Emigdio vasquez biography sample
Artist Statement
Vivianna Sepulveda's "Eramos Semilla" series depicts the constant presence of struggle and resistance that have shaped the Chicano Identity. From colonization by the Spanish to Dreamers fighting deportation, Chicano/as have continuously faced some sort of battle. While this struggle meant the death of millions of indigenous peoples, loss of lands, and discrimination. It also has the power to drive a community together and continue fighting.The artist draws inspiration from the style of the Chicano Art Movement and its popular use of murals. She drew inspiration from Emigdio Vasques in particular. He is known as the Godfather of Chicano art and has created many murals in his lifetime.These murals were painted in neighborhoods and often displayed some sort of message to aid political movements. The Movement emphasized on identity and politics, both of which are present in this series.
This struggle is represented in three different drawings or "murals". The first one is in regard to the origins of this identity. The artist uses iconic images of the Aztec calendar stone and a traditional Aztec figure. This was inspired by the mural Quatzelcoatl which also stacked multiple icons on top of each other. Also in the drawing is a Spanish mission. The Spanish used Catholicism as a tool to colonize and justify the atrocities that happened to indigenous people. In the second drawing contains a side portrait of Cesar Chavez against a backdrop of an agricultural field. Known for his activism, Chavez was a leader for those who were being taken advantage. He was able to lead a resistance and fight for fair conditions. He is a major Chicano icon. The last panel deals with the current administration and Dreamers. The Trump administration has called for the end of DACA, which would see to the deportation of 800,000 people who call the United States h
From orange-shaped citrus stands, to the Brown Derby, to the giant dinosaurs of Cabazon, nothing says “Southern California” quite like our crazy architecture. Join author and historian Jim Heimann on a virtual tour through our audacious and innovative landscape of eccentric buildings at the Thurs., Nov. 8 meeting of the Orange County Historical Society at 7:30p.m. Heimann will discuss programmatic architecture (e.g. “buildings that look like things”): a unique and enduring expression of American vernacular architecture.
Americans’ predilection for wanderlust at the beginning of the automobile age prompted inventive entrepreneurs to address this new mode of transportation. Starting in the 1920’s, attention-grabbing buildings began to appear that would draw drivers going 35 m.p.h. to stop in for snacks, provisions, souvenirs, or a quick meal. The architectural establishment deemed them “monstrosities” and dismissed them. Yet they flourished, especially along America’s Sunbelt, as their owners heeded a creative impulse and constructed giant owls, dolls, pigs, ships, coffee pots, and fruit. Their symbolic intent was guileless, prompting their slow deletion in a chapter of America’s social and architectural history. Yet photographic documentation of the past 40 years has assured their place in the architectural hierarchy and has prompted this building type to continue to flourish.
Southern California native Jim Heimann is a historian, cultural anthropologist, author, educator, and the executive editor of Taschen Publishing America. He has been active in the arts field for the past 45 years publishing numerous books and articles and is a faculty member of Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, where he has taught since 1988. A greatly expanded and beautifully illustrated third edition of his classic book, California Crazy: American Pop Architecture (first published almost 40 years ago) was released earlier this year.
Our meeting will be held on Thursday, N Fletcher Robinson (Author), Burr Shafer (Illustrator)The cover of “C. Hamilton Blight Looks at Santa Ana”1954Ink on paper; 8 ½ x 11 in.Bowers Museum Collection, 31106.1Burr ShaferAmerican, 1899-1965Illustration for “C. Hamilton Blight Looks at Santa Ana”1954Ink, watercolor, and correction fluid on paper; 8 ½ x 11 in.Bowers Museum Collection, 31106.... Continue reading Detail of Storyboard Beam, mid 20th centuryPalau, MicronesiaWood; 5 7/8 x 77 1/2 x 1 5/8 in.2019.17.31Gift of Frieda O. Wray from the Estate of Dr. & Mrs. Douglas and Carolyn Osborne Storytelling is Human Culture Humans have long used art to tell stories, give warnings, and keep records.Asian Comics: Evolution of an Art Form, on display at Bowe... Continue reading Content warning: The comics in this post are presented as originally created. They may contain outdated phrases and cultural descriptions which the Bowers Blog does not endorse. Los Angeles Examiner’s “Puck: The Comic Weekly”, c. 1944Hearst Communications; Los AngelesPaper and ink; 21 1/2 x 15 9/16 x 1/16 in.40614.12Gift of Mrs. Peryl Ashton E... Continue reading Tapa Cloth (Ngata), 20th CenturyTongan culture; Tonga, PolynesiaPounded tree bark and pigment; 78 x 152 in.93.18.1Donated by Jeff and Laura Blackie Trip to Motunui When Walt Disney Animation Studios released Moana (2016) to a tidal wave of good reviews, the Bowers Museum was overjoyed to see Polynesian culture and art achieve broad recognition with... Continue reading Oak Leaf Ornament, early 20th CenturyUnknown maker; probably United StatesGold; 4 1/2 in.30713BGift of Mrs. Anita L. Alexander Disbe-leaf That It Is 2024 Hard to believe as it may be, 2023 has ended and the new year, 2024, has begun. With high hopes for all the wonderful and exciting things that the new year may hold, today’s post celebrates the pr... Continue reading Medicine or Magic Horn (Naga Marsarang), early 20th centuryUnrecorded Newspaper articles, television programs and radio interviews have featured Emigdio and his socially enlightened work for the last 30 years. Emigdio has exhibited in numerous museums and private galleries. The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art engaged Vasquez as Artist-in-residence from 1985 to 1988 and he conducted public art & painting classes. Commissions from collectors, municipalities and the state-funded California Arts Council have brought the paintings and murals of Emigdio before a wide audience. Award-winning artist, educator and community art organizer, Emigdio Vasquez documents and memorializes the struggle for survival and dignity of the working class: The experience of being marginal, caught between cultures as well as borders. Vasquez fuses the elements of social and super realism into warmly colored compositions, conveying a powerful sense of the social struggle present within the urban Chicano experience of 20th century America. His work reflects an illuminating humanism that transcends ethnicity because it reveals aspects of the human character common to all of us. It is a message of universality addressed, first, to the Chicano working class and then to the rest of humanity. Emigdio Vasquez is an artist of power and skill who achieves a visionary quality within his work. To have a relevance or impact in the community of ideas one must advocate a position or perspective. Artists attempt this through technique and composition. Vasquez is a mature artist who uses his mastery of realism and complex glazing techniques to enhance his compositional statements and achieve a progressive body of work. The subtlety of his work does not
Emigdio Vasquez Brochure
A pioneer in the Chicano art movement, was born in the historic mining town of Jerome, Arizona. His family moved to Orange, California when he was two years old. Painter and muralist, Vasquez holds BA and MA degrees from California State University Fullerton and AA degree from Santa Ana College.