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Welcome to Aztlán Drawing

Mark Vallen

United States

Drawing, Pencil on Paper

Size: 23 W x 26 H x 0.3 D in

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650 Views
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About The Artwork

"Welcome to Aztlán" is a social realist drawing of a worker on the streets of Los Angeles. The approach is unromanticized but poignant. Such men are seen in many U.S. cities, but my subject is a very common sight in the City of Angels. My portrait drawing was first exhibited in September 2015 at the "Works on Paper: Annual National Juried Exhibition" presented by the Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale, California. The work was presented with a "Best of Show" award by the Brand. "Welcome to Aztlán" poses the question of identity; is the man depicted an Angelino by birth or is he a Mexican immigrant? Some might think he represents the city's notorious Chicano gang culture, or the army of Mexican gardeners who tend the green spaces in the city. He might even be a Mexican American protester for a social cause. The palm fronds in the background allude to the Catholic traditions that so many Latinos in L.A. embrace. So who is this man?" Aztlán was the mythical homeland of the Aztecs, who migrated southward until they reached the valley of Mexico. Some say Aztlán was what we now call the southwest of the United States. The strongest evidence of this is the Uto-Aztecan language spoken by indigenous people in the American southwest. Linguists generally believe that Uto-Aztecan speakers migrated to Mesoamerica thousands of years ago, where the language took root. Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, is part of the Uto-Aztecan language family. In Nahuatl "Aztlán" means "The place of the white heron." That is something I always think of when I see a white heron flying over one of L.A.'s waterways. I can't say how many times I have seen brown persons waiting at a bus stop, pushing a baby buggy, or using a leaf blower, and thought they looked like urban Aztecs. Welcome to Aztlán.

Details & Dimensions

Drawing:Pencil on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:23 W x 26 H x 0.3 D in

Shipping & Returns

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.

I was born in Los Angeles, California in 1953, where I continue to live and work as professional artist. A painter and printmaker who creates images based on social observation and empathy for common people, I am a proponent of a new Social Realism for the 21st century. I favor craft, skill, beauty, draftsmanship, and profound narrative in art, and strive to create works that convey humanist concerns and a sense of the spiritual. I have been deeply influenced by the likes of Goya, the Mexican Muralists, the German Expressionists, the American Social Realist School of the 1930s and 1940s, and the Chicano Arts movement of the late 1960s. My commitment to figurative realism and universal themes of human solidarity and compassion are the perfect counterbalance to these chaotic times. In 2004 I founded the popular web log "Art for a Change," where I write about the intersection of art and politics; you can view my blog here: www.art-for-a-change.com/blog

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