My friend Erin has a very prestigious leaf on her family tree. Her grandfather is Domingo Ulloa, a master painter considered to be the father of Chicano Art. His paintings are included in an extraordinarily exciting cultural project taking place across Southern California, Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA. 1945-1980.
Domingo Ulloa, Short Handled Hoe, 1975, private collection
With over 60 participating cultural institutions, Pacific Standard Time is the largest arts project ever organized in Southern California. Showcasing a wide range of disciplines, including painting, ceramics, architecture, performance art, photography and conceptual art, the project celebrates the birth of the distinctive and globally influential LA art scene. If you live in Southern California, attend an event or exhibition or two. The project runs through April 2012.
Domingo Ulloa, Braceros, 1960, Private Collection
Back to Erin’s grandfather. Domingo Ulloa (1919-1997) studied art at the Acadamia de San Carlos in Mexico City and the Jepson Art Institute in Los Angeles. His paintings captured the struggle and inhumanity experienced by the everyday field worker, and he assisted in forming the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) after befriending Cesar Chavez. In 1993 the State of California created a resolution formally declaring him “The Father of Chicano Art.”
As part of the Pacific Standard Time cultural project, his paintings are included in Art Along the Hyphen: The Mexican-American Generation at the Autrey National Center in Los Angeles.
And a very dear endnote to this post. A portrait of my friend Erin Hay, at the age of 2 or 3, by her grandfather, Domingo Ulloa. How special is that?!
Domingo Ulloa, Sweet Erin, c. 1988, private collection
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