#indigenizemememoji.2020
New Works by Jevijoe Vitug

Launching August 9, 2020

On the event of the International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples, Flux Factory is pleased to present #indigenizemememoji.2020, a solo exhibition of paintings by Philippine-born artist Jevijoe Vitug. This exhibition, initially cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, is presented here in digital form.

Description, Artist Bios and List of Works Below

Exhibition Gallery
Titles, size and medium listed below

Programming

Indigenization and the Dreamland: Jevijoe Vitug in conversation with Museum Educator Francis Estrada
August 20th, 7pm EST
Via Zoom – REGISTER HERE

Exhibition Description

Combining satirical humor with socio-political and cultural concerns, #indigenizemememoji.2020 reimagines history painting through the lens of memes and emojis, encoded with an indigenous presence. Layering graphics referencing the COVID-19 pandemic and statewide protests against systemic racism, each painting amplifies this historic moment as translated through digital culture.

This new body of work is composed of 13 paintings, in which Vitug continues his painting technique titled “pintados,” painterly brushstrokes that have nuances of indigenous mark making. Similar to digital pixel units, these marks become codes to forming imagery invisible at a first glance. Working in oil paint, acrylic, airbrush and water based UV-fluorescent paint overlapping one another, the artist uses a diversity of painting media.

A repeated motif in the works are brands around which viral memes were made during the pandemic, such as Corona beer, Purell hand sanitizer and Clorox bleach. The painting Queen Bey’s Purell Meme (2020) is based on a meme by Saint Hoax in which Beyonce holds Purell bottles, while emoji hands reach out for the sanitizers. This work, part of a diptych, sits next to This is……Why (2020) which appropriates a meme posted by NBA star LeBron James showing a police officer’s knee on George Floyd’s neck, next to a former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling in protest of police brutality. Both rendered using marking details similar to the tattoos of indigenous warriors in the Philippines, depicted in the Boxer Codex manuscript (1590). Vitug combines a diversity of technique and reference to draw attention to the complex and interdependent forces impacting this social moment.

Over the prolonged period of lockdown, Vitug has continued painting in his studio as a coping strategy and to reflect on his experience living in Queens, NY, the epicenter of coronavirus outbreak that has disproportionately impacted immigrants of color. He uses coded humor, layered with straightforward messages and hidden meanings to make visible his pre-colonial/ indigenous heritage, and his continuing quest for decolonization.

Artist Bios

Jevijoe Vitug

Queens-based artist Jevijoe Vitug creates paintings, performance and community projects as avant-garde strategy to visibilize labor, indigenous legacy and the forgotten history of people of color.

Jevijoe earned his MFA dual degree in Studio Arts and Design and Technology from San Francisco Art Institute in 2015 and his work has been included in exhibitions at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (2005, 2006), Singapore Art Museum (2006),
Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA (2009), Contemporary Arts Center, Las Vegas (2012), Staff show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY (2017, 2019), Queens Museum, NY (2018), San Diego Art Institute, San Diego CA (2019). His performance projects have been presented at NIPAF, Japan (2004), Koret Educational Center at SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA (2008), London Biennale organized by David Medalla (2012, 2014), Flux residency at AroS Museum, Denmark (2018), Museum Mile at The Africa Center and El Museo Del Barrio (2019), UP Vargas Museum (2019). In 2019, Vitug is a recipient of Queens Arts Fund New Works Grant and an artist-in-residence of The Laundromat Project’s Create Change Program. He is member of Museum Union Art Workers, District Council- 37 Local 1503 and currently serves in the community resident board of directors of Flux Factory.

Francis Estrada

Born in the Philipines and currently residing in Brooklyn, Francis Estrada is a visual artist, museum educator at the Museum of Modern Art, and freelance educator of Filipino art and culture. Francis has a fine arts degree in painting and drawing from San Jose State University, and he has taught in a variety of studio, classroom, and museum settings to diverse audiences, including programs for adults with disabilities, cultural institutions, and after-school programs. He was also an administrator and educator at the Museum for African Art, where he enjoyed teaching about the amalgamation of art and culture through objects. Francis exhibits his work nationally, including online publications. His work focuses on culture, history, and perception.

List of Works

12) Fight the Power, F*ck the Police meme (2020)
Oil, acrylic, airbrush and water based UV-fluorescent paint on canvas
48 inches x 48 inches

13) Zoom Supper, Social Distancing meme (2020)
Oil, acrylic, airbrush and water based UV-fluorescent paint on canvas
36 inches x 36 inches