Isaac Vazquez Avila & Lauren Rose D'Amato
Bootleg Milagros
September 8 - 29, 2019
Right Window, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
(storefront exhibition viewable 24/7)
Opening Reception:
Sunday, September 8, 2019, 4:00 - 7:00 PM
Music by @wray_velez
Right Window is pleased to present Bootleg Milagros, a duo exhibition of work by Isaac Vazquez Avila and Lauren Rose D’Amato. For Vazquez Avila, the concept of “bootleg” dovetails into the notion of rasquache. Defined by Chicano scholar Tomás Ybarra-Frausto as “the perspective of the underdog,” it is marked by making do with less-than-ideal materials. More tactic and attitude than style, Ybarra-Frausto notes that rasquache operates as political resistance by using appropriation, reversal, and inversion. In line with this concept Vazquez Avila’s sculptures are seemingly on the verge of coming apart, constructed using material that is at hand as a parameter to make his work. For D’Amato “bootleg” encompasses the process of imitation in image making. In her work she often references replica paintings produced by her grandmother and finds that in her own process imitation is most successful when it falls short of portraying an exactness to the “original”. Lauren D’Amato and Isaac Vazquez live and work in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco with their dog Rico. In addition to their individual art practices they run their own business called “Avila Rose Signs,” where they focus their arts education towards designing mural projects, creating hand painted signs, and custom art installations for public and private clients.
About Isaac Vazquez Avila
Born in Mexico City, Isaac Vazquez Avila spent most of his childhood in Salt Lake City, navigating two cultures. He attended Salt Lake Community College and University of Utah as an undergraduate before receiving a BA in Latino Studies from San Francisco State University and an MFA from University of California Berkeley. His work has been exhibited at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley, California), Worth Ryder Gallery (University of California at Berkeley, California), Southern Exposure (San Francisco), Incline Gallery (San Francisco), The Luggage Store (San Francisco), Lagos Projects (Oakland, California), RVCA Gallery (San Francisco) and Guerrero Gallery (San Francisco). His work is included in the Terry and Melissa Wolfe-Powers Collection, Gregory Lind Collection. In addition, a series of his drawings were published this year in a book called Barrio Blues:23 retratos by Golden Spike Press and featured at the LA Art Book Fair.
About Lauren D'Amato
"My process of image making often draws directly from my experience working as a sign painter on windows, buildings, and construction sites around the city. I’m drawn to interior aesthetics, decorative arts, and the iconic Chicano imagery tied to my upbringing and experience pinstriping and lettering on Lowriders. My paintings are composed of vibrant colors, simple illustrations and typographic elements. I enjoy blurring the distinction between the manufactured and the handmade. I’m interested in the nostalgic relationship I have to my family’s craft of sign making and strive to relate to this prior generation of blue-collar workers, folk artists, and replica painters in my own image making through the repetition of their actions. I’m motivated by my intention to learn and implement techniques of handmade modes of production in an effort to ensure that the visual languages that inspire me do not become obsolete."
Lauren D’Amato was born in Whittier, CA, and currently lives and works in San Francisco. In her work she is drawn to interior aesthetics, decorative arts, and the iconic Chicano imagery tied to her upbringing and direct experience pinstriping and lettering on lowriders. She is the founder and organizer of a local community event called “Kustom Sunday” and a proprietor of Avila Rose Signs. She attended Orange Coast Community College before receiving her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2016. Her work has been exhibited at Human Resources (Los Angeles), Mule Gallery (San Francisco), Minnesota Street Project (San Francisco), Good Mother Gallery (Oakland), SOLA Art Gallery (Los Angeles), Diego Rivera Gallery, (San Francisco Art Institute), Adobe Books (San Francisco), Needles and Pens (San Francisco), Will Brown (San Francisco), and the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion (Costa Mesa, CA) Incline Gallery (San Francisco), RVCA Gallery (San Francisco).
About Right Window
Right Window is an exhibition space located in the Mission District of San Francisco and collectively run by Ajit Chauhan, Takming Chuang, Norma Cole, Craig Goodman, Brett Goodroad, Tanya Hollis, Colter Jacobsen, the late Kevin Killian, Cintia Santana, Steven Seidenberg, and Carolyn White. Since August of 2007, Right Window has hosted over 160 artists to exhibit within the right storefront window of the ATA Building. Isaac and Lauren's exhibition was organized by Takming Chuang in the loving spirit of the late Kevin Killian who invited Tak to his first SF solo exhibition at Right Window in February, 2013.
Born in Mexico City, Isaac Vazquez Avila spent most of his childhood in Salt Lake City, navigating two cultures. He attended Salt Lake Community College and University of Utah as an undergraduate before receiving a BA in Latino Studies from San Francisco State University and an MFA from University of California Berkeley. His work has been exhibited at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley, California), Worth Ryder Gallery (University of California at Berkeley, California), Southern Exposure (San Francisco), Incline Gallery (San Francisco), The Luggage Store (San Francisco), Lagos Projects (Oakland, California), RVCA Gallery (San Francisco) and Guerrero Gallery (San Francisco). His work is included in the Terry and Melissa Wolfe-Powers Collection, Gregory Lind Collection. In addition, a series of his drawings were published this year in a book called Barrio Blues:23 retratos by Golden Spike Press and featured at the LA Art Book Fair.
About Lauren D'Amato
"My process of image making often draws directly from my experience working as a sign painter on windows, buildings, and construction sites around the city. I’m drawn to interior aesthetics, decorative arts, and the iconic Chicano imagery tied to my upbringing and experience pinstriping and lettering on Lowriders. My paintings are composed of vibrant colors, simple illustrations and typographic elements. I enjoy blurring the distinction between the manufactured and the handmade. I’m interested in the nostalgic relationship I have to my family’s craft of sign making and strive to relate to this prior generation of blue-collar workers, folk artists, and replica painters in my own image making through the repetition of their actions. I’m motivated by my intention to learn and implement techniques of handmade modes of production in an effort to ensure that the visual languages that inspire me do not become obsolete."
Lauren D’Amato was born in Whittier, CA, and currently lives and works in San Francisco. In her work she is drawn to interior aesthetics, decorative arts, and the iconic Chicano imagery tied to her upbringing and direct experience pinstriping and lettering on lowriders. She is the founder and organizer of a local community event called “Kustom Sunday” and a proprietor of Avila Rose Signs. She attended Orange Coast Community College before receiving her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2016. Her work has been exhibited at Human Resources (Los Angeles), Mule Gallery (San Francisco), Minnesota Street Project (San Francisco), Good Mother Gallery (Oakland), SOLA Art Gallery (Los Angeles), Diego Rivera Gallery, (San Francisco Art Institute), Adobe Books (San Francisco), Needles and Pens (San Francisco), Will Brown (San Francisco), and the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion (Costa Mesa, CA) Incline Gallery (San Francisco), RVCA Gallery (San Francisco).
About Right Window
Right Window is an exhibition space located in the Mission District of San Francisco and collectively run by Ajit Chauhan, Takming Chuang, Norma Cole, Craig Goodman, Brett Goodroad, Tanya Hollis, Colter Jacobsen, the late Kevin Killian, Cintia Santana, Steven Seidenberg, and Carolyn White. Since August of 2007, Right Window has hosted over 160 artists to exhibit within the right storefront window of the ATA Building. Isaac and Lauren's exhibition was organized by Takming Chuang in the loving spirit of the late Kevin Killian who invited Tak to his first SF solo exhibition at Right Window in February, 2013.
