When Esteban Raheem Abdul Raheem Samayoa looks back at his childhood, here’s how he remembers it: “Growing up, I didn’t have the most stable family, and I was alone a lot. I had a lot of free time. So I really looked toward connecting with my community and my friends more so than my family.”
Now based in Oakland, Samoyoa is a working artist with a show opening this Saturday at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Jose. The title, “Blood Be Water,” is clearly a play on an old adage. But for Samayoa, it was community as much as family that had an impact on his art.
“It’s my journey of survival and my transformation,” Samayoa says about the exhibit. “It’s me building connections and family through community. So I’m changing the narrative of ‘blood is thicker than water.’ Blood is essentially water. Maybe it’s the opposite for some people, but for me family is essentially just what you make it.”
Born to parents from Guatemala and Mexico, Samayoa grew up in Sacramento. A self-taught artist, he began exhibiting five years ago in the Bay Area and later branched out to other big cities. He’s guest lectured at San Francisco State University, San Jose State University and Sacramento City College, and appeared in ads for clothing and shoe brands, as well as Cadillac’s 2024 Rising Icons online campaign.
Cars are among the recurring symbols Samayoa uses. For his first solo show at a museum, running March 22 to Aug. 24, Samayoa displays 50 mostly new airbrush paintings, charcoal drawings, oil pastels and ceramics, which include such themes as local pride, hip-hop, tattoos, dogs and vintage cartoons, namely Looney Tunes and Tex Avery’s Slick Wolf character. The black-and-white and color pieces are organized into sections that represent Samayoa’s culture and community, with an additional short film that documents his creative process.
“I was raised with a Doberman and a Rottweiler,” Samayoa says. “Often people look at those dogs as dangerous breeds, but my dogs were rescued, so I see them in a different light. They were like big babies to me. They needed a lot of attention and care, and I relate to that because that’s how people see someone like me. I have a lot of tattoos. People look at us and assume something else. But if you talk to me, I’m just a kind and genuine person.
“I really gravitated toward dogs, as well as Cadillacs. I grew up with Cadillacs. My grandfather had one, my father had one, and I have one. So being in those cars is just very nostalgic to me. I always felt good riding in them. The pleasantness of the seats and just how they flow.”
In one painting, for example, Samayoa combines images of Malcolm X and Mary J. Blige alongside his younger self in a graduation gown and references to Diego Rivera’s murals. In another piece of art, he depicts his aunt, whom he credits with helping raise him. In one work, Samayoa renders the grills on his teeth; in another, he and his ex-wife are embracing in front of an oak tree.
“The trees are a representation of Oakland,” Samayoa says. “It’s a classic symbol of Oakland. It’s also a piece about black and brown love in Oakland, and Oakland has been a big staple in my career. It gave me my start.”
Samayoa also interprets his conversion to Islam more than two years ago in a series of white hands made out of plaster, each one holding either The Autobiography of Malcolm X, a Quran or a prayer rug.
“Growing up, I had a lot of freedom,” Samayoa says. “I was out in the neighborhood a lot, so a lot of neighbors raised me. I had one best friend who was Muslim, and I would go to the masjid [mosque] with him on Fridays.
“As I navigated through life,” he continues, “there were a lot of Islamic connections for me. And when I got together with my last partner, that’s when I decided to convert. It just seemed really natural, and it put me in the right place, mentally and spiritually. It’s a very grounding practice in my life. It allows me to have a lot of gratitude for whatever’s going on, positive or negative.”
Blood Be Water runs through Aug 24 at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Jose, 560 S 1st St, San Jose.
