Jodi Throckmorton, associate curator, will focus on new works by Kathy Aoki and Imin Yeh in her tour of the exhibition Renegade Humor. SJMA commissioned Aoki and Yeh to create special installations for the exhibition. Both artists found inspiration in the charged atmosphere of this presidential election year. Yeh turned SJMA into campaign headquarters for a fictional political candidate, “Juan-Ton,” whose persona was inspired by a real-life design challenge to promote a candidate who appeals to both Asian-American and Latino voters. Aoki created oversize “paper” dolls of Newt Gingrich, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

These new works are generously supported by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation. The tour is presented as part of Asian Contemporary Art Week in San Francisco. For more information on ACAW-SF visit www.asiancontemporarysf.org/acaw