It was a mix of pre-Incan Moche, Tumblr-ready Pikachu, Satanic Barbie, and Catholic imagery — in other words, the essential Bay Arean celebration of Dia de los Muertos (check our complete listings for a guide to all the altars, drums, and processionals this year.)
Yesterday’s opening reception of “Fluorescent Virgins” at SF State’s Cesar Chavez Student Center featured more traditional trappings of the holiday as well: papel picado flower-making, a wall of memorials written by exhibition attendees, food for days. The show was brought to light by curator and altar-maker Colblos, a.k.a. Pilar Gordillo, a.k.a. a visual arts student at the university. The altars, by Dick Van Dick, Maga Sama (Gabriela Sanchez), Unbear (Hannah Birch Carl), La Pinta (Ivana Pinto), and M.E.Ch.A. (Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán), will be on view through Nov. 8, which gives you plenty of time to make your way to the M-Ocean View.