, drawings, book-objects, photography. Art Museum of San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
2012 Beautiful Trash (2). Installations, drawings, book-objects, photography. Galleria de La Raza, San Francisco, California.
2010 Beautiful Trash (1). Installations, drawings, book-objects, photography. Kimball Education Gallery, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California. Article on SF Gate: https://bit.ly/3VK0RZf
GROUP EXHIBITIONS / PRODUCTIONS
2024 Arte de Inspiración: Día de los Muertos 2024. California Museum, Sacramento. Arte de Inspiración: Day of the Dead. Ofrendas for Rene Yañez & Yolanda Lopez. Sacramento, California.Museum website: https://shorturl.at/oQFbw
2024 Contemporary Venice – 15th edition. Painting. San Marco Art Space, Venice, Italy.
2024 Manifest Differently. Drawings and Live painting murals. The Minnesota Project, San Francisco, California.
2023 Tarot in Pandemic & Revolution. Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST), San Francisco, California. A multifaceted collaboration conceptualized and orchestrated by Adrian Arias and sixty two (62) visual artists and poets resulting in the creation of an eighty one (81) card community tarot deck that speaks to the historic events that transpired during the pandemic. . Published by Nomadic Press, Oakland, California. A BIPOC Tarot Deck by HYPERALLERGIC: https://hyperallergic.com/701905/bipoc-tarot-deck-for-navigating-trying-times/
2023 Indigenous. Drawings. State of California Building, San Francisco, California.
2023 Black & Blue. Drawings. Art Thou Gallery. Curated by Ava Krikos.
2023 Hummingbird connector with Harry Belafonte. Big scale drawing-installation. SOMArts, San Francisco.
2022 You Don’t Kill the Truth by Killing Journalists. Big scale drawing-installation. SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco.
2022 19 (Nineteen children killed in a school). Large scale drawing-installation dedicated to the 19 children murdered in Uvalde, Texas. Day of the Dead / Dia de los Muertos Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco, California.
2021 A Poem for the Dead. Big scale drawing-installation. SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco. Interview and article link by NPR: https://shorturl.at/JpssZ
2021 Dear Yolanda, Jack, Anna and Hung Lui. Big scale drawing-installation. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. San Francisco, California.
2021 The Light That Shines Through The Cracks. La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley, California. Curated by Cece Carpio.
2020 George Floyd, 8:46 minutes. Big scale drawing-installation. Day of the Dead / Dia de los Muertos, SOMArts Cultural Center.
2020 Manos del Mundo/Hands of the World. Mission Cultural Center of Latino Arts, San Francisco, California.
2019 We Belong – Pertenecemos. State of California Building, San Francisco, California. Curated by Joseph Abbati.
2015 Eduardo Galeano Presente! . SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, California. Commissioned by SOMArts. Large scale altar-ofrenda installation and performance dedicated to Eduardo Galeano for Day of the Dead / Dia de los Muertos.
2015 Day of the Dead / Dia de los Muertos . San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco, California. Commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony. Large scale altar-ofrenda installation dedicated to Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
2014 Day of the Dead / Dia de los Muertos. California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco. Commissioned by the California Institute of Integral Studies. Large scale altar-ofrenda installation dedicated to the children killed at the Mexican-US border.
2012 Day of the Dead / Dia de los Muertos. Oakland Museum of California (OMCA), Oakland. California. Commissioned by OMCA. Large scale altar-ofrenda installation dedicated to Lew Ayres.
2008 “Mi película empieza… / Mi movie starts…” . Art Festival BAC, Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, Spain.
1994 Recycl-Art. The Galerie Bernanos of Art, Paris, France.
COMMISSIONS/PUBLIC ART PROJECTS
2024 Mural Day of the Dead Celebration: Skull-Butterfly. Live painting mural for four hours at the Terminal 2, San Francisco Airport. Visible to passengers, approximately ten thousand, while the mural is on display. San Francisco, California
2024 Live painting celebrating Surrealism in Latino Culture. In collaboration with musicians PC Muñoz and Javier Navarrete. Berkeley City College, Berkeley, California.
2024 Mural Capuchina Plant Goddess. Procida, Italy
2024 Creatures around the ocean. Mural located in Procida, Italy
2024 Mural “Pansy/Pensamiento flower Goddess”. Newburgh, New York, US.
2024 Live mural painting, Healdsburg Jazz Festival. With John Santos Quintet, Healdsburg, California
2023 Ancestral Hummingbird at SFO. Live painting ephemeral mural. With traffic of ten thousand people. San Francisco Airport.
