GRAFFITI SINCE 1969
55 Years of Breaking Boundaries
55-year career span of L.A. Pioneer
+ Godfather of West Coast Style Graffiti.
Chaz Bojórquez
Since 1969
Chaz Bojórquez making the streets of LA his first canvas, broke boundaries bringing graffiti into galleries & starting a global art movement .
"If graffiti had a soul, what would it talk about?"
- Chaz Bojórquez
SOMOS LA LUZ, 1992
56” x 88” x 3” Acrylic paint, silver leaf, silver powder on canvas
Smithsonian American Art Museum Permanent Collection
SOMOS LA LUZ, is a painting about the uprising of graffiti. Executed in the background in dark letters are the names of young writers (Zender, Nuke, Duke, Skill, Krenz) who were instrumental in making changes towards the legitimacy of graffiti.
A dark underground subculture that looks toward a shining light, a future of acceptance. The illustrious letters in the forefront are the graffiti names of Slick and Hex, symbolizing their competitive 1992 battle, a milestone in L.A. graffiti history documented by the Los Angeles Times. Incised in the far lower left corner are the Roman numerals XLIII, for Avenue 43, identifies a sense of place, my home in Los Angeles.
And What Have I Become, 1994
41” x 60” x 3” Acrylic paint on canvas
Private Collection of Mr. Tommy Marron
And what Have I Become is from the text of a poem written in a letter to me from prison by Playboy Eddie. He was sentenced to five years for car jacking in 1993.
Who was I…. how does it end?
Fresh out of juvenile hall, gun in your hand,
ready for anything. What’s up Ese?
Pick the life of violence, greed is your downfall,
you’re on the road to death.
From juvenile hall, to the county,
and finally the state penn.
For every brick he has on his face,
is for every year he has been in solitary confinement.
And you ask yourself…. and what have I become?