Luis Jiménez
Jose by Luis Jimenez
1986

About the Item

Jose 1986 Color lithograph 23/30 23 × 34 in 58.4 × 86.4 cm. Luis Jimenez 1940 - 2006 Luis Jiménez was born in El Paso, Texas on July 30, 1940. He is the son of an illegal immigrant who became a citizen at the age of 25. At an early age he worked in his father's neon-sign making shop. As a young person Jiménez witnessed the power of festival music and dance to build community identity, although as a Protestant he was not allowed to dance.After beginning his college education at Texas Western College in El Paso, Jiménez studied architecture at the University of Texas in El Paso and later studied art at the University of Texas in Austin. When he switched his major to fine arts, his father "basically disowned me. He [Jiménez' father] wouldn't speak to me for a couple of years. In 1964 Jiménez studied art in Mexico City, and in 1966 moved to New York City. Jiménez lived in New York City during a time of street riots and anti Vietnam War protests. While living in New York, he worked for the NYC Youth board, worked as a sculptor's apprentice, and succeeded in having his artwork exhibited for the first time. "At his first show, Jiménez received a gold watch from his father. Engraved inside were the conciliatory words, 'To my son the artist.'" The print illustrates the ending of a traditional legend attributed to Aztec culture. Luis Jiménez used the print, as well as numerous drawings, as he worked out his composition for a large fiber glass sculpture also called Southwestern Pieta. Clearly recognizable subject matter and traditional drawing techniques (anatomical detail and cross hatching, for example) are often characteristics of artworks by Chicano artists. Many Chicano artists also choose ancient Mesoamerican subject matter. Luis Jiménez work draws from several traditions, from the sign-making practices of his father; from the street culture of the Southwest; from the WPA mural tradition of the Depression; as well as from the graphic traditions of Mexican artists in the first half of the twentieth century. Jiménez went to Mexico City in 1964 to work with Francisco Zúñiga. While there he also saw paintings that he admired by José Clemente Orozco. "Early on, [Jiménez] realized that the glimmering lowriders cruising the streets and highways of the Southwest had already synthesized painting and sculpture. They were the ultimate accommodation of solidity and translucency, and as a young Protestant, growing up in a Catholic world with an artist's education, Jiménez recognized the traditions of Baroque art in the design and execution of these magical automobiles -- in the way the smooth folds of steel and the hundreds of coats of transparent lacquer caught the light and held it as they slipped through the dry streets like sleeves of liquid color." Dave Hickey, (1997) "Introduction" in Howl: The Artwork of Luis Jiménez by Camille Flores-Turney, New Mexico Magazine, p. 8. The theme of narrative unites Luis Jiménez' work with many artists of different cultures. Among these artists are Chicana/o artists like, Carmen Lomas Garza, Luis Guerra, and Yolanda López; Mexican artists like Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Guadalupe Posada, and Alfredo Zalce; American regionalists, such as Thomas Hart , and Grant Wood; and European artists such as Francisco Goya, Honoré Daumier, and William Hogarth. The idea of seeking cultural identity in legends of the past is a theme that bridges cultures. Examples include the Renaissance revision of classical Greek and Roman art and culture, early U.S. neo-classical architecture, and the Chinese painting tradition of looking to great masters of the past. The pietà theme, unites Luis Jiménez lithograph with the long tradition of Christian pietas depicting the Virgin Mary holding her dead son, Christ (such as Michelangelo's Vatican pietà). © 2001 Hispanic Research Center, Arizona State University. Excerpts from Camille Flores-Turney. (1997). Howl: The Artwork of Luis Jiménez

Creator:
Luis Jiménez (1940-2007, American)
Creation Year:
1986
Dimensions:
Height: 23 in (58.42 cm)Width: 34 in (86.36 cm)
Medium:
Lithograph
Movement & Style:
Contemporary
Period:
1980-1989
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Phoenix, AZ
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU2623215171332

Shop All Luis Jiménez

Luis Jiménez

Born in El Paso, Texas, he worked at his father's neon sign studio as a child, which prepared him to make public art. He studied art and architecture at the University of Texas in Austin and El Paso, earning a bachelor's degree in 1964. He moved to New York City in 1966 after completing his post-graduate work at Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, D.F. He became an accomplished artist and taught art at the University of Arizona and later the University of Houston. As a sculptor, Jiménez was known for his large polychromed fiberglass sculptures, often of Southwestern and Hispanic themes. His works were often controversial. They are eminently recognizable due to their themes, his original sculptural style, and the colorful, undulating surfaces the artist employed. The finish of his sculptures had more in common with commercial products than with conventional fine art sculptures. Man on Fire (1969) at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2023 Jiménez was influenced by the murals of José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera. He was very much a contemporary artist whose roots were in pop art, as much as they were in both the modernism of the Mexican muralists and the regionalism of Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood. Heroic sculptures were Jiménez's forte, championing the common man in his work. By working in his father's shop on neon signs and sculptures, he was brought in contact with popular culture, which also included lowrider car culture. The brightly painted fiberglass bodywork, often accented with glitter, served as a particularly relevant artistic influence.[5] While he is best known as a sculptor, Jiménez also made remarkable color lithographs and color drawings in pencil, pastel, and oil stick. He made preparatory drawings for his sculptures, some of which were very large. Most of his sculptures were made of fiberglass, which were cast in a mold, after which they were painted with multiple layers of paint and coated with epoxy. One art expert has noted, "There was no surface on any Luis Jiménez sculpture that was ever any less than six different colors, each airbrushed separately adding a slightly different tone." Jiménez would also often use flake, that glittery quality often seen on lowrider cars, in his paint. In 1993, Jiménez was a recipient of the New Mexico Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts. In 1998 he received a Distinguished Alumni award from the University of Texas in recognition of his artwork.