2023 Mural for Hank Wilson. Located at the lobby of the Ambassador Hotel, San Francisco. SF Gate: https://shorturl.at/QPtNz NBC: https://shorturl.at/UWpVT
2023 Mural Natura Musica. Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, California.
2023 Ancestral Hummingbird. Mural located in Lima, Kambalache Cultural Center, Peru.
2023 Indigenous Women Are Not Invisible. Mural located at 23rd @ Folsom streets, San Francisco. Red Poppy Art House website information about the mural: https://bit.ly/3xog2gx
2023 Visit of the Ancestral Hummingbird. Mural located in Xalapa, Mexico.
2023 Mural:The visit of Ancestral Hummingbirds. 24th Street at Osage, San Francisco.
2022 Fire Hummingbird. Large scale altar-ofrenda installation and sound sculpture. The Festival of Altars, Potrero del Sol Park, San Francisco, California. Commissioned by The Marigold Project
2022 Indigenous Women Are Not Invisible. Magic Theatre, Fort Mason, San Francisco, California. Commissioned by Magic Theatre
2022 Mural River to the Sky. Turk Street & Hyde Street, San Francisco, California . Commissioned by Luggage Store Gallery and the Someland Foundation. .Link to see 90 seconds timelapse of the creation of the mural:
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/682109842
Complete information about River to the sky mural:
https://www.luggagestoregallerysf.org/2022/01/adrian-arias-river-to-the-sky-mural/
https://www.ktvu.com/news/san-franciscos-famed-blackhawk-jazz-club-showcased-black-excellence
2021 Love Story of Hummingbirds and Ancestors. Mural at Google, Mountain View, California. Commissioned by Google and Gray Area Foundation. A 1,300 square foot mural featuring personal stories of the artist and the cultural relevance of the hummingbird
2020 Amulets. Online exhibit, San Francisco-Berkeley-Oakland, California. Curated by Adrian Arias. Artists were commissioned to create an amulet dedicated to pertinent concerns during the pandemic
2020 Two Public Murals . Grand Ave and Lakeshore Ave, Oakland, California. Commissioned by Eye Care Optometry and Good Vibrations
2020 3 Ephemeral murals: Hemorrhage, an Ablution of Hope, Incantation and Day of the Dead. The Mission neighborhood, San Francisco, California. Murals commissioned by Dance Brigade and Dance Mission Theatre
2020 Temporary Public Art project. Machina Loci, Berkeley, California. Commissioned by Machina Loci
2020 BLACK LIVES MATTER . Petaluma Public Library, Petaluma, California. Public art commissioned by the city of Petaluma
PRODUCTIONS
2023 Dream #10. Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco, California. Multidisciplinary performance in collaboration with Anna Halprin Lab to respond to the excessive use of firearms in the United States.
2023 Solaz A multidisciplinary immersive experience of dance, music, and poetic visual imagery co-produced with La Tania Baile Flamenco and the Presidio Theatre. Sponsored by Creative Art Fund and Kenneth Rainin Foundation. https://www.presidiotheatre.org/show/2023latania/
Winner of the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Production, an immersive flamenco, multimedia performance inspired by the Egyptian Temple of Debod, with artistic direction by La Tania and Adrián Arias, featuring Melissa Cruz, Cristina Hall, Mizuho Sato, José Luis de la Paz, José Cortés, Gary Haggerty, and Faisal Zedan.
2022 Live Painting . Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Archive, BAMPFA, Berkeley, California. Exploring the power of the Full Moon with connection to Tarot in Pandemic & Revolution project.
2022 Sii Agua Si Live Painting . Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers (FLACC), Dolores Park, San Francisco, California . Public art activation In collaboration with artists Pancho Peskador and Cece Carpio and dedicated to the sacred and ancestral waters
2021 Sii Agua Si Live Painting. Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers (FLACC), San Francisco, California. Mission Dance Theater public art activation In collaboration with artist Pancho Peskador and dedicated to the sacred and ancestral waters
2020 23 Minutes with Adrian. Twelve live stream sessions of painting, poetry and music with special guests: Alejandro Murguía, Aida Salazar, Roman Lujan, Yuyi Morales, Kata Miletich, Jorge Argueta, John Santos, Yamily Yunis, Teresa Palazzo-Conti, Roger Santivañez, Mario Bellatin and Anais Azul. Commissioned by the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA), San Francisco, California
2017 Dream #3. Push Festival, ODC, San Francisco, California
2005 – present Mission Arts Performance Project (MAPP). Multiple locations, San Francisco Bay Area, Mission District. Co-founded by Adrian Arias, with the collaboration of local artists, to highlight their work the first Saturday of every other month. Won the Bay Guardian’s Best of the Bay in 2006.
