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Maya Escobar

Conceptual Identity Artist

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Nuevos Compañeros: Rio Yañez

ghetto-fridas-mission-memories.jpg

My newest partner in crime is the talented, witty, godzilla and pikapika lovin' Chicano artist and curator Rio Yañez. I first came across his Ghetto Frida two years ago, while working on the project Obsessed With Frida Kahlo. Immediately I felt some sort of cosmic connection-not to Ghetto Frida- but to her creator. And then to make matters worse better, I found out that he is the son of one my biggest heroes- Yolanda Lopez!There was really no option other than collaboration.  It was fate.Last month we finally initiated our long distance partnership through a tweet.  Since then we have been communicating through TwitPic, Facebook, YouTube, phone calls and texts,  and of course mutual shouts in interviews on the blogosphere (mine to Rio &  Rio's  to me.)Here are a few examples of Rio's recent work:

Amber Rose by El Rio.

"I’ve been twittering for about a week now at http://twitter.com/rioyanez. I signed up as a way to contact Amber Rose after she started writing and posting about the portrait I created of her. I have to say, the most exciting aspect of twitter is the way people distribute images. The short urls for twitpics that often pop up on tweets evoke a sense of curiosity in me; more so than the many thumbnails that can be found on facebook. I think the lack of a thumbnail is more alluring and it forces you to chose to see the image or not, there’s no middle ground of a provided preview." (from his blog)

"Artist Curator Rachel-Anne Palacios flanked by Zitlalix and I. I created this portrait to thank Rachel for including me in the recent Frida exhibit she curated and to join the many artists who are on display on the walls of her apartment" (from flickr)

These images represent my first foray into my Raza Zombies series. They were inspired by the single best mainstream comic book of the 21st century: Marvel Zombies. Marvel Zombies re-imagines classic superheroes as flesh eating zombies. After reading it I felt compelled to do some zombie transformations on a few of my own personal heroes. More to come. (from flickr)[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AhRQrJ7ePg]

Video of Gomez Peña setting the record straight for Rio regarding his Facebook presence.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QycIf6uKRd0]

Rio's Ghetto Frida Mural in the Mission District

stay tuned for more...

tags: amber rose, artist, arts, chicano, collaboration, curator, facebook, flickr, Frida Kahlo, Ghetto Frida, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Marvel Zombies, mission district, mural, Obsessed With Firda Kahlo, Rachel-Anne Palacios, Raza Zombies, Rio Yañez, Twitpic, twitter, wise latina, Yolanda Lopez
categories: Art, artista, blogging, contmporary art, culture, curatorial, humor, identity, intertextual, Latina, Maya Escobar, Nuevos Compañeros, YouTube
Wednesday 09.30.09
Posted by maya escobar
 

breaking down the elephant

Ruth at the writing center (who somehow amazingly manages my artistic craziness and dyslexia) helped me come up with this metaphor for my work, based on the story of the elephant and the blind men.I think it might become my artist statement.

********************************************

Some people think that I am the true representation of the elephant.It is true I am an elephant, but not the only elephant.I try to break up the conception of being the only elephant.Some people see a small portion of my work and think it is the whole- the representative elephant.Others understand that each piece connects to another piece and that individually they are only fragments.When breaking the elephant up into pieces, information slips in through the cracks.People also respond to this new information- creating a bigger more amorphous elephant.

The amorphous elephant is broken up again and again, so that it is relevant to new individuals new experiences...

project mapa) accionesplasticas.comb) mayatalk.wordpress.com/2007/04/11/obsessed-with-frida-kahlo/c) thewayismadebywalking.com/d) www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5sFV2xmpfAe) berlinseruv.comf) www.youtube.com/watch?v=359HwupsY1sg) mayaescobar.com

tags: Acciones Plásticas, artist, artist statement, arts, critical pedagogy, cultural identity, education, grid, Maya Escobar, MFA, postmodernism, stereotyping, thesis, Washington University in St- Louis, wustl
categories: Art, art-education, contmporary art, identity, multicultural art, Performance, Performance Text, Stereotype
Thursday 04.02.09
Posted by maya escobar
 

Negotiating Diaspora Identities Through New Media

Negotiating Diaspora Identities Through New MediaJoin PhD Anthropology Candidate Eric Repice and MFA Candidate Maya Escobar in a brown bag lunch discussion concerning transnational, transcultural, and hybrid negotiations of identity through new media.How do these discussions vary between our fields?IG-RepiceEric Repicefor more information on Eric Repice visit http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~esrepice/homefor more information on Maya Escobar visit http://mayaescobar.com[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3li_mT--f-A][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-GDmDcSH4g][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whLYM9o946w][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz2fhmRzCOA][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14bv0-dzMIc][youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNAxEUEE43Y]

tags: Acciones Plásticas, artist, arts, be wife, border, collaboration, courtney love, diaspora, duc, eric-repice, facebook, Heeb, hybrid, hybridity, interdisciplinary, internet, Jewish, jewish girls, Jewish Life in America, jewish women, jewy, kevin coval, latina role model, loren well, margin, myspace, place, remake, remix, sarah silverman, shtreimel, social networking, space, st- louis, stl, tck, the club, transnational, wash u, Washington University in St- Louis, workshop, y love, yitz
categories: art-education, identity, Judaism, Maya Escobar, new media, news, YouTube
Wednesday 01.28.09
Posted by maya escobar