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westernartgirlJosefina Quezada: A Lifetime of Fighting for Public Art
A Mexican artist who was responsible for starting the drive to restore David Alfaro Siqueiros’ downtown Los Angeles mural América Tropical was honored Monday, June 11, in perhaps the best way possible: with the start of conservation work on one of her own murals. Josefina Quezada died about three weeks ago in Mexico, but she … Read more
Siqueiros Exhibition Closes, but Leaves Its Own Legacy in Music and Poetry
There was poetry and music in the galleries, to add to the art on the walls, at the Autry when Siqueiros in Los Angeles: Censorship Defied closed on Sunday. As a special swan song of the exhibition, actresses Yareli Arizmendi and Rose Portillo performed a dramatic reading, simultaneously in Spanish and English, of Rey David … Read more
Los Angeles Muralists React to MOCA Controversy
Since the September opening of Siqueiros in Los Angeles: Censorship Defied, which spotlights a 1932 Los Angeles mural by Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros that was ordered whitewashed, the Autry has held panel discussions, art activities and public events to highlight discussions around the censorship of public art. But the censorship was assumed to be … Read more
Showing Some HeArt for the Arts in High Schools
Most art exhibitions are shows that stay on view for at least several weeks. But on Dec. 8, the Autry hosted a one-day lightning exhibition in its Heritage Court of art by students from The HeArt Project. In museum time, one day is the blink of an eye. But the impression on the students often … Read more
Siqueiros in His Native Language
Given all the hoopla this year in Los Angeles over the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros, and especially at the Autry with the exhibition that focuses on his time in this city, it was only a matter of time before staffers would consider offering tours in Spanish, the artist’s native language. On Dec. 2, 42 … Read more
A Real Revolution Captured on Film
The word “revolution” today is so overused it has almost lost its meaning. Just about everything can be touted as a “revolution” of one kind or another — from the Tea Party’s claim to a second American revolution to the Apple iPhone’s revolution in telephony. Historians, with their longer perspective, use the term … Read more
From Graffiti to Mural Art, With a Few Detours
The Autry’s current exhibition about Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros lionizes the mural América Tropical, one of three U.S. works he painted during his stay in Los Angeles in 1932. But some believe that’s very far from the treatment mural art gets today in this city. They say the murals for which it has become known … Read more
Speaking of Siqueiros, Here’s a Look at His Print Side
The Los Angeles art scene has been buzzing all month about the triple-header at two museums and a gallery featuring the work of Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) — which makes for more attention from a U.S. audience in one year than the world-famous muralist ever got during his lifetime. On Saturday, that buzz … Read more
Artist George Yepes Finds a New Canvas
You know the artist George Yepes from his East Los Streetscapers murals; from his painting — once owned by Madonna and Sean Penn but destroyed in the 1993 Southern California fires — that became a Los Lobos album cover; and from his participation in exhibitions at the Autry. But lately, Yepes has found a brand … Read more
David Alfaro Siqueiros: Keeping the Faith in a Master
No one had to convince José Vera that David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) is an important artist. Vera grew up in Mexico City, an artistically rich place that embraced that country’s native sons and daughters, including Siqueiros, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo and José Clemente Orozco. Vera, who owns and manages the Jose Vera Gallery … Read more
