{{Short description|American visual artist (1936–2013)}} {{for|the Guatemalan footballer|Carlos Villa (footballer)}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Carlos Villa | image = Carlos_Villa.jpg | birth_date = {{birth date|1936|12|11|mf=y}} | birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2013|03|23|1936|12|11|mf=y}} | death_place = San Francisco, California, U.S. | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LON|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} --> | spouse = Mary Valledor | children = 2 | awards = American Academy in Rome (1987, 2000),<br>Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award (1997)<br>Guggenheim Fellowship (2012) | education = San Francisco Art Institute<br>Mills College }}
'''Carlos Villa''' (December 11, 1936 – March 23, 2013) was a Filipino-American visual artist, curator and faculty member in the Painting Department at the San Francisco Art Institute.<ref name="SFaiVilla">{{cite web|title=Faculty Member, Carlos Villa|url=http://www.sfai.edu/faculty-member-carlos-villa-receives-prestigious-guggenheim-fellowship|publisher=San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI)|access-date=5 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407092536/http://www.sfai.edu/faculty-member-carlos-villa-receives-prestigious-guggenheim-fellowship|archive-date=7 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite news |title=How one Filipino American artist influenced the work of a generation of others |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/09/30/1122971899/carlos-villa-asian-art-museum-san-francisco-influence |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref> His work often explored the meaning of cultural diversity and sought to expand awareness of multicultural issues in the arts.
==Early life and education== Carlos Villa was born on December 11, 1936, in San Francisco, California, to immigrant parents in the Tenderloin District.<ref name=":0" /> He was introduced to art when taking lessons with Leo Valledor,<ref>{{Cite book|title = Asian/American/Modern Art: Shifting Currents, 1900-1970|publisher = University of California Press|year = 2008|isbn = 9780520258648|pages = 118}}</ref> who taught him to study etchings by Matisse. Valledor and Villa were close friends and often referred to each other as "cousins" even though they were not related.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haddad |first=Natalie |last2=Yau |first2=John |date=2023-10-03 |title=The Filipino-American Friends Who Forged New Artistic Paths |url=https://hyperallergic.com/848467/the-filipino-american-friends-who-forged-new-artistic-paths/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Hyperallergic |language=en-US}}</ref>
Villa started to display his work in 1958 and went on to receive a B.F.A. in Education in 1961<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/Carlos-Villa-artist-and-teacher-dies-4439726.php|title = Carlos Villa, artist and teacher, dies|date = April 16, 2013|access-date = November 9, 2014|website = SFGate|publisher = San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> from the California School of Fine Arts (now known as San Francisco Art Institute), and a subsequent M.F.A. degree in painting in 1963 from Mills College.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2012|title=Carlos Villa, 2012 - US & Canada Competition, Creative Arts - Fine Arts|url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/carlos-villa/|access-date=2014-11-09|website=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation}}</ref><ref name=":9" /> He studied under Richard Diebenkorn, Elmer Bischoff, Frank Lobdell, and Ralph DuCasse.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|date=2007|title=Hearst Art Gallery Opens Carlos Villa: Retrospective|url=https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/past-exhibits/hearst-art-gallery-opens-carlos-villa-retrospective|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-14|website=Saint Mary's College|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503161828/https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/past-exhibits/hearst-art-gallery-opens-carlos-villa-retrospective |archive-date=2021-05-03 }}</ref>
==Art career== [[File:During, 1982, Carlos Villa at SAAM 2023.jpeg|thumb|right|''During'' (1982) at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2023]]
In the early 1960s, Villa was associated with the Park Place Gallery Group in New York City and worked as a minimalist, focusing on textures.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=April 25, 2004|title=Villa's Remarkable Range Shown at b. Sako Garo|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/644992542/|url-access=subscription|access-date=2020-10-25|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=The Sacramento Bee|page=X25|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Schlesinger|first=Ellen|date=3 February 1985|title=Hybridization of Objects, Symbols|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/622579501/|url-access=subscription|access-date=2020-10-25|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=The Sacramento Bee|page=253|language=en}}</ref> He moved back to San Francisco in 1969, ready to approach his work in a new manner.<ref name=":3" />
