Roberto Esteban Chavez Explained

Roberto Chavez
Birth Date:	3 August 1932
Birth Place:	Los Angeles, California
Nationality:	American
Education:	Master of Arts
Alma Mater:	University of California, Los Angeles
Notable Works:	El Tamalito Del Hoyo, 1959; Jealousy or Guilt (The Tale of Genji), 1980
Spouse:	Janet Kassner
Website:	https://www.robertochavez.art/

Roberto Chavez (born Roberto Esteban Chavez; August 3, 1932) is an American artist,^[1] known for his personally symbolic portraits, public murals and "funny-grotesque" paintings ^[2] that reflect the multicultural landscape of Los Angeles. He was recently included in the Getty Center's and the Smithsonian’s Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art exhibits.

Background

Chavez was born in Los Angeles, California to Mexican immigrants who left the chaos and dangers of post-Revolution Mexico. Chavez and his seven siblings were raised in the Maravilla neighborhood in East Los Angeles, which at the time was inhabited by a mixture of working class families, mostly Latino, but also Jewish, Mexican, Armenian, Italian, Russian and Japanese emigres.^[3]

Education

Chavez earned his Master of Fine Arts in 1961 at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he met and worked alongside Charles Garabedian, Gordon Rice, Eduardo Carrillo and Maxwell Hendler. In the early 1960s, Chavez became part of the "emerging gallery scene along La Cienega Boulevard"^[4] at the Ceeje Gallery, which in contrast to the Ferus and Landau Galleries that often exhibited New York artists, highlighted local, ethnic and women artists.^[5]

Murals

In the mid-1970s, Chavez began painting public murals^{[6] [7]} throughout the city of Los Angeles, especially East L.A. where the La Raza political movement was gaining ground.^[8] His 1972 anti-war mural Porque Se Pelean? Que No Son Carnales became part of artist Sandra de la Loza's Mural Remix.^[9] show at LACMAMural Remixed.

In 1974, Chavez painted The Path to Knowledge and the False University, a 200-foot mural on the East Los Angeles Community College campus,^[10] where he worked as an arts educator and chair of the Chicano Studies department. Although the mural was destroyed by the college, the mural, its impact and the political questions surrounding the destruction were detailed in two museum exhibits: "Roberto Chavez and The False University: A Retrospective" at the Vincent Price Museum^[11] and "Murales Rebeldes: L.A. Chicana/o Murals under Siege"^[12] Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA Beyond Borders in 2017.

Recent exhibitions

• ^[13] ArtCenter School of Design, Pasadena, California. October 2023 - March 2024.
• Zapata Después de Zapata Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Mexico November 2019 - February 2020.^[14]
• ^[15]
  • MURALES REBELDES!: Contested Chicana/o Public Art, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Los Angeles, September 2017 - March 2018; San Francisco, California Historical Society, April - September 2018; Sacramento, California Museum, July - December 2019.^{[16] [17]}
  • A Universal History of Infamy, August 2017 - February 2018,^[18] LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• Our American: The Latino Presence in American Art,^[19] Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC, October 2013 - March 2014, National Tour through 2017^[20]
• ^[21] exhibits:
  • Art Along the Hyphen: The Mexican-American Generation ^[22] Autry National Center, Los Angeles October 2011 - January 2012
  • L.A. Raw: Abject Expressionism in Los Angeles, 1945-1980, From Rico Lebrun to Paul McCarthy, Pasadena Museum of California Art 2012 ^[23] January - May 2012
• Roberto Chavez and The False University: A Retrospective, Vincent Price Art Museum, September - December 2014^{[24] [25]}

