Vikings Printmaking: Vincent Price Art Museum: Estampas de la Raza

Hey, buds. My name is Willie Garcia, and I hope this post is read not only by my class, but future classes to come. The Vincent Price Art Museum is a slept-on gem that is located right on the East LA College campus, and free admission! I paid them a visit in February for their opening of "Estampas de la Raza: Contemporary Prints from the Romo Collection", a series of Mexican American and Latino prints. Many of the prints are from the Self Help Graphics, a local non-profit that teaches local youth screen printing, and Modern Multiples, created by Richard Duardo, who was known as "the western Warhol". Sadly, he passed away late last year.

-Artemio Rodriguez "Mickey Muerto" ca. 2005

The variety of prints was amazing, more than 60, and inspiring to see the depth of sizes and colors (in retrospect I didn't take enough pictures *sad face*). I complain about printing 4 color editions of 15 but many of the artists on display were printing 7+ color editions of 30 or more, by hand! My hand is getting arthritis just thinking about it. Although most were screen prints, there was also a handful of zinc plate prints.

-Richard Duardo "Loteria" ca. 2010

-Ester Hernandez "Sun Mad" ca. 2008; Alex Rubio "Los Frajos" ca. 2005

- I forgot to take a pic of the name (oops)

- I forgot to take a pic of the name (double oops)

The following piece was probably my favorite of the bunch. "Suspect: Dark Hair, Dark Clothes, Dark Eyes, Dark Skin" by Vincent Valdez. The values of the colors are very dark and grim. Direction and perspective also work great for the overall message. Police in the background with what appears to be the owners dead dog while trying to show proof of identification. Based on the year and the picture on the mans shirt, I suspect this was inspired right after the 2001 bombings since Latinos tend to come in all colors. Not only that but it really rings bells in modern times.

-Vincent Valdez "Suspect: Dark Hair, Dark Clothes, Dark Eyes, Dark Skin" ca. 2002

I hope some of you get inspired to visit your local museum, and not just because it was part of an assignment. There are plenty of small museums, and even smaller galleries, exhibiting some awesome pieces and most are free to view. So if you're ever around East LA College, or not, pay Vincent Price Art Museum a visit. Here are some more pics from the exhibit, forgive me if I don't remember some of the artist's names: