El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, provides a way for people to embrace the beauty of life and to honor the spirits of the dead. Intricate, traditional altars and complex art installations created by more than 80 Bay Area artists  from a breadth of cultural backgrounds are on display in Illuminations: Dia de los Muertos 2011. Altars and installations range from deeply personal to political and many invite contribution or interaction from visitors.

The theme “Illuminations” was chosen by curators René and Rio Yañez to symbolize a source of light for spiritual and intellectual reflection. This year’s exhibition is dedicated to community pillar and Mission District business owner Martha Sanchez and renowned artist Pablo Picasso.

The exhibition continues to examine the ways technology shapes the celebration of Day of the Dead. Once again, a Flickr group enables the exhibition’s curators to accept digital photos as offerings to those who people want to honor. The public can upload their digital contributions here. Selected images will be printed and displayed as part of the exhibit.

ABOUT THE CURATORS

René Yañez is an artist and a visual and performing arts curator and producer. A founder and former Artistic Director of Galería de la Raza, Yañez was one of the first curators to introduce the contemporary concept of Mexico’s Day of the Dead to the United States. Since the early 1970s, Yañez has been instrumental in establishing the Day of the Dead as an important cultural celebration and teaching others about those outside of the culture through public programming around the annual Day of the Dead exhibitions he curates.
Rio Yañez, son of René Yañez, was born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District. He is a curator, photographer, andgraphic artist. As a curator he frequently collaborates with his father, and the pair have been developing exhibits together since 2005. Yañez is also a founding member of The Great Tortilla Conspiracy, a tortilla art collective.