HOMIES EMPOWERMENT: RACE, MANHOOD AND SCHOOLING

I recently made a poster for a special event in Oakland, California: "FROM THE BRONX TO THE BAY: Race, Manhood and Schooling"-- hosted by Homies Empowerment at Eastlake, YMCA.  The talk will be by UC Berkeley, PhD student, Angel Gonzalez and topics such as homophobia, sexism, violence towards women, colonialism and the meaning of masculinity will be discussed.  I wish I could make it but I STRONGLY encourage anyone in the Bay area to attend.

I am, however, super happy to have been able to take some part in the event by creating the poster for it.  The occasion called for something, simple, quick, thought-provoking and somewhat "cool" for young people from the streets to relate to.  "Old english" letters as well as Graffiti served as inspiration for this piece.

For more information and context, Telemundo filmed a short special on the area, people and issues dealt with daily, as well as the man behind Homies Dinner, César Cruz.  It's also filmed in Spanish, so my apologies for not having an alternative for non-Spanish speakers.

CLICK HERE FOR LINK

FRESH WORK -- "Cope with Lost Hope"

So now that the craziness in my life has somewhat subsided, I've built up enough inspiration and creative energy to make new work.  Which means, expect regular updates on the blog, again.

I have so many ideas, I didn't know where to start.  So today I went with what I already had started on, not only to get things moving quicker, but also pick something that is relevant and useful now.  This is about Obama's time at the White House so far and how some that once saw him as an inspirational figure, don't hype him up as much as they used to.  I won't go too in depth with this, but I mean, give the guy some credit, its a tough time to be president of the United States, you know?  Nonetheless, its been a rough year for the country and sometimes even Obama is not enough to give the people "Hope."  Anyway, everyone has their own opinions and this just illustrates one side of the coin.

 
Mixed media, mostly digital for this one

MY SECRET POLITICAL RESISITANCE: ART POLITICS & SOCIAL PRACTICE

An interesting conference/ conversation is taking place at Cooper Union today about incorporating politics and social practice into art.  Guest speakers include Diamela Eltit, Dalida María Benfield and Carla Herrera-Prats.  It's at the Great Hall at 6pm, FREE.  I'll definitely be checking out!  For more on the event, click HERE.

 

"My Secret Political Resistance is a conference that features a diverse group of cultural producers that work in Latin America. The discussion seeks to layer the contemporary understanding of dialogical and socially-engaged artistic practices. Beginning with a discussion on CADA, a Chilean collective that staged public interventions during the Pinochet dictatorship, My Secret Political Resistance presents multiple considerations on the role of art in imagining a poetics of activism." 

--From Cooper.edu

WORK AT ILLUSTRATION FUTURO SHOW

image from http://illustrationfuturo.blogspot.com/

Hey all--  My "Plegaria del Pueblo" piece will be hung at the Illustration House from April 20th- 30th.  Only 65 illustrations were chosen from 200 submissions, so expect quality work.  The opening reception will be Thursday, April 22nd from 6-9pm.  I'll be there so I hope you can make it!  The Illustration House is located on 25th Street between 6th and 7th (closer to 6th).  Thanks to the Underground League of Illustrators at F.I.T. for organizing all this and making it happen.

You could find out more about the show, Illustraton Futuro, here.

For over thirty years, Illustration House has been America's foremost gallery devoted to the art and history of illustration. The gallery offers a fascinating look at the intersection of American popular culture and art history of the past. Thousands of oil paintings, drawing and watercolors cover a broad range of styles, genres and subjects — science fiction, romance, history, suspense, fairy tales, pin-ups, humor and fashion, to name a few...

In addition to select exhibitions each year, the gallery holds twice annual auctions of fine illustrative paintings and drawings. These have set the market benchmark for original illustration artwork. Prices brought at our auctions have set the records for a wide variety of artists, from Norman Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker and N. C. Wyeth to Ludwig Bemelmans, James Thurber and Dr. Seuss. In addition, our gallery space hosts major exhibitions of illustrators. We produce illustrated catalogs for our auctions, and occasional exhibition catalogues.  -- http://www.illustration-house.com/

WORK PUBLISHED- LEFT TURN MAGAZINE

I received my copy of the April/May issue of LEFT TURN magazine in the mail today, which is where you can now find one of my pieces published.  It's really exciting for me because not only is my work getting published, but it's getting published in a magazine written by activists, for activists.  It really couldn't get better than that right now.  Anyway, the article is about obstacles activists and organizers face with the current economy and how to find ways to overcome them.  You can purchase the magazine in bookshops all over the country.  In New York, you could find it at Bluestockings, Vox Pop and St. Mark's Bookshop.  Special thanks to Vasudha Desikan for allowing me to have this opportunity, I hope to work more with Left Turn in the future.

