Artist Reception and Gallery Talk

Check out Chaz Bojorquez

www.chazbojorquez.com

Then come check him out at The Ben Bailey Art Gallery!

Veteran Graffiti Writer Chaz Bojorquez Visits TAMUK

Veteran graffiti writer from Los Angeles, Chaz Bojorquez, will be installing a never-before-seen graffiti work in the Ben Bailey Art Gallery, Texas A & M University, Kingsville (TAMUK); a permanent figure in Chicano art history, Chaz has been writing graffiti since the 1950s, when he first experienced Los Angeles Cholo style graffiti, and today he is considered a king of calligraffiti. His artwork is found in major museums (Smithsonian Institute) and in private collections (Nicholas Cage and Cheech Marin). A published author, he is an expert in calligraphy art, of which graffiti is a prominent world expression. Trained in art schools, Chaz is also a well known graphic artist, having worked in numerous Hollywood movies, such as Born in East L.A., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Star Wars. Lately, Chaz has been decorating skate shoes, T-shirts, and hats.

Writers from Austin, Kingsville, and Corpus Christi will join Chaz, contributing their graffiti pieces in a unique live performance project that has never been attempted in the South Texas Art scene.

Austin:

• Nathan “Sloke” Nordstrom

K-Space/Corpus Christi:

• Loring Baker
• David “Dose2” Flores
• Erin “EMA” Mahoney
• Christian “777” Siete
• Gerald Lopez
• Luis Omar “Ever” Rodriguez
• “Rooster Collective” (Lisa Harrison Ramirez, Kenny Harrison, Tony Yarbray)
• Michelle Smythe

Texas A & M University-Kingsville:

• Thermon Biggers
• Ismael Flores
• Students from International Student Services

Other writers, many from K-Space, an alternative art gallery in Corpus Christi, will also perform their individual “styles” in the gallery space. Students from the University’s Art Department and International Student Services Department will contribute their writing as well.

Graffiti or graff art is a world wide expression historically found in ancient caves, Roman buildings, and modern subways. The Berlin Wall was heavily covered with personal and social messages in graffiti done by German artists and world visitors. A permanent fixture in street art, graff today reflects fresh popular culture, edgy music, hot fashion, and anime, as well as artistic concerns and political statements. This exhibition at TAMUK will present individual and group expressions representing numerous graffiti techniques and themes to demonstrate that graffiti is a contemporary American art.

Additionally, to better advance the aesthetic and educate gallery viewers regarding graffiti art, Chaz will offer three lectures in the Art Department describing his life and body of work. To promote vanguard art, Chaz presents his writing contextualized within a performance expression.

Artist Lecture
Monday, Mar. 22 • 11am and 1pm
Chaz will start the week with a slide lecture of his work.

Room 149 Old Engineering KLBH Kleberg Hall 975 W. Ave. B

Live Painting
Monday - Thursday, Mar. 22 - 25, 2010
Chaz and the group of artists will paint in the gallery space, you are invited to come by during gallery hours.

Artist Reception/Gallery Talk
Thursday, Mar. 25 • 6pm
Chaz will lecture at 6:00 pm, followed by a public reception at the Ben Bailey Art Gallery

On View
March 23 - April 16, 2010
The completed graff works will be on exhibit through April 16, 2010 and will be open to the public.

Gallery Hours

M-F 8am - 5pm

Ben Bailey Art Gallery
916 W. Santa Gertrudis & Armstrong
For more information call (361) 593-2619

The Exhibit is made possible by the Presidential Visual & Performing Arts Series

Photos courtesy of the artist (Chaz Bojorquez)

Annual The Eyes of South Texas High School Exhibition & Competition

2010 Participating Schools

• Academy High School

• Alice High School

• Bishop High School

• Edinburg High School

• H.M. King High School

• Riviera High School

• San Diego High School

Workshop Schedule

Monday March 8

H.M. King High School

• 9-10:30 AM Large Format Painting
• 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM - Wheel Throwing
• 1-2:30 PM - Printmaking

Tuesday March 9

San Diego High School

• 9-10:30 AM Large Format Painting
• 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM - Wheel Throwing
• 1-2:30 PM - Printmaking

Tuesday March 9

San Diego High School and Academy High School

• 9-10:30 AM Large Format Painting
• 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM - Wheel Throwing
• 1-2:30 PM - Printmaking

Wednesday March 10

Alice High School

• 9-10:30 AM Large Format Painting
• 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM - Wheel Throwing
• 1-2:30 PM - Printmaking

Thursday March 11

Edinburg High School

• 9-10:30 AM Large Format Painting
• 9-10:30 AM Small Format Painting
• 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM - Wheel Throwing
• 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM - Printmaking
• 1-2:30 PM - Wheel Throwing

TAMUK Art faculty releases textbook

David Freeman Observation Deception

For artist David Freeman South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley are magnificant, sacred and bewitching all at once. They also serve as his artistic inspiration as reflected in his exhibit “Observation Deception”

Freeman, an art instructor at South Texas College, and editor of Voices of Art Magazine turns his observations of the world around him into art, often using materials from local pulgas (flea markets) and thrift stores as artistic resources.

“Observation Deception” includes photographic images and Freeman’s artistis interpretations of traditional Mexican wrestler masks—or mascaras, which remain a recognizable symbol in Mexican and Rio Grande Valley culture.

“David Freeman’s work displays separate aesthetics, rituals and culture from South Texas, The Rio Grande Valley and Northern Mexico. He gracefully blends Catholic icons, divine religious adoration, with street photography, installation and the act of collecting as art. This one-man group show has a beautiful domestic carnival feel to it. David is attracted to the wonderment and faith, spiritually and the fondness that people can bestow upon these images.” Curator–Jesus De La Rosa

On View • Jan. 18 - Feb. 19, 2010
Artist Talk • Jan. 26 • 2pm
Artist Reception • Jan. 26 • 4:30 -7pm

Ben Bailey Art Gallery
916 W. Santa Gertrudis & Armstrong
For more information call (361) 593-2619