Adrián Arias
Adrián Arias is a multidisciplinary poet and visual artist, born in Peru in 1961 and resident in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2000. His poetry, visual art, video-installations, photography, and performances have been seen at the De Young Museum, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Galleria de la Raza, SOMArts Did de los Muertos, and the San Francisco International Arts Festival.
Adrián believes that poetry is in constant motion that feeds on each discipline to continue among us. Sometimes it is a photograph of a feather lying on the shore, sometimes a book-object talking about the future, sometimes a naked body moving slowly between blue lights, dancing with paper, honoring roots and drawing hope.
The absurd, the light, the sensual, the shadow, the dreams, are often elements in the daily life of Adrián, who in addition to declaring himself a poet in motion, is an art teacher, a cultural organizer of events and a contemplator.
“You have to look at the wall and cross it, be on the other side, and stay here at the same time. There is no magic in art, because art is magic, the only one in which I believe. To feel life as a gift, a little gift to change the world, the only thing you need to do is produce beauty.” www.adrianarias.com.
Artwork Gallery
1. "Cesar & Dolores," ink & watercolor on paper, diptych, each piece: 26"x40", 2024
Reflection Questions:
What feelings do these pieces inspire? What imagery do you see, and how do they connect with Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta?
2. "A Poem for the Dead," altar, Dreams Emerging, Beyond Resilience: Día de Los Muertos 2021, SOMArts Cultural Center.
Dedicated to five Latinx killed by police brutality in the U.S. and Mexico.
-Mario González, 26, killed by suffocation, Alameda, California, April 19, 2021.
-Victoria Salazar, 36, killed by suffocation, Tulum, Mexico, March 27, 2021.
-Sean Monterossa, 22, killed by 5 shots, Vallejo, California, June 4, 2020.
-Angel Zapata Hernández, 24, killed by suffocation, San Diego, California, October 15, 2019.
-Claudia Patricia Gómez González, 20, killed by a shot in the head by a Border Patrol agent,
Rio Bravo, Texas, May 23, 2018.
Reflection Questions:
Had you heard of these killings before? How can artwork and altars like this help address the injustices they are reflecting?
3. “8:46*,” altar, Living Legacies: Día de Los Muertos 2020, SOMArts Cultural Center."
(See the poem below to accompany the George Floyd visual artwork in the gallery above.)
Reflection Questions:
How did the murder of George Floyd change things in your community? What have we as a country learned since then, and how have we changed?
4. "Angel of the New Revolution," pencil, charcoal, red wine, rainwater on Arches 300, 20"x28", 2017
Reflection Questions:
What comes to mind when you see the image of a gun being made of a tree limb and pencils? What connections might the artist be trying to make?
5. "Pacha Mama, what makes a new place feel like home?," mixed media on Arches paper, 30"x42", 2024
Reflection Questions:
How are these images reflecting ideas about "home"? What does home mean to you?
6. "Sacred Potato," watercolor & ink on Arches paper, 22"x30", 2023
Reflection Questions:
How does this image make meaning from variations of the word "papa"? Why do some things/entities get worshiped more than others?
7. "Fantastic Animal #5,” acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 inches, in pandemic, 2020.
Painting and drawing are part of the multidisciplinary weave that I practice to show my illusions and passions, to get closer to the zig-zag of the symbols of creation, those that my ancestors left me in dreams, and to tell truths that sometimes need to be painted. Pencils and liquid paint flowing, like imaginary fish growing in the air, and my hands full of colors, eyes closed, eyes open. That’s my reality reinvented every day.
Reflection Questions:
With the unexpected pairing of images here, what ideas does this painting spark for you? What have you learned from or about your ancestors?
8. "River to the Sky," mural Turk & Hyde Streets, San Francisco
Reflection Questions:
What types of music might this mural be connecting to? How do the letters BLM connect to the other images in this mural?
9. "Live painting with LoCura Band," 2021
Reflection Questions:
Have you seen a live painting before? What can we learn by witnessing art in the stages before it's finished?
8:46*
by Adrian Arias
(Read the poem with heavy breathing, pausing without breathing between stanzas)
It’s hard to be an angel, but you learn.
The policeman’s boot suffocating my neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds
are the swords stuck in my body.
It’s like the betrayal of love
the unexpected attack from behind.
( … )
But do I want to be an angel?
Someone made the decision for me.
The chill in my chest is endless.
When you are an angel you can feel the pain of others,
the sky and the stars weigh more than a mountain.
( … )
When you are an angel you are everywhere and nowhere
spreading your wings like swords
assisting those who are attacked by the red and blue lights.
It’s hard to be an angel
but you learn.
* 8:46 refers to the time in minutes George Floyd was suffocated by police until he died.