Urban Artist Brings Distinct "Calligraffiti" Artwork, Style to Presidential Performing Arts Series
KINGSVILLE - March 12, 2010
Contact:
Adriana Garza
adriana.garza@tamuk.edu or
361.593.4979
During the last 40 years, urban artist Chaz Bojorquez has gone from tagging the streets of his California neighborhood with graffiti to creating innovative works of art that mesh the traditions of “Cholo-style” graffiti with Asian calligraphy.
Bojorquez’s evolution as an artist has taken him from the streets to The Smithsonian Institute National Museum of American Art, as he is now recognized as a pioneer in the art of “calligraffiti” and an important contributor to Chicano art history.
Bojorquez will be on campus at Texas A&M University-Kingsville Monday, March 22 to Thursday, March 25 as part of the Presidential Performing and Visual Arts Series, to create a live performance art piece—a project that has not been attempted in the South Texas art scene.
Street artists from Austin, Corpus Christi and Kingsville will join Bojorquez for the live performance. The artists will paint Monday through Thursday in the Ben Bailey Art Gallery. The public is invited to watch the artists work during normal gallery hours, 8 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Graffiti, or “graff art,” is a world-wide expression historically found in ancient caves, Roman buildings and modern subways. 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 A&M-Kingsville will present individual and group expressions representing numerous graffiti techniques and themes to demonstrate that graffiti is a contemporary American art. Bojorquez will also offer lectures for the public during which he will discuss his life and art work. The first lecture is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, March 22. The second lecture will be during the Artists’s Reception/Gallery Talk at 6 p.m., Thursday, March 25 in the Bailey Art Gallery.
All events are free and open to the public.
With exhibits in museums across the country and in various international museums, Bojorquez has also penned several articles about graffiti. His art work is also featured in the collections of various celebrities, including Nicolas Cage, Jackson Browne, Cheech Marin, David Lee Roth and Esai Morales.
The Presidential Performing and Visual Arts Series is a year-long program of art, music and theatre performances that bring culture and variety to Kingsville for faculty, staff, students and community audiences. The intention is to bring a new element to “learning outside the classroom” for students as they are entertained and educated in venues they might not normally visit. Community members are welcome to continue “life-long learning” by attending these events and interacting with our students.
For more information on this event or the Presidential Performing and Visual Arts Series, call 593-2769.
This page was last updated on: March 12, 2010