Desde el Barrio
art by Jesus "Cimi" Alvarado
Exhibit: June 1-30, 2004
at Las Manitas Avenue Cafe, 211 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701
Reception: Friday, June 11, 2004, 6-8 pm
Jesus Alvarado is a Juarez-born activist and artist from the bowels of El Segundo Barrio of El Paso, Texas. He has been actively involved in improving his community through organizations like Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, Inc., since his graduation from Bowie High School in 1996. With a dedication interest in Raza Expressionism and a background in Spoken Word, as a co-founder of the group "Rhythm and Thought."
An experienced artist on large scale murals, Alvarado has recently completed murals for the Frito Lay Co., Southern Methodist University, the West Dallas Community Center, the Ice House Cultural Center in Oak Cliff and the Dallas Boys and Girls Club. He has also been awarded a four month residency by the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs to teach the Dallas community about Latino muralism for the past two years. In doing so, he has begun to introduce the city of Dallas to his unique artistic style and interest in Latino history.
He began his artistic career in 1995 working on murals on south El Paso with the aspirations of voiding walls of graffiti while beautifying the area around the streets where he grew up. His mediums include acrylic, aerosol, water color, pastels, and charcoal. His best-remembered work, is that of a remake of a piece called "La Familia" which is the symbol used by a community based "La Fe" clinic of south El Paso. His subjects range from people of the Latin culture who have impacted history to symbols of the Latino culture. Understanding medium, palette, subject and time, Alvarado captures images of Latin culture uniquely and expressively.