potrero view

Frederico Herrero in front of his painting. Photo by Peter Linenthal.

September 2008

Costa Rican Artist Paints Potrero Hill Fence

By Emily Wilson

Costa Rican artist Federico Herrero never plans out his paintings or sketches them ahead of time.  The color and design of the painting that now covers a residential fence at 1400 18th Street, near Christopher’s Books, was inspired by the surrounding neighborhood.  “It’s an improvisation,” Herrero said.  “My goal is to be in the present. A lot of mural painting has something about history or politics or religion. This type of wall painting is not that. It’s been influenced by circumstances of the moment.”

Herrero’s work is part of Passengers, a unique exhibition at the Wattis Institute, California College of the Arts. The show is divided into two rooms, one featuring 11 artists; the other a solo show. At the end of each month the artists rotate:  the previous month’s solo artist leaves the exhibition; an artist from the group show moves into the solo space; and a new artist is introduced into the group show.  Because of the nature of Herrero’s work his painting was installed at the 18th Street location, where it could remain until the end of the year or longer.

According to the Wattis’ curator, Jens Hoffman, Passengers is part of a new dynamic approach to how exhibitions are organized.  The exhibition showcases emerging international artists who’ve never before had a solo show in the United States. The artists have a diversity of styles, and come from a number of different countries, including Brazil, Portugal, and Slovakia.    

Hoffman was particularly keen on including a Central America artist, since there are so many Central Americans in San Francisco.  Hoffman considers Herrero, who is from San Jose, Costa Rica, one of the region’s most important visual artists. “Most of his forms and colors are inspired by the lush vegetation in Costa Rica and the urban setting where he is from,” he said. “In his work nature sort of fights back.”  Hoffman was also pleased to exhibit Herrero’s painting outdoors in a residential neighborhood rather than in the gallery.   “It’s summer and people enjoy being outside,” Hoffman said. “We have such a fantastic tradition of mural making in San Francisco, so I thought why not try something a little different?”

Herrero’s work was formally unveiled on August 12, followed by a reception at Goat Hill Pizza.  One of the attendees was Peter Linenthal, the owner of the fence on which Herrero’s painting has been installed.  According to Linenthal, who’s a children’s book illustrator and the Potrero Hill Archives Project director, a Wattis representative rang his doorbell looking for a site for the painting and he thought, “Why not?” Linenthal said that he initially agreed to allow the painting to remain up until the end of August, after which the school would repaint his fence.  But the painting, which Linenthal said is somewhat mysterious, is going to be there for a while.  “There’s something about art for its own sake,” Linenthal said. “It’s not advertising anything. It doesn’t have any axes to grind. I think it’s an enhancement to the neighborhood. It can be whimsical and it can be profound.”

Herrero hopes other Potrero Hill residents feel the same way about his painting.  “I would like everybody to have some kind of reflection on it and to look forward to passing by it on their way home or to their job,” he said.

 

 

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