Villa created multimedia projects and performances that he called "Actions." These were often group collaborations that dealt with multicultural topics. In 1976, Villa curated a multidisciplinary, multiethnic exhibition entitled ''Other Sources: An American Essay'', that showcased work by Bay Area artists of color.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Johnson|first=Mark|date=September 11, 2013|title=1976 and Its Legacy: Other Sources: An American Essay at San Francisco Art Institute|url=http://www.artpractical.com/feature/other-sources/|url-status=live|access-date=July 13, 2021|website=Art Practical|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130924020014/http://www.artpractical.com/feature/other-sources/|archive-date=September 24, 2013}}</ref> This exhibition was an alternative celebration of the United States Bicentennial, and focused on people of color and women. It showcased artists including Ruth Asawa, Bernice Bing, Rolando Castellón, Claude Clark, Robert Colescott, Frank Day, Rupert García, Mike Henderson, Oliver Lee Jackson, Frank LaPena, Linda Lomahaftewa, George Longfish, Ralph Maradiaga, José Montoya, Manuel Neri, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Darryl Sapien, Raymond Saunders, James Hiroshi Suzuki, Horace Washington, Al Wong, René Yañez, Leo Valledor.<ref name=":2" /> Live performances by Winston and Mary Tong, Mark Izu and Ray Robles, poetry readings by Janice Mirikitani, Jessica Hagedorn, and Al Robles, and numerous others.<ref name=":2" />
In 1985, he had a retrospective exhibition, ''Carlos Villa:1961–1984'', held at the C.N. Gorman Museum (now Gorman Museum of Native American Art), and at the Memorial Union Art Gallery at the University of California, Davis.<ref name=":4" />
In 1995, Villa published ''Worlds in Collision'', a book on multiculturalism in the arts. The contents were transcriptions of presentations and discussions held during the San Francisco Art Institute's symposia series entitled ''Sources of a Distinct Majority (1989-1991)''.<ref name="GugVilla">{{cite web|last=Villa|first=Carlos|date=2012|title=Carlos Villa|url=http://www.gf.org/fellows/17323-carlos-villa|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407081051/http://www.gf.org/fellows/17323-carlos-villa|archive-date=2014-04-07|website=Guggenheim|publisher=Guggenheim}}</ref> The ''Worlds In Collision'' project continued in subsequent symposia, web projects and courses until 2013.
In 2010, Villa organized ''Rehistoricizing Abstract Expressionism in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1950s-1960s'', a web project, symposium and exhibition at the Luggage Store Gallery that focused attention on contributions by women and artists of color (primarily abstract expressionist painters) that were overlooked by art history.<ref name=":0" />
In 2011, Villa had a solo retrospective of his work entitled ''Manongs, Some Doors and a Bouquet of Crates'' at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in San Francisco.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2011|title=Manongs, Some Doors, and a Bouquet of Crates|url=https://www.artpractical.com/event/6707-manongs-some-doors-and-a-bouquet-of-crates/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-14|website=Art Practical|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914203801/https://www.artpractical.com/event/6707-manongs-some-doors-and-a-bouquet-of-crates/ |archive-date=2021-09-14 }}</ref> In 2020, Villa was part of the group exhibition ''Prospect.5: Yesterday We Said Tomorrow'' at Prospect New Orleans.<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 2, 2020|title=Prospect New Orleans Announces Artist List for Prospect.5|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/prospect-new-orleans-announces-artist-list-for-prospect-5-82357|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-14|website=Artforum.com|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303150709/https://www.artforum.com/news/prospect-new-orleans-announces-artist-list-for-prospect-5-82357 |archive-date=2020-03-03 }}</ref>
He was also the subject of the book ''Carlos Villa and the Integrity of Spaces'' (Meritage Press, 2011) an anthology of essays about his work and influence edited by Theodore S. Gonzalves, featuring essays and poetry by Bill Berkson, David A.M. Goldberg, Theodore S. Gonzalves, Mark Dean Johnson, Margo Machida, and Moira Roth.<ref>[http://www.iexaminer.org/2012/08/carlos-villa-and-the-integrity-of-spaces/ Carina del Rosario, “Carlos Villa and the Integrity of Spaces” (review) International Examiner, August 1, 2012.]</ref>
== Teaching == Villa was a faculty member in the Painting Department at the San Francisco Art Institute where he started teaching in 1969.<ref name=":0" /> In the 1970s, Villa taught at California State University, Sacramento.<ref>{{Cite web|date=9 January 1972|title=Museum Shows, "Paintings Off The Stretcher"|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/547225911/|url-access=subscription|access-date=2020-10-25|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=Oakland Tribune|page=143|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=24 May 1972|title=New Art Exhibits|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/620166420/|url-access=subscription|access-date=2020-10-25|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=The Sacramento Bee|page=26|language=en}}</ref> Some of his former students include Paul Pfeiffer, Michael Arcega, Kehinde Wiley, and Barry McGee.<ref name=":9" />
