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FROM LEFT: A mural by street artist Humor stands next to a mural by Fernando Corona in the center of the Pasaje del Arte. (ALEJANDRO DAVILA PHOTO / May 19, 2012) |
EDITOR’S NOTE: Some of the names of artists quoted in this story have been changed to protect their identities.
MEXICALI — Being asked about street art and muralism in the Imperial Valley seems to slightly bother Jesus Antonio Baker, a local painter and graffiti artist.
“There’s no audience there,” the former Calexico resident said in Spanish. “That’s why I came over here.”
And going south of the border was arguably a good career decision. Baker can be found presenting his paintings in galleries and occasionally works along other artists in public art projects.
One of the latest public art projects where Baker worked is “El Pasaje del Arte,” or “The Passage of Art.”
This passage can be described as a tightly built group of buildings in the heart of Mexicali’s civic center, where some 16 young muralists were allowed to paint without fear of reprisal.
Patricia De La Mora and her 1-year-old organization, Festival de Arte Mexicali, are responsible for galvanizing much of the resources used in the project.
De La Mora, who’s been involved in the promotion of art for many years, also came out with the project’s idea.
She was visiting a public notary in the area when she saw the space, De La Mora said.
Everything was dirty, there were no lights and transients lived in the area. “It was scary to walk by,” she said.
Soon after, Festival de Arte Mexicali started working in rehabilitating this portion of the civic center.
It’s a “titanic chore,” she said. City permits and getting materials for artists was at times difficult. Still, she managed to get help from Mexicali’s public works department and the rest was done through private contributions.
Artists were then called and a curator picked the participants who ultimately painted the murals.
“El Pasaje del Arte” was inaugurated in February. Since then, a group of artists sets up booths Saturday evenings to sell and promote their art.
And yet, “there’s more to be done,” De La Mora said. The next step is to expand and rehabilitate a similar area across the street.
Seventeen murals are yet to be finished, she said. She also wants to plant more trees and improve the lighting; but most importantly, De La Mora said, “to establish this place for artists to use in the same form that artist gardens are used in other places around the world.”
The minds behind the cans
“The Passage of Art is a good idea that needs a lot of polishing,” graffiti artist Dsekworld said without going into further detail.
He contributed to this project by painting a green monster dressed in urban attire on the back of a four-story building.
Dsek, a photographer and graphic designer in his late 20s, also said that urban art or street art is “a dumb term” for graffiti.
Street art or urban art just makes graffiti a marketable idea, he said. And the idea and practice is growing, Dsek said.
“The interesting thing about this (street art) is that it’s become the biggest pictoric (art) movement on earth,” said Eme, another artist who worked on this project.
It involves a lot of people who joyfully go out to the streets and project their ideas, he said. “I consider myself one of them.”
As far as purpose, Eme believes that good street art (legal or illegal) has a message and tries to generate questions and produce ideas in the public.
And if people confronted him about street art being vandalism, Eme said he would agree.
Dsekworld feels the same. Street art, graffiti and vandalism go hand in hand, he said.
Having the mission to paint wherever you want creates adrenaline and makes the practice fun, he said.
Being subversive is an important part of art, said Mauricio Villa, or Ielow, who has worked on one of the biggest walls in the Pasaje del Arte.
In his mural, like in many of the works he does, Ielow tried to be critical, he said.
Politics and social criticism in muralism or street art may be perceived as overdone discourse, Ielow said.
And although social discourse is not always done, he suggests it’s always important to portray a critical discourse graphically.
“At the end, all art tells the story of something and discusses something,” he said.
In his case, Villa tries to paint images that hold a message but that don’t need a text next to it.
“There’s already plenty that goes unsaid, while plenty is said and yet nothing happens,” he concluded.
In the case of Eme, the need to have and produce vandalistic street art has become somewhat understandable.
Especially when contemplating how society and the world behave, he said.
Street art is a form of protest and “I become part of it, every once in a while,” Eme said.
The voice of experience
For experienced muralist Carlos Coronado Ortega, known in the Valley for the Imperial County administration building murals, street art represents a growing horizon for visual arts.
Moreover, those who practice it are more capable of making ends meet compared to years past, he said.
Coronado, 67, theorizes that social acceptance, and the increasing support of the Mexican government is allowing street art to flourish.
At the same time, it’s unclear to him why Imperial Valley’s street art and muralist movement is weak compared to Mexicali’s.
“In Imperial Valley there was always less (muralism) and the movement was more Chicano,” Coronado said.
In the Valley, this movement stagnated in the late ’70s, and those involved disappeared over time, he said. And even then, “I never saw much interest,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Mexicali, where the opposite is occurring, the city is getting a visual benefit, Coronado said.
Part of this benefit is that people become interested in all forms of art, he said. In addition, people may learn that publicity for soft drinks or beer is the real visual pollution.
Because that publicity, Coronado said, “is another form of violence.”
Staff Writer Alejandro Davila can be reached at 760-337-3445 or adavila@ivpressonline.com
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