"Trash Flowers" exhibit and book release by Jai Tanju 

ART EXHIBITION AND BOOK RELEASE

DATE/TIME:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 30 - 6:00-9:00PM

LOCATION:
SKYDECK GALLERY, 4TH FLOOR @ EXHIBIT JTOWN BY EMPIRE SEVEN STUDIOS
525 N 7TH STREET, SAN JOSE, CA 95112

FORWARD BY EMPIRE SEVEN STUDIOS:

Photographer Jai Tanju has been documenting San Jose for decades. You have most likely seen him roaming on his bike always with a camera, venturing into areas where most won’t frequent. Over the past 4 years, we’ve run into Jai while painting murals on the Guadalupe River Park Gardens. The Guadalupe River trail is frequently used for bikers, walkers, joggers but also known for having many skate spots. Although trash tends to be a large occurring issue, if you take a moment to observe, you will see incredible and resilient wildlife. 

Jai’s latest photography book will feature over 20 years of documenting the Guadalupe River trail while walking his beloved dog Frida. As Jai and I talked about this body of work and the upcoming installation details for the book release, we shared our river trail experiences and landed on a common concern of how neglected this natural resource suffers from traumatic impacts. Trash is a massive eyesore on the river, and no matter how much volunteers help clean it up there is still so much work to be done. 

We can only imagine how this place looked before it was colonized. In hindsight, you can think of Jai’s photos similar to a child’s imagination; creating something to play with. The trash piling on tree branches, sticks and twigs seem similar to finding beauty in something so painful. Promoting the event has led us to having conversations about how this body of work could be used to call out the issues and struggles the river faces. Without intending to advocate, and create awareness, Jai has merely captured moments in time, highlighting an observation many could relate to. 

Jai has immersed himself into his work and if you’re lucky the work will go far beyond what was supposed to just be a photograph. It can now be a story that needs to be shared with anyone who wants to see the Guadalupe River Park Trail and Gardens thrive.

- Juan Carlos Araujo

ARTIST STATEMENT:

The Trash Flowers book is a 20 year documentation of the Guadalupe River that runs through downtown San Jose. It wasn’t a serious project when I started walking Frida there around 2007, more just observations that built up over the years that became a bit of an obsession when I discovered the actual Trash Flowers which I religiously looked for after every flood accrued…

The Idea was respired in the winter of 2022 with its historic rainfall and a chance storage find of an old cd by the Mumlers “Thickets & Stitches” & the song Red River Hustle which embodies life here in San Jose at that time.

I am having a Book release party & exhibition at the Skydeck gallery which is on the fourth floor of the Exhibit apartments where Empire Seven Studios is located. My beautiful amazing wife Blanche will be hosting a chill party on the patio with some snacks, drinks and music! 

The book is 108 pages of color/black & white photographs with a perfect bind. It also comes with a bonus iPhone zine & insert of my project called FlightPath. It will be available at the opening on August 30th & online on my booksbyjai big cartel shop on September 1st.

We hope to see you there!

Jai Tanju  

Special thanks to: @bgo____ @empire7studios @ed.templeton @mattsharkeyphoto & @fotoexpressfilm @willsprott