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Exhibition

September 27 – November 27

Benny's Altars

Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays 1-6pm and Fridays 4-9pm

In San Francisco, after the International Hotel eviction of August 4,1977, The Manongs (respected elders) of the Manilatown neighborhood that once stretched the length of Kearny Street, dispersed to outlying hotels in the neighborhood. One of these elders was Manong Benny Gallo.

Within his small SRO the lonely old man built three objects of his attention to keep him company: three altar-like structures made from simple found objects. His altars had the names: "Wondering Sight”, “King Solomon & The Queen of Sheba," and "The Fighting Lady”.

Manong Benny would often talk about his naive works saying, "The little people were here again last night, they were all dancing around Wondering Sight”. And regarding his Fighting Lady, "She's crying again, I don't know why she's crying!"

In the exhibition “Benny's Altars” three artists, inspired by Benny's imagination and creations, explore the idea of his magical visions. With ambiguous interpretations through drawing, painting and printing techniques they explore the depth of our shared humanity as it is tied to their indigenous natures as Filipinos.

As Benny's creations touched upon the Filipino’s indigenous magical spirit which has never yielded to hundreds of years of colonialism, this exhibition expresses that same inherent truth encoded within the artists Antonio Coronado Remington, Mel Vera Cruz and England Hidalgo.

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