|
| |
New Site Showcases Arte of Adan Hernandez
SAN ANTONIO, TX (June 27, 2005) – Adan Hernandez, creator of over 30 original artworks for the character of Cruzito (Jesse Borrego) in the barrio-cult-classic Blood In... Blood Out has launched a new web site, LosQuemados.com. While the movie wrapped over a decade ago, Hernandez’s star has continued to rise, and now Borrego and Hernandez have teamed up once again to bring arte to the barrios with the debut of the new site. They believe that arte sets the imagination soaring, inspiring the creative mind to excel.
The web site offers a worldwide venue to showcase Hernandez’s Post-Chicano vision, and is an extension of a major cultural movement within the United States. While Hernandez was one of the most highly respected artists on the Chicano Art scene of the 80’s and 90’s, his current work represents an interpretation of the Mexican American experience beyond the Chicano movement. Fusing Neo-Expressionism with Chicano Noir, the aesthetics in his imagery evoke emotions of alienation; uncertainty and loss -- a desperation that dominates the Chicano experience, where most live in the shadows of the American Dream. At the same time, many of the images evoke the genuine life-affirming spirit of Chicano culture. “My art appeals to individuals who have had to face adversity in their lives,” says Hernandez. “It reinforces my belief that in a privileged and pampered society, the oppressed and down trodden are truly capable of great art.”
Hernandez believes that “creativity is life affirming.” His experiences vary from the brutal existence of the migrant farm worker to the chi-chi Hollywood social world. “The high drama in my art reflects the day to day experience of life in the varrio. The struggle with adversity, which we love to celebrate in theatre and film, is a common occurrence here. In the varrio, hardworking gente exert great effort to keep their family, homes and freedom on a daily basis, all the while dealing with the violent, destructive nature of hopelessness, a constant companion.”
Hernandez’s paintings are in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as the private collections of Cheech Marin, Taylor Hackford, Helen Mirren, and Sean Ferrer, among others. Currently, his work is in the traveling exhibit, Chicano Visions: Painters on the Verge, which opened June 18 in Chicago. The exhibit originally opened in San Antonio, Texas, in 2001 and is touring worldwide, with stops all over America, Mexico, Japan and in Europe. Hernandez is “the master and probable inventor of 'Chicano Noir,'” says Cheech Marin, in Chicano Visions , the catalog that accompanies the exhibit.
LosQuemados.com endeavors to further extend the reach of Hernandez’s vision. The site presents complete information and interviews with the artist, an online gallery of work, and a shop that offers affordable high quality prints and other merchandise. “Cruzito’s Gallery” is featured on the site, and provides a virtual art show of the work shown in the movie “Blood In… Blood Out” (1993).
About Adan Hernandez
Born in Childress, TX in 1951, Hernandez’s life typifies the South Texas Chicano experience. As migrant farm workers, his family of 10 relocated to San Antonio in search of a better life when Adan was nine years old. Although Hernandez attended high school and received a scholarship to study art at San Antonio College, he grew to believe it was impossible for him to remain true to himself and have a prosperous career as an artist. Since he found no successful Chicano artists with whom he could identify, he believed that being an artist was only for the privileged that had the art world at their feet. It would be another ten years before Adan would finally quit doing slave work and in a short time become a successful Chicano artist. His accomplishments have inspired many others like him to follow in his footsteps. Determination and talent eventually led him to recognition as one of the Chicano artistic movement’s seminal artists.
|
|
|
|
