O'Cadiz Moctezuma's iconic Library Mural at Cypress College, photographed by Julius Schulman, 1970. © J. Paul Getty Trust.
Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)
J. Sergio O’Cadiz Moctezuma: El Artist
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 – Thursday, NOVEMBER 14, 2019
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 19, 5-9pm
Sergio O’Cadiz Moctezuma’s public artworks, Chicana/o and community-based murals, and studio-based practice made significant, sometimes controversial, contributions to the cultural life of Orange County for over fifty-years. While many of his artworks have been destroyed – most recently in July 2019, at Raitt St. in Santa Ana – Cypress College has proudly conserved O’Cadiz Moctezuma’s stunning concrete relief, Library Mural (left).
Curated by Janet Owen Driggs and presented as part of the SUR:Biennial, this exhibition explores El Artist’s innovative processes for sculpting and coloring poured concrete, and presents paintings, drawings, and public artworks that demonstrate his boundary-crossing creativity. Speaking to the ways in which dominant culture can absorb and erase alternative values and aesthetics, O’Cadiz Moctezuma’s work continues to raise such compelling questions as: Who determines history? Who gets to have a voice in the public arena? What and who is an American?
The exhibition is complemented by a public program that includes talks by the author of the exhibition essay, Gustavo Arelleno – the man behind both !Ask a Mexican! and the Murals Rebeldes L.A. Chicana/Chicano Murals Under Siege foreword and afterword; and Gregorio Luke, former Director of the Museum of Latin American, who “gives cultural lectures with the fervor and reverence of a missionary hungry for converts” (L.A. Times).
READ EXHIBITION CURATOR’S ESSAY HERE
READ Gustavo Arellano’s Exhibition Essay HERE
READ richard chang’s Voice of O.C. Article about the Exhibition HERE
VISIT A TIMELINE OF THE ARTISTS’S LIFE AND CAREER
Related Events
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 19, 5-9pm
Concrete Casting Workshop, w. Ed Giardina: Tuesday, October 15, 12:30-1:30pm.
(Please note that the Workshop date has changed from Monday, September 23)
Gustavo Arellano – Sergio O’Cadiz, El Artist: Thursday October 3, 1-3pm
Gregorio Luke – Siqueiros: A Revolutionary in Art and Life: October 15, 3-5pm