One of or goals as festival organizers is to help develop local, talented image-makers, advising and assisting them to produce and promote a presentable body of work within the framework of FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA. For the 2009 festival, we worked with two artists whose images are shown as part of our 2009 Signature Exhibits series.

One of these talented photographic artists is John Keoni Viriyapunt, whose Alapi’i series of digitally altered images of staircases is on display in the downstairs bar area of Silo Elevated Cuisine on Austin Highway. Alapi’i is Hawaiian for steps. John is a creative director and graphic designer with very impressive credentials in the advertising world. He has always been a photography enthusiast, and for years has expressed his desire to experiment with photography as an art form. Finally, over a year ago, he approached us and asked us to assist him with his project, with the goal of having an exhibit of his images as part of the FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA Festival.

We agreed to help direct the project and curate the exhibit for him. We also encouraged him to find a venue with a track record of supporting local artists, with enough of a remove from the artsy beaten paths; helping to add a varied contextual layer to the festival. We’re glad he found and opted to show his images at Silo Elevated Cuisine.

The exhibit is already on display. The artist’s reception will be on Thursday, September 24, from 6:30 to 9 pm. We will post our photos of the opening reception after that date.

John Keoni Viriyapunt, featured artist at Silo Elevated Cuisine.

Partial view of the Alapi’i exhibit at Silo Elevated Cuisine.

Partial view of the exhibit in the game room of Silo’s bar area.

Partial view of the exhibit in the game room of Silo’s bar area.

Detail from John Keoni Viriyapunt’s Alapi’i exhibit.

Another detail of the exhibit.

Detail from the exhibit.

View of John Keoni Viriyapunt’s Alapi’i exhibit from the game room of the bar at Silo Elevated Cuisine.

A few weeks later. Artist’s reception for John Keoni Viriyapunt’s Alapi’i Series 2 FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA exhibit at Silo Elevated Cuisine.

John Keoni Viriyapunt at his Alapi’i Series 2 artist’s reception.

Cynthia Muñoz at the FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA artist’s reception at Silo Elevated Cuisine.

John Keoni Viriyapunt taking high-fashion snapshots at his artist’s reception.

David Rubin, Ann Kinser, Richard Arredondo and John Keoni Viriyapunt.

The artist’s reception for Alapi’i Series 2, the FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA exhibit by John Keoni Viriyapunt, continued late into the evening.