Dewey Tafoya is a visual artist and screen printer from Boyle Heights. Growing up in an era of nightly helicopter malathion spraying, police street sweeps, punk rock, and oldies, his practice is heavily influenced by the urban landscapes, cultures, and communities of inner city Los Angeles. Often using satirical humor, much of Tafoyaʼs work tends to deconstruct historical contexts and then reconstruct them from the viewpoint of the oppressed and/or the under-represented.
Tafoya has been part of the Self Help Graphics & Art creative community for nearly two decades, beginning as a volunteer for the organization, teaching for SHG’s Día de los Muertos community arts workshops, supporting and being a lead teaching artist in the reboot of the Barrio Mobile Art Studio program, and teaching printmaking for the SOY Artista summer youth program. His work has been exhibited throughout Southern California, including at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Latin American Art.
