Courtesy of O.M. France Viana Johanna Poethigs OFW Drowning features a woman wearing a Manila galleon, a symbol of colonialism and global trade.

Courtesy of Dominican University "Manong Bob" by John Yoyogi Fortes is included in Remythologizing Filipino Archetypes: 50 Shades of Kayumanggi. It pays tribute to his father, who was a manong," one of the first wave of Filipino immigrants who worked the fields in Delano.

Courtesy of O.M. France Viana O.M. France Viana, of Sausalito, is the curator of Remythologizing Filipino Archetypes: 50 Shades of Kayumanggi.



Courtesy of Dominican University Johanna Poethig's "Babaylan Barbie: Divine Mercy" is included in Remythologizing Filipino Archetypes: 50 Shades of Kayumanggi, a group exhibition of 14 local Filipino American contemporary artists at Dominican University Library Gallery through Sept. 15.

Courtesy of O.M. France Viana Michael Arcegas Doña Señorita (Matriarchal Power Enhancement)" features a banana wearing a demure veil; señorita is the word for a young woman and a type of banana.

Photo by Phil Bond O.M. France Viana's 50 Shades of Kayumanggi explores the true color of one's heritage.



There’s a vibrant Filipino community in Marin, but that isn’t well known. O.M. France Viana would like to change that.

“They’re almost a silent minority,” the Sausalito resident and multimedia artist says. “They speak English, they assimilated really well, so you don’t see them.”

And what people do know of Filipino culture is pretty limited and stereotypical. To address that head-on, Viana curated “Remythologizing Filipino Archetypes: 50 Shades of Kayumanggi,” an exhibit of Filipino American contemporary art at San Marco Gallery on the Dominican University campus through Sept. 15.

“I just love the idea of how we construct our culture. Every culture has its archetypes, right? ‘Archetypes’ is generous because really what you’re talking about are the sterotypical cultural references,” says Viana, named one of the 100 most influential Filipina women in the United States from the Filipina Women’s Network.

Filipinos are the second-largest Asian minority in California. According to the latest census data, there are 3,058 Filipinos who call Marin home.

The exhibit is an offshoot of her well-received art installation, “50 Shades of Kayumanggi,” she created for her senior exhibition at Mills College in 2015. “Kayumanggi” means brown skin, and her exploration of the wide range of Filipino skin colors speaks to gender, class and cultural identity. Eager to explore that deeper, she asked 14 Bay Area Filipino American artists to address the archetypes they know all too well from a history of colonialism as well as the immigrant experience — beauty queen, priestess, prize fighter, nurse, grandmother, Black Madonna and overseas worker among others — with her.

Irreverent humor

Much of the art in the exhibit has a humorous slant. That’s not surprising, says Viana, who was born and raised in the Philippines — Filipinos are known for their irreverent humor and puns. At the same time, they delve into weightier issues.

Take Michael Arcega’s “Doña Señorita (Matriarchal Power Enhancement).” “The word ‘senorita’ is the Spanish maiden, but it’s also a type of banana we have. So he made a sculpture where the banana is wearing a veil,” she says.

In Johanna Poethig’s “OFW Drowning” a woman wears a Manila galleon — “a symbol of colonialism and global trade. She’s like a heroine,” Viana says. “Ten percent of (the Philippines’) entire GDP is from the remittances of the overseas workers. It’s a great sacrifice for them because we’re very family-oriented, and to live without your family just to be able to send money home is very difficult.”

Jenifer Wofford takes on the nurse archetype in two pieces, “observer nurse” and “pushback nurse.”

“They’re very whimsical,” Viana says. Still, they speak to a reality. “We take care of the very young, and the very old and the sick. We’ve become the caregivers of America.”

Lordy Rodriguez’s “State of Quezon” re-envisions San Francisco by tapping into his memories of immigration, clustering Brooklyn, Houston and Seattle within a Pacific harbor.

Cece Carpio’s “Igorot” explores the grandmother archetype and whimsically has her holding a basketball.

“Basketball was introduced to us by the Americans and here’s one grandmother who’s embracing change, literally,” she says.

Cultural insights

Viana’s contributions to the exhibit include her depictions of Black Madonnas as well as a portion of her “50 Shades of Kayumanggi” installation.

“Her artwork is infused with her standout insights on life, Philippine culture and universal matters that make one seriously ponder humorous situations, or find humor in serious matters,” writes Manzel Delacruzin in Positively Filipino magazine.

“Her work is both humorous and rigorous in its conceptual execution,” says award-winning artist Catherine Wagner, art professor and dean of the fine arts division of Mills College, who has a weekend home in Ross.

Wagner’s contribution to the exhibit is “Angel Encased (Bernini),” part of her Rome Works series that investigates and interprets the history of culture.

To her knowledge, “Remythologizing Filipino Archetypes: 50 Shades of Kayumanggi,” is the first exhibit of Filipino contemporary art in Marin.

“Not many people know of our very rich culture,” Viana says. She hopes the exhibit sparks an interest and a better understanding.

“We’re not changing what it means to be Filipino, we’re changing what it means to be American,” she says. “I can see a time when we sit down to a Thanksgiving dinner and we’ll have the turkey and the cranberry sauce and the yams, but they’re going to be (the ubiquitous Philippine) purple yams.”

If you go

What: “Remythologizing Filipino Archetypes: 50 Shades of Kayumanggi”

When: Through Sept. 15; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays

Where: San Marco Gallery, Alemany Library, Dominican University of California, 50 Acacia Ave., San Rafael

Admission: Free

Information: 415-485-3251

More: A free artists reception featuring Filipino foods will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 30 in the gallery