== Death == Villa died March 23, 2013, in San Francisco, from cancer and is survived by his wife, Mary Valledor, daughter Sydney and stepson Rio Valledor.<ref name=":0" /> Mary's first husband and the father of Rio was Leo Valledor, Carlos' cousin.<ref>{{Cite web|date=October 8, 2020|title=Cooperative Endeavor: Daniel Phil Gonzales and Mary Valledor in Conversation with Jerome Reyes|url=https://openspace.sfmoma.org/2020/10/cooperative-endeavor-daniel-phil-gonzales-and-mary-valledor-in-conversation-with-jerome-reyes/|access-date=2020-10-25|website=Open Space|language=en-US|quote=both Leo Valledor and Carlos Villa [Mary’s first and second husbands]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2001-05-27|title=WEDDINGS; Diane Shaw, Rio Valledor|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/27/style/weddings-diane-shaw-rio-valledor.html|access-date=2021-07-12|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
== Exhibitions == * 1977 – ''Look, Touch, Rub, Pull, Smell, and Hear'', included Carlos Villa, Chisato Nishioka Watanabe, Phil Weidman, {{Interlanguage link|Jon Palmer|lt=|qid=Q110799853}}, Phil Hitchcock, Jock Reynold, Laureen Landau, Sylvia Lark, William Maxwell, Bruce Guttin, Paul DeMarinis, and Jim Pomeroy, Artspace, Sacramento, California<ref>{{Cite web|last=Johnson|first=Charles|date=16 October 1977|title=The Sea Returns|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/620889102/|url-access=subscription|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=The Sacramento Bee|page=49|language=en}}</ref> * 1985 – ''Carlos Villa: 1961–1984'', solo retrospective, C.N. Gorman Museum and at the Memorial Union Art Gallery, University of California, Davis<ref name=":4" /> * 1987 – ''The Ethnic Idea'', curated by Andrée Maréchal-Workman, including Lauren Adams, Robert Colescott, Dewey Crumpler, Mildred Howard, Oliver Lee Jackson, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Joe Sam, Elisabeth Zeilon, Tom Holland, Celeste Conner, Jean LaMarr, Sylvia Lark, Leta Ramos, Judy Foosaner, Joseph Goldyne, Belinda Chlouber, Carlos Villa, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, California<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 September 1987|title='About Faces' Celebrates Portraiture, Preserve Interest in Ourselves|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/758505629/|url-access=subscription|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Newspapers.com|publisher=Oakland Tribune|page=32 (C-3)|language=en}}</ref> * 2022 – ''Carlos Villa: Roots and Reinvention'' (solo exhibition), San Francisco Arts Commission Main Gallery, War Memorial Veterans Building, San Francisco, California<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Ch’ien |first=Letha |date=June 16, 2022 |title=S.F. artist Carlos Villa was told there was no such thing as ‘Filipino art.’ So he made history |url=https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/art-exhibits/s-f-artist-carlos-villa-was-told-there-was-no-such-thing-as-filipino-art-so-he-made-history |access-date=2022-06-19 |website=Datebook |language=en-US}}</ref> * 2022 – ''Carlos Villa: Worlds in Collision'' (solo exhibition), Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, California<ref name=":8" />
== Awards == {{More citations needed section|date=October 2020}} * 1959 – Honorable Mention, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California, * 1973 – National Endowment for the Arts Grant,<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|date=January 2, 2022|title=Expansive catalogue illuminates the social and cultural roots of Carlos Villa's artwork|url=https://artdaily.com/news/142569/Expansive-catalogue-illuminates-the-social-and-cultural-roots-of-Carlos-Villa-s-artwork|access-date=2022-02-03|website=artdaily.com}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EyBWe3yuQMwC|title=Who's Who in American Art 2007–2008|date=2006|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|isbn=978-0-8379-6306-8|pages=1315|language=en}}</ref> * 1973 – Adaline Kent Award, San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), San Francisco, California,<ref name=":6"/><ref name=":7" /> * 1987, 2000 – Guest Artist, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy, * 1989 – Distinguished Alumni Award, San Francisco Art Institute, * 1997 – Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award,<ref name=":5" /> * 1998 – Flintridge Foundation Grant, * 2000 – Pamana Award, Filipino American Art Exposition, * 2012 – Guggenheim Fellowship, Creative Arts, Fine Arts.<ref name=":1" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://carlos-villa.com/home.html Carlos Villa's official website (artist estate website)] * [http://rehistoricizing.org/ Website for the exhibition, ''Rehistoricizing Abstract Expressionism in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1950s-1960s''] * [http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-carlos-villa-5561 Oral History interview with Carlos Villa, June 20-July 10, 1995], from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Villa, Carlos}} Category:1936 births Category:Artists from San Francisco Category:2013 deaths Category:Mills College alumni Category:San Francisco Art Institute faculty Category:San Francisco Art Institute alumni Category:California State University, Sacramento, faculty Category:Funk art movement artists Category:American artists of Filipino descent