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  My Purpose for Painting in the 1980’s As I had mentioned in my previous blog, I am going share a little more on the purpose of each series.  No where better to start than in the beginning.  1983.  Before I dive into 1983, a quick note that I was a Chicano gang member from elementary school till 8 th grade, so my knowledge of life was seen through this window.  Okay now in 1983 I moved from South Central LA to Maywood California, where the community had little gang activity and mostly kids influenced by hip hop and music videos.  This would also be where I began to gain an appreciation for hip hop music with the likes of LL Cool J, Run DMC, Whodini, and many more.  Break dancing was at its peak, and this was my introduction to Graffiti art, in the form of a visit to a club in the mid-Wilshire District called: RADIOTRON. If you seen the movie, well that was me…I was a B Boy, and to be a B Boy in those days meant you danced, DJed, rapped, and did some Graffiti. I am not going to
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  Painting in Series  Part 2   In 1997 I was in a situation that could have ended extremely devastating, I was being charged for a crime I did not do. I spent one year fighting the case and eventually the case was dropped.   During this year I began to have a deeper connection with my Christian faith. I had read the bible many times before but now I was reading deeper theological writings that shifted my paradigm to a more spiritual elevated state.   My drawings were different from the biblical drawings I did in 1989 while in Prison, these were abstract more symbolic. I came across an art magazine that had an article about Arshile Gorky, this artist reflected many times on his traumatic childhood and his loss of his mother.   I connected with his story and as I researched more, other artists were mentioned. Artist like Roberto Matta, Kandinsky and the NY Abstract group of the 1940’s. Upon my release from Jail, I began to explore Spiritual abstractions, I did these on large canv
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Painting In S eries Part 1   I did not make one single blog in 2020, most of us would understand why. 2020 was probably the craziest year I have ever lived and I've been around since 1966. But in reality as my art is concerned it was actually very productive.   I recently moved to the Antelope Valley in the summer of 2017, and from that summer to probably 2019 I was very occupied with the whole moving into a new location and buying a home. I had made a commitment to begin to paint in oil. So in January of 2019 I set a goal of completing 100 oil paintings.   The main reason for this was not just to understand oil or to create a work ethic. But rather to really try to understand my subject matter, or my painting philosophy. To get a little on my back story I will briefly fill you in. I work in series, I have been doing this since 1980's, this concept of series is like graduating from one level to another or like taking what I've learned and pushing it to the next level.   In
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"You are what you think", Oil on canvas 2018. The exploration of how the mind gathers information based on passed experiences. Some call it a paradigm other call it the soul. I set off my journey to attempt to unite the soul, body and spirit in a cohesive visual representation.
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Human Being

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"Chief Buffalo" Water Color on Paper 2018 John Zender 9 X11 inches. Is man higher than the beast? Is our being an act of self determining reason? i s it our thoughts and reason that raise us above the animals? Or do the atrocities we impose on others lower us to mere beast.  My Son was interested in what happened to the Native American? I followed with a " son be prepared to confront some unfortunate realities." I explained that through out history mankind has manifested a need for power, control and ownership. Sometimes these ambitions can lead to atrocities. What changes the heart of mankind, What is the distinction between the living soul, the physical body and the manifestations of the spirit. To be a complete Human Being. (A term often used by native American tribes).
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Happy New Year 2018

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HAPPY NEW EAR TO EVERYONE...BE BLESSED IN 2018
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Misunderstood

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"Misunderstood" Acrylic on canvas 2016 11X17 inches. SOLD This piece is a social commentary on how we perceive people based on external image. I grew up in East Los Angeles during my childhood and most of my community had Cholos. Back then to me they were not the violent monsters we see in movies and television.  After moving to South Central Los Angeles in the late 1970's practically all my friends were Cholos and I got to know most of them personally. Most of them had personal family issues, but some came from really good homes, they just knew that the connection they had was a bond, similar to those in a military unit. The Music videos of gangster rap of the 80's and 90 in a way gave a voice to those issues that most street kids were not allowed to say: so that's were this painting sort of begins, the bandana hides the identity of the person or youth who speaks his or her opinion. The radiant glows is the street knowledge they know but others do not want t
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