WORK SCREENPRINTED

I've been learning how to screenprint for a few months now.  The process is somewhat tedious but the end result can sometimes make up for it.  Right now I'm testing some of my stuff with 2 color screens on t-shirts.  For this one, I decided to hand draw a digital piece and use that as my template.  I'll post up more updates with different color combinations next week and even more stuff after that...  maybe pillowcases with my own patterns?  Not sure yet, guess you'll have to wait and see what else I come up with.  Don't worry, I'm not looking to be Martha Stewart...not in the near future, anyway.

SERIES OF PIGS PT. 1

I'm working on a series I am naming, "Real Pigs of America."  It's a social commentary (of course) about our "system."  Think of it as "the man," the government, capitalism, the upperclass....maybe even the country as a whole, as we are seen as this selfish, "want-it-all" society.  Heck, it doesn't even have to be American.  I'll let you figure out what it means to you.  This is one piece of 3.  Stay tuned for more.  Linocut, Mixed media.

PLEGARIA DEL PUEBLO

This is my latest finished piece.  I won't bore you with an essay about the message behind this, but long story short, the idea is a group of people coming together in prayer during a desperate time in their lives.  Relate it to whatever comes to mind--- that's the point.  I enjoyed making this piece with hardly any help from the digital world (i mean, i DID have to scan it to show you...).   :)

Sketch...

 

To Finish...

ILLUSTRATION FRENZY

Just when I was about to yank my head off from all the stress this week, FIT canceled classes due to the snow storm...if that's what we call it.  So I took advantage of "time", which is a rarity, and caught up on some work that had to get done.  Right now I'm working on 2 projects which I will tell you all about once I finish---but as I was working, I realized I hadn't updated my blog and that there are pieces that I worked on recently that haven't seen the light.  More to come next week!

Madama Butterfly Opera

Angela Davis

 

Cesar Chavez

GETTING ANGRY AGAIN-- IN A GOOD WAY.

Today most of my creative energies have been spent on a private commission I've been working on this week, but for some reason I got into this trance and wouldn't stop making stuff.

While I was waiting for my soup to cool down, I did a quick sketch of my uncle watching TV.  His arm is off....oh well, I blame not being able to erase ink and feeling famished.

Then I started catching up on some reading and my Art and China's Revolution by the Asia Society seemed to appeal the most today.  I loved that exhibition so much, I wish it were part of the permanent collection so I could visit it a couple of times a year.  I know this kind of art is not China's proudest of moments but what appeals to me is the youth during this time.  Regardless of how Mao is viewed, the younger generation saw hope in him and had this interest in making serious change in their country through art.  There were lots of restrictions, but for those who really believed in this movement, it was deep...and more importantly it was for the masses.  And it all shows in the art: gestural drawings, bold and saturated colors.  People saw themselves in those posters, not some lame upper class people drinking champagne.

I love the idea of art being a necessity for survival.  Not only for artists but for everyone: literate and illiterate alike because it's as important as language, a way of communicating with each other.  For me, I constantly have this frustration with this society.  I don't want to hear about who's Britney's new baby daddy or exactly how many women "he" cheated on his wife with-- C'mon.  I want to know why the Bronx is still the poorest area in the country...why these kids have the highest rate of asthma...know what I mean?  This is the part where I get angry and for me, it's a good thing, because just like those kids in China, I'm also fed up.  Why can't I also express this anger through art...to inspire, to motivate...or share information, educate?

Of course, every once in a while, I have to sell out...we all do.  I mean, we gotta eat, you know?  But this is my motivator, what drives me --enough to have some extra will left to make those pieces I don't want to do but will hopefully pay this month's rent.  In the meantime, I'm going to keep getting angry and riled up and produce work that speaks to me...and hopefully others, because I'd like to think I'm not the only one out there.

Promise I'm done with my rambling.  I've been wanting to keep working with linoleum and move farther away from digital for now.  I love the little accidents made in linoleum, where the paint didn't pick up.  Anyway, here are some prints I made today-- I might redo some and re-post.

PATTERN FRENZY

This past month has been quite revealing for me in many ways-- personally and artistically.  Aside from having to deal with external influences...I've found this battle with myself and my own expectations.  Sometimes, after a while, you kind of forget why your expectations are what they are.  I think when that happens it's time to stop a moment and re-evaluate why you chose those expectations.  Are they really because that's what you want to do?  Or is it because all of a sudden you find yourself having to fit that role and succeed?  Maybe the intent was there but it just went in a direction you didn't want it to go?  Tons of possibilities and situations.  In the end... this is the position I'm finding myself in.  In a way it feels like going a step back but I know that it'll be a huge step forward--in the right direction.

That said, in my sketchbook lately, I've been having this urge to make patterns....drawing things over and over again.  It sounds boring, but I found myself having fun with it and really getting interested in this other way of making art.  I think I like it because it can make a message so clear...because it's so redundant.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll snap out of this slumber of pattern frenzy soon...so don't worry about me TOO much.