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2 Lazy 2 P

Located in Phoenix, AZ

2 Lazy 2P, ca. 1939 Lon Megargee Serigraph 20 x 24 inches Signed in screen Original serigraph print by Lon Megargee 1883 - 1960 Featured in "Hot Irons" by Oren Arnold and John Hale, 1940 Lon Megargee created this serigraph from his commission with Oren Arnold and John Hale to do their dust jacket for the book, " Hot Irons", 1940. Arnold and Hale wanted to establish a reference work, an "authority", with a entertaining history about the evolution of the brand. Megargee created a painting of a steer that was branded with the script, 2 Lazy 2 P. Surrounding the steer is a random display of famous brands of ranches in the Southwest. It was well received and must have prompted Megargee to create the likeness as a print. The brand is described in chapter thirteen, page 207-208 and says, " Ed Stram, who was Arizona state veterinarian for sixteen years, fire-branded his cattle with this peculiar crest. It isn't peculiar unless you have an equally peculiar sense of humor. At a glance it appears to be just another typically unimaginative brand, but it has been used to make many a thousand girls blush, and a few thousand bashful young men as well". COLLIER GALLERY, FINE ART ESTATE OF LON MEGARGEE Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lon Megargee, at age 13, ran away from his upper class home and went West in 1896 led by his zest for the wild and adventuresome life. There he established a reputation as a cowboy painter and illustrator with work most associated with Arizona Brewing Company ads featuring humorous aspects of cowboy life. In his youth, he worked as a free-lance cowboy, exhibition roper, poker dealer, and bronco buster in Arizona, and then went east again to study art in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and to New York at the Art Students League and Pratt Institute. He returned to Arizona, living in Cave Creek, Salt River Canyon, Phoenix and the last years of his life near Sedona. His Phoenix home later became a popular hotel and dining place called the Hermosa Inn. Megargee was a ranch owner and also did oil canvases of the places he loved and the cowboy life he admired. By 1910, he was among the earliest resident artists, and was probably the best known artist in Arizona. His name was first associated with a landscape series of 15 large murals for the Capitol Building, newly constructed just after Arizona became a state in 1912. Another one of his paintings, Elemental, was the first painting by an artist living in Arizona to be acquired for the Municipal Collection of Phoenix. These works were chosen from entries in the State Fair, where he continued to win prizes for figure and landscape painting. From 1911 to 1953, he did numerous commission works for the Santa Fe Railroad, including a work titledNavajos Watching a Santa Fe Train. Between 1915 and 1930, he also painted in the Los Angeles area of California and had entries in the California State Fair. He died in Cottonwood, Arizona. After his death, theSaturday Evening Post had a double-page reproduction of his painting Cowboy's Dream. Creator of the iconic logo for the Stetson Hat Company, " Last Drop From his Stetson", still in use today. Fine Art Estate of Lon Megargee We offer signed in print and original signature block prints. Custom, hand carved, signature frames, with archival standards and a speciality in hand dyed mats and french matting are provided for a beautiful and timeless presentation. Megargee explored different mediums; printmaking captivated him in particular. The contrast of the black and white block print method captured perfectly his interpretation of a bold American West. The first print was produced around 1921 and culminated with the creation of “The Cowboy Builds a Loop” in 1933 with 28 images and poetry by his friend, Roy George. Megargee continued producing prints throughout the 1940s and early 50s. At age 13, Lon Megargee came to Phoenix in 1896 following the death of his father in Philadelphia. For several years he resided with relatives while working at an uncle’s dairy farm and at odd jobs. He returned to Philadelphia in 1898 – 1899 in order to attend drawing classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Back in Phoenix in 1899, he decided at the age of 16 to try to make his living as a cowboy. Lon moved to the cow country of Wickenburg where he was hired by Tex Singleton’s Bull Ranch. He later joined the Three Bar Ranch . . . and, after a few years, was offered a job by Billy Cook...