Further reading

• Book: Roberto Esteban Chavez. Record of Creative Work in the Field of Painting. 1961.
• Book: Carmen Ramos. Tomas Ybarra-Frausto. Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art. 2014. GILES. 978-1-9078-0444-1.
• Book: Eva Sperling Cockcroft. Holly Barnet-Sánchez. Signs from the Heart: California Chicano Murals. 1993. UNM Press. 978-0-8263-1448-2. 45–46.
• Book: Material prepared for the CALIFAS Seminar at the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery, Porter College, UCSC on April 16, 17, 18, 1982. 1982. Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery.
• Book: Jesús Salvador Treviño. Eyewitness: A Filmmaker's Memoir of the Chicano Movement. registration. 1 January 2001. Arte Publico Press. 978-1-61192-143-4. 124, 226.
• Book: Sybil Venegas. William Moreno. Roberto Chavez and the False University: A Retrospective. 10 September 2014. Vincent Price Art Museum. 978-0-692-25542-1.
• Book: Roberto Chavez. Robert Ross. Roberto Chavez: Paintings and Drawings. 2012. hit & run press. 978-0-936-15607-1.

External links

• El Tamalito del Hoyo, by Roberto Chavez, 1959, oil on masonite at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
• "Self-Portrait with Speedy Gonzales", by Roberto Chavez, 1963, oil on canvas.
• "Ladies Art Class, Sawtelle", by Roberto Chavez, 1967, oil on canvas.
• "Jueves", by Roberto Chavez, 1992, Print Poster. Center for the Study of Political Graphics.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Smithsonian American Art Museum. Smithsonian American Art Museum. 5 September 2014.
2. News: Miranda. Carolina A.. Object Lesson: Roberto Chavez's dusty shelf of famous men. 18 May 2015. Los Angeles Times. December 5, 2014.
3. Web site: Clark. Leilani. A Different World. Bohemian.com. 14 November 2012. Metro Newspapers. 6 September 2014.
4. Noriega. Chon. The City of Dreams....and Shoes. Tate Etc.. Autumn 2011. 23. 6 September 2014.
5. Noriega. Chon. The City of Dreams...and Shoes. Tate Etc. Autumn 2011. 23. 6 September 2014.
6. News: Ostroff. Roberta. Up Against a Wall. Los Angeles Times. 1971-01-31. Pg U22.
7. Web site: Chavez. Roberto. La Fiesta. The Mural Conservancy. The Mural Conservancy. 6 September 2014.
8. Book: Barnett. Alan W.. Community murals : The People's Art. 1984. Alliance Press.
9. Web site: de la Loza. Sandra. Mural Remix. LACMA. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 6 September 2014.
10. Book: Venegas. Sybil. Roberto Chavez and the False University. 2014. Vincent Price Art Museum. 978-0-692-25542-1. 44.
11. Web site: Venegas . Sybil . Roberto Chavez and The False University: A Retrospective . Vincent Price Art Museum . 21 July 2019.
12. Web site: Exhibit: Murales Rebeldes . Murales Rebeldes . Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA . 21 July 2019.
13. Web site: Advance of the Rear Guard: Ceeje Gallery in the 1960s . Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery . ArtCenter School of Design . 16 September 2023 . A historical look at one of the most diverse galleries in 1960s Los Angeles..
14. Web site: Zapata Despues de Zapata . Museo del Palacio de Belles Artes . INBAL . 22 November 2019.
15. Web site: Pacific Standard Time. The Getty. J. Paul Getty Trust. 6 September 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150310213026/http://past.pacificstandardtime.org/. 10 March 2015.
16. Web site: Pacific Standard Time at the Getty.
17. Web site: Murales Rebeldes - California Museum - Home of the official California Hall of Fame . California Museum . 22 November 2019.
18. Web site: Universal History of Infamy Exhibit . LACMA.org . Los Angeles County Museum of Art . 17 August 2019.
19. Web site: Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art | Smithsonian American Art Museum.
20. Web site: Our America. Smithsonian American Art Museum. 5 September 2014.
21. Web site: Pacific Standard Time. The Getty. J. Paul Getty Trust. 6 September 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150310213026/http://past.pacificstandardtime.org/. 10 March 2015.
22. Web site: Art Along the Hyphen. The Autry. Autry National Center. 6 September 2014.
23. Web site: PMCA.org. Pasadena Museum of California Art. 6 September 2014.
24. Web site: Vincent Price Museum. Vincent Price Museum online. 6 September 2014.
25. Web site: Miranda. Carolina A.. Datebook. Los Angeles Times. 12 September 2014. 12 September 2014.