So I had the opportunity to check out Chicano Park Day this year with a couple of friends and I am glad I did. I was suppose to go last year but I was not able to make it. It was a lot of fun to go down to Chicano Park and walk around with everything that was going on. They had a lot of food, musical acts, dancers, cars, and many stands selling locally produced products.
musica.
canta.
I was especially looking forward to photographing the lowriders and classic cars. I love old cars and I dream of owning a 1961 Chevrolet Impala.
negro modelo.
My friend I went with is starting his own production company and went down to film the event for his site. He got a lot of good footage and I am proud & excited to say that I am collaborating with him on some projects. We will be bringing out some good artistic and local projects out in the near future. That's in the works right now, so stay tuned.
I have to start off by saying that I have never been an overly political person. I have been intrigued by it, but have never immersed myself past a certain point. I feel that it is a persons opinion to support who or what they want to support and therefore do not like to discuss politics with many people because of the emotions that it can bring out.
(Warning: this video is a little violent and shows a dead protester. Unfortunately, this is reality.)
As an artist I can say that I have only created about 3 pieces that could be considered to have political connotations. For my latest painting I set out to make it a direct statement when it came to current/political events. On January 1st, as I sat at home, I was looking around on YouTube when I came across a video that disturbed me greatly. It was a video that was uploaded by a protester in Iran. The video showed a man dying in the streets. People were trying to carry him over to the side and trying to do anything they could, but one could obviously tell he was passing away as the camera rolled. It seemed from the video that this man had been shot in the face. And for what? Because he felt the need to show his displeasure with his government. Because he decided to join the thousands protesting the way the government had been cutting lines of communication coming in and going out of the country. This after widespread rumors that the government itself had committed voter fraud in order for President Ahmadinejad to stay in power. No matter what the problems might be that have infuriated the people of Iran enough to stand up and let their voices be heard; what hit me was the fact that still in 2010 there are governments who try to control what their people can hear, watch, and say. To have a government shutdown internet and lines of communication is disturbing to me.
While watching the video I scrolled down and read some of the comments that had been left by viewers. After watching the video and reading the comments, the idea for this painting developed. I was going to embed the actual video I had seen into this blog, but out of respect to that person and out of respect to you, the reader, I will not especially due to the feeling I got after watching it. The video was way too bloody. I did not and still do not like the feeling that I felt throughout my body, and basically my soul, after watching that video and because of that feeling I decided to create something that demonstrates my displeasure.
Technically, this painting is not finished, but will be soon.
Hi. This will be a quick post. I was checking out the GrnAppleTree website a couple of days ago and was pleased to see that the t-shirt featuring my photograph is one of the top 5 selling items on their website.
So, go for it. Check out the site & if you feel the need, buy a shirt or two. They restocked on the silver shirt which looks ill.