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Rodeo Queen by Luis Jimenez

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Rodeo Queen, 1981 Edition 36/50 Signed lower left, Inscribed: for the "Rose" 82. Provenance: Print was a gift to Rozanne Charington, companion and model for "Rodeo Queen", "Rose Tattoo" and "Jimenez at Adeliza's Candy Store". Lithograph on paper 42 ½ × 29 in. (107.3 × 73.7 cm) Luis Alfonso Jimenez Born, 1940, El Paso, Texas, died 2006, Hondo, New Mexico. Statement: Luis Jimenez, in his work, celebrates the vitality of life. . . . Jimenez es un hijo de la frontera; he knows its people and the landscape. It is the transformation of these people into art that is his most important contribution to the art of this vast region which stretches between Mexico and the United States. His subject matter utilizes the popular images of the cultura del norte, and a large part of it is depicted and transformed in the rough and tumble world of la frontera. He is also a son of el norte, and so he uses its materials and explores its emerging, popular myths. The tension and attraction of Jimnez’s work is that he always creates within the space of his two worlds, the Mexicano and the Americano. He constantly shows us the irony of the two forces which repel, while showing us glimpses of the synthesis he seeks. What a gift it has been to us for this talented artist to reflect on the soul of our region. He gives meaning to our existence and history. Rudolfo Anaya (passage chosen by the artist), A View from La Frontera, Man on Fire: Luis Jimenez, pp. 1, 3, 6Biography: Luis Jimenez was born in Texas to parents who had emigrated from Mexico to the United States; he would later dedicate his 1989 sculpture Border Crossing to his father, who had entered the country illegally. The elder Jimenez was a neon sign designer in El Paso, and Luis worked with him as a youth. His experience working in the neon shop and his fascination with U.S. car culture would both become major influences on his art career. Jimenez studied architecture at the University of Texas, Austin (UTA), and also took art courses in which he first created sculptures with wood, steel, and fiberglass, choosing the latter because of its association with U.S. popular culture. He subsequently became one of the artists who made fiberglass an acceptable medium in the 1960s. In 1964 Jimenez received his B.S. in art from UTA, and he continued his studies at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City. In 1966 he moved to New York City and worked as an assistant to sculptor Seymour Lipton. Jimenez began to exhibit his art while in New York and in 1972 moved to New Mexico to focus on creating public sculptures, even as he maintained his diverse output of drawings, prints, and lithographs. Drawing on his early experiences, Jimenez creates works that come from a border perspective, one that draws upon the hybridity bred by culture clashes. Often socially and politically informed, his works speak not only in regional terms, those germane to the southwestern United States, but to broader, more global issues as well. They exhibit a profoundly Chicano aesthetic and sensibility, one that is informed by Mexican and Mexican American traditions, North American popular culture, Chicano cultural icons, and images and themes unique to the Southwest. Death, sexuality, and the struggle of the common people are frequent themes. Inspired by authors who write in an autobiographical style, Jimenez creates works that function as personal narrative yet are also able to make statements about culture in more global terms. His use of bold colors and lines, a legacy from his fathers work as a neon sign maker, lends a dynamic sensuality to his work, one that is particularly evident in his monumental fiberglass and acrylic urethane sculptural works Many of Jimenez's works correspond to scholar Toms Ybarra-Fraustos definition of the Chicano aesthetic of rasquachismo, a lowbrow sensibility that appeals to the working class in that it applies to objects that subvert expressions of the mainstream or dominant culture. Creating art that speaks to the people, Jimenez is able to transform regional and culturally specific myths and symbols into globally recognized and relevant icons. Exhibitions: In addition to his personal work, Jimenez has been commissioned for numerous public art projects. In 1999 his sculpture Southwest Piet was designated a National Treasure by First Lady Hillary Clinton. The many exhibitions featuring his work have included Human Concern/Personal Torment (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1969). The First International Motorcycle Art Show (Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ, 1973). Three Texas Artists (Centre Cultural Americaine, USIS, Paris, 1977), Recent Trends in Collecting (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1982). Committed to Print (Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1989) Printmaking in Texas: The 1980s (Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX. Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, 1990. The Whitney Biennial (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1991) Man On Fire: Luis Jimnez (Albuquerque Museum of Art, NM, 1994-95). 47th Annual Purchase Exhibition (American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, 1995). Traveling solo exhibition, Working Class Heroes: Images from the Popular Culture (1997-2000). Jiménez Collier Gallery has been in continuous operation for over 40 years. Originally located just off Main Street in downtown Scottsdale, Arizona, we have moved to Phoenix to accommodate and showcase our large inventory including: • Original works by Maynard Dixon, Lon Megargee, Ed Mell, Fritz Scholder, Bill Schenck, Bill Lesch, Luis Jimenez, Greg Singley, Dan Budnik, and other 20th century Western, WPA and Contemporary Southwestern artists. • The Fine Art Estate of Lon Megargee • Vintage rodeo...

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Located in Soquel, CA

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