2004-2010 Video-Fest. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco, CA. Conceptualized, curated and produced annual film festival.
2004-2010 Luna Negra. Mission Cultural Center for LAtino Arts, San Francisco, CA. Conceptualized, curated, and produced this annual showcase of local women performers whose work represents valor and transformation.
2003 – present Illusion. San Francisco, California. Curated by Adrian Arias, Illusion is the largest collective creation space for artists from different disciplines in the Bay Area. Taking place at venues such as the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA), the M.H. de Young Museum, SOMArts, and the Red Poppy Art House, Illusion is a meeting place for artists to collaborate, create and catalyze the community.
http://adrianarias.com/communitary-creations/
2003 The Waiting Room. Red Poppy Art House, San Francisco, California
FOOD PERFORMANCES
2019 Ceviche Art & Cara-Pulcra. Valencia, Spain
2016 Soup for my Ancestors, as part of Dream #1. Red Poppy ARt House, San Francisco. . In collaboration with Amaranth String Quartet and La Tania Baile Flamenco.
2015 Ceviche Performance. Red Poppy Art House, San Francisco.
2009 – 2014 Tango-Ceviche a series of workshops. Red Poppy Art House, San Francisco. . In collaboration with Todd Brown.
2006 Ceviche Performance. Kimball Gallery, M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco.
2004 Ceviche for Disappeared women in Juarez. Palo Verde College, Blythe, California.
2003 Ceviche Art. California College of the Arts (CCA), San Francisco.
2002 Ceviche for Disappeared women in Juarez. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA). In collaboration with La Pocha Nostra and Guillermo Gomez-Peña.
COLLECTIONS
2023 Traveler
(51”x71”) Acrylic and watercolor on Arches paper. Alameda Creek Watershed Center, Sunol, California
2022 “The indigenous woman is not invisible: My body is not yours”
(26”x40”) Acrylic and watercolor on Arches paper. Collection of Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco
2022 Horse
(45”x51”) Ink and acrylic, Arches paper. Private collection of beatrice Balfour, Italy
2017 Angel Protector of Future Life
(20”x28”) Pencil, charcoal, tea, rainwater, on Arches paper. Private collection of Anne Lemaistre, France
2015 Beautiful Trash, The New Vitruvian Woman
(10’ x 10’ x 5’) Mixed media installation. San Marcos Museum, Lima, Peru
2015 Dream Flower
(18”x24”) Watercolor on Arches paper. Private collection of Begonia Caparros, Spain
PUBLICATIONS
“Mar de Palabras Para Amar / Sea of Words to Love,” Bundo CafeBreria, Xalapa, Mexico. 2023.
“Mar de Palabras Para Amar / Sea of Words to Love,” Peisa Publishing, Lima Peru. 2022.
“Castigo Divino (Divine Punishment),” Jaime Campodonico Editions, LIma Peru. 2000.
“26-10-2028,” Cope Editions, Lima, Peru. 2000.
“Sueños y Paranoias (Dreams and Paranoias),” Peisa Publishing, Lima, Peru. 1996.
“Hábitos (Habits),” Los Reyes Rojos Editions, Lima, Peru. 1984.
AWARDS AND HONORS
2024 Award for Outstanding Production Honoree for Multidisciplinary show SOLAZ. Isadora Duncan Prize, San Francisco, California.
2023 Artist-in-Residence
Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST), San Francisco, California
2023 Artist-in-Residence
Red Poppy Art House, San Francisco, California
2021 Kenneth Rainin Foundation Grant, Oakland, California
2021 Google Artist-in-Residence
Google, Mountain View, California
2020 Creative Work Fund Grant, San Francisco, California
2019 Benamil Artist-in-Residence Benamil Art Center, Valencia, Spain
2017 Award of Excellence in Visual Arts
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco, California
2016 Artist-in-Residence
FridaCalicos, San Rafael, California
2010 Artist-in-Residence
M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, California
2009 Best of Festival – “Frida in the Mirror”
Berkeley Film & Video Festival, Berkeley, California
2009 Best of Festival – “Frida in the Mirror”
San Francisco International Film Festival, San Francisco, California
2009 Best of Show – poem “Vitis Vinifera”
Struga Poetry Evenings, Macedonia
2008 Finalist – “Mi película empieza… / Mi movie starts…”
Video Art Prize Ingenio 400, Madrid, Spain.
2000 Honorary Mention – “Castigo Divino (Divine Punishment)”
Cope Biennial of Poetry, Lima, Peru.
