John Yoyogi Fortes

John Yoyogi Fortes studied painting at California State University, Fresno.

His paintings have been exhibited in California, Nevada, Chicago, New York and Norway and are represented in numerous private collections as well as the Asian American Art Centre in New York, the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, Nevada and the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, California.

In 2001 and 2002, he received grants from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, one being the Commissioners Artist Fellowship. In 2003 Fortes received a Visual Artist Fellowship from the California Arts Council and in 2004 was one of twenty artists nationwide to receive a grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation in New York. John was also nominated for the Alliance of Artists Communities, Vision from the New California Project in 2006 and 2007.

This year John’s work was selected to be included in the International Arts & Artists traveling exhibition, Infinite Mirror; Images of American Identity.The exhibit is scheduled to open in September of 2010.

Layered in paint, meaning and humor, John’s work continues to address a broad spectrum of personal concerns ranging from social and political issues such as human rights, the environment and globalization to identity, family and memory.

John currently resides in Sacramento, California.