Bio:
Artist Raphael Villet lived his early childhood in Zimbawe and Kenya, moving to San Francisco in 1998. He now lives and works in West Oakland, California. His artwork engages with the presentation of self in everyday life through visual art and participatory public experiences. He has exhibited in the Oakland Museum of California, The Tenderloin Museum of San Francisco and the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery. Raphael runs Play Press, a small publishing house with a priority for artist books and zines by women and gender-nonconforming people.
Current: Artist Fellowship at YBCA 2017-2018
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
Anywhere Zines, Tenderloin Museum, San Francisco, CA 2017
Don’t Mind Me, Pier 70, SF, CA, 2014
Man-O-Man-O-Man, Adobe Books Backroom Gallery, SF, CA, 2011
Selected Group Exhibitions:
I’m Changing, Forthrite Gallery, Oakland, CA, 2015
Vinyl, The Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA, 2014
No Show, Lobot Gallery, Oakland, CA, 2014
Take Me Away, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, SF, CA, 2013
Just the Two of Us, Adobe Books, SF, CA, 2013
Gallery 1038, Public Exercise , SF, CA, 2013
You Look Familiar, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, SF, CA, 2012
LGBT Center, Untitled , SF, CA, 2012
The Creative Collective, Robert Blitzer Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA, 2011
Residencies:
Escuela de Arte Útil Fellowship, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, 2017 (upcoming)
Tenderloin Museum, SF, CA 2016-2017
Curation:
Stretch & Expose, Assistant Curator, SFAC Gallery, SF, CA, 2012
Education:
B.A. Sociology, UCSC, Santa Cruz, CA, 2011
Educator:
Artbooks, Zines & Binding, One day to Five week workshops taught at: The Harvey Milk Photo Center (San Francisco), The Richmond Arts Center (Richmond, CA), The Berkeley Art Museum (Berkeley, CA), 2016- Present
The Possible Project at the Berkeley Art Museum. Free public workshops on lino-cut printmaking.