I was scrolling the through the Internet a few weeks ago devouring anything and everything on Ana Castillo, when I stumbled upon a memoir workshop she was holding at a gallery in East L.A. called ChimMaya. I was too late to sign up for the workshop, so I started scrolling through the artists. I noticed there were some new exhibitions coming up and I joined the email list.
A few days later I received a notice that Juan Solis was putting up a new exhibit. His work was intriguing so I RSVP'd and away we went.
ChimMaya is a really interesting gallery/boutique. They promote emerging Chicano artists in a really beautiful gallery, and they also have a boutique with jewelry, furniture and handcrafted items like Catrina figurines, tin work, crosses and retablos.
Juans opening was the day after our adventure at Hollywood Forevers Dia
de los Muertos Celebration, and ChimMaya still had up their exhibit of Day of the Dead artwork as well. We made our way to the North Gallery. We were blown away by Juan's work. The colors were breathtakingly vibrant and his subjects ranged from gorgeous women to vatos in bandanas with the Virgen of Guadalupe lightly painted in behind them. Obviously, I'm not very good at describing the paintings. Really they must be seen, because they did invoke a visceral response
from both my husband and myself. So much so, we ended up buying the painting you see on the right. I can't wait to hang it! Someday it will hang in my library/office (when I have one), the first in my collection of Latin American/Mexican American/Chicano art.
We got to meet Juan, and he was extremely humble, unassuming and really appreciative of our interest. I think he's really someone to watch out for!
Below is a video featuring more of his artwork.
