CHICANO ART MOVEMENT visits: Raul Baltazar 2024
(Announcement sandwich board of “Welcome to the Bunny House” -Raul Baltazar)
CAM:
The street team crew headed over to Chapman University’s Guggenheim Gallery to catch the last days of Raul Baltazar's “Welcome to the Bunny House.” This collection of paintings by Los Angeles-based artists were created between 2020 and 2024.
(Foreground: “La Bota (The Boot)” - mixed media, 2024; right wall: “Glass House” - acrylic on canvas, 2023; left wall: “Huitzilopochtli (Sun God at war with stars and moon to protect his mother Coatlicue) - acrylic on canvas, 2020)
The exhibition title is in relation to Baltazar’s former abode located in Echo Park which was “a sanctuary where art, spirit and levity converged, inviting participants to contemplate the transformative potential inherent in embracing indigenous roots and finding solace through creative expression” that influenced “Baltazar’s distinctive painting style and affirming his paintings as extension of his social practice.”
(“El Nagual (Tonal Animal Within)” - acrylic on canvas, 2021)
After crossing the entrance, Baltazar’s art captured Anita’s attention and enveloped her in the abstract expressionism style. Each work was created with details and filled with movement.
(“F/E (Forever)” - acrylic on canvas, 2024)
And Baltazar placed various elements of the leporidae animal family in specific locations within the Guggenheim Gallery walls.
(“Portrait of a Young Artist with T7” - mixed medium sculpture, 2024)
This is the portrait that I contemplated on the most. As a mixed piece, it broke the dimensional plane via its large, fuzzy nose and exaggerated whiskers which were outlandish and intriguing. The exhibition dates for this show were from January 31, 2024 to March 15, 2024 at the Guggenheim Gallery on the Chapman University campus in Orange, California.
