René Yañez

René Yañez
Born	1942 Mexico
Nationality	American
Alma mater	San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI)
Known for	Curation of Chicano Art, Mexican-American Pop Assemblage Art
Movement	Bay Area Chicano Art Movement

René Yañez (born 1942 in Mexico) is a Mexican-American painter, assemblage artist, performance artist, curator and community activist located in San Francisco, California. He a well-known contributor to the arts of San Francisco and is a founder of Galería de la Raza, a non-profit community focused gallery that features Latino and Chicano artists and their allies. In the early 1970s he was one of the first curators in the United States to introduce Mexico's Day of the Dead (in Spanish: Día de Los Muertos) as a contemporary focus and an important cultural celebration.

Yañez moved to San Diego, California with his family in 1954 from Mexico. He was drafted in to the Vietnam War and when he was discharged in 1966, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Yañez went to school, including Merritt College, California College of the Arts, Golden Gate College (for arts administration). By 1970 he attended San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) on a minority tuition waiver plan. Some other students and activists he met in the same time period included the Mujeres Muralistas members; Graciela Carrillo, Consuelo Mendez, Irene Perez, Yolanda M. Lopez as well as Michael Ríos (artist) and Jerry Concha.

Yañez married Yolanda M. Lopez in the late 1970s and they had a child, artist Río Yañez (born 1980). They eventually divorced a few years later but Yolanda moved into the apartment next door and they maintained a professional relationship.

Yañez is best known for his Mexican-American pop assemblage art with altar pieces covered in traditional Mexican objects such as beads or candles as well as American pop icons such as the Taco Bell chihuahua. Over time the altars have evolved to reflect the change in time and local community.

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