1999 Third Prize – “26-10-2028”
Cope Biennial of Poetry, Lima, Peru.
1996 Winner – “Sueños y Paranoias (Dreams and Paranoias)”
Biennial of Poetry APJ, Lima, Peru
1993-94 Art Study Scholarship
University of Paris, Paris, France
1984 Winner of the Honorary Mention – “Hábitos (Habits)”
Julio Cortázar Poetry contest, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
RELATED PROFESSIONAL WORK
2023 Facilitator, Student Mural. International Bilingual School (EBI) Emeryville, California.
2019 Facilitator, Movement and Expressive Arts Teaching Workshop. Benamil, Valencia, Spain.
2015-2021 Art Teacher. International Bilingual School (EBI) Emeryville and Oakland campuses, California.
2015 Lecturer.San Marcos Museum of Art, Lima, Peru
2006 Lecturer and Event Production.San Marcos Museum, La Noche Cultural Center, Lima, Peru
2002-2015 Director of the Multimedia .Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco, California
1996-1998 Photographer.SICLA Festival (Latin American Cultural Integration Week) and CICLA (Latin American Cultural Integration Council), Lima, Peru
1988 Lecturer, “Indigenous Symbols and Scripts”.Unesco, Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, Canada
1983-86 Art Teacher .Los Reyes Rojos primary school, Lima, Peru
1982 Facilitator, Art-installation workshop .Catholic University of Peru
PANELIST / JUROR
2024 Juror. ArtSpan, 50th Anniversary, San Francisco, California
2021 Panelist. San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, California
2013 Juror. ArtSpan, San Francisco, California
2010 Panelist-Juror. Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards, San Francisco, California
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“The Future was now / El mañana fue ayer,” Jose Carlos Mariategui, Max Hernandez, Jorge Villacorta. Edited by Alta Tecnologia Andina, Lima, Peru, 2018
“Angel protector of future life”, pencil, charcoal, tea and rainwater on Arches paper, 20 x 28 inches, 2017 (This piece appears in the book Endangered Species, Pease Press, San Francisco, 2018)
California anthologies where his poetry appears:
2012: Occupy SF, poems from the movement, Jambu Press
2013: Heartfire, Second Revolutionary Poets Brigade Anthology, Kallatumba Press, San Francisco
2014: Arcana, A festschrift for Jack Hirschman, edited by Byron Spooner & Judith Bernhard, Andover Street Archives Press, San Francisco.
2016: Overthrowing Capitalism, Volume three, Reclaiming Community. Edited by Jack Hirschman & John Curl, Kallatumba Press, San Francisco.
2017: 95 Rituals, dedicated to post-modern dance pioneer Anna Halprin. Edited by Shinichi Iova-Koga, Published by Dancer’s Group, San Francisco.
2017: Poetry in Flight/Poesia en vuelo, Anthology in celebration of El Tecolote, editors Francisco X Alarcon, Nina Serrano & Eva Martinez, Accion Latina.
2018: Endangered Species, Enduring Values, An Anthology of San Francisco Area Writers and Artists of Color, edited by Shizue Seigel, Pease Press and SFAC, San Francisco.
2020: PLAGUE 2020: COVID-19 Poetry and Art From Around The World, edited by Mahnaz Badihian.
2020: Building Socialism I, fighting fascism, Revolutionary Poets Brigade, Edited by Jack Hirschman, Karen Melander-Magoon, Scott Bird, John Curl, Kallatumba Press, San Francisco.
2021: Building Socialism II, fighting fascism, Revolutionary Poets Brigade, Edited by Jack Hirschman, Lisbit Bailey, John Curl, Kallatumba Press, San Francisco.
2021: Essential Truths, The Bay Area in color, edited by Shizue Seigel, Pease Press and SFAC, San Francisco.
2022: Light on the walls of life, a tribute to Lawrence Ferlinghetti, edited by Bobby Coleman, Jambu Press, San Francisco.
2022: Reimagine America, an anthology for the future, edited by Mark Lipman, Vagabond Press, Berkeley, CA.
2022: Uncommon Ground, BIPOC journeys to creative activism, edited by Shizue Seigel, Pease Press and SFAC, San Francisco.
EDUCATION
2014 – 2020 Anna Halprin Performance Lab, San Francisco, California
2016 – 2017 Tamalpa Institute Training, Level 1, Tamalpa, California
2005 – 2006 Studied with Guillermo Gomez-Pena and Keith Hennessy, San Francisco, California
1979 – 1982 Human Sciences and Philosophy, Catholic University of Peru