La Peña presents “Cosmic Burros Gone Wild!” at Las Manitas Avenue Café. It features the colorful and eccentric artwork of San Antonio Chicano artist L.A. David. It opens on May 12th with a reception from 6-8 pm and runs through June 2nd.

L.A. David’s artwork is a fusion of styles some have described as hysterical pop avant garde. The eccentric satire found in his work brings the essence of his Chicano roots that mix with a social and political consciousness that engage the mental and spiritual. L.A. David was born and raised in San Antonio’s colorful and cosmic Westside and that experience helped shape his career as an artist. After exploring Impressionism, Cubism, Dadaism, and Pop Art, he embarked on a unique, expression driven explosion of cosmic comic relief.

L.A. David is known for his “Burros”. Los Burros are caricatures of the “vatos and vatas” who are in touch with their indigenous and cosmic roots. They are ones who left the barrio, went off to Ivy League schools such as Yale, Harvard, and Princeton, and came back to inspire a younger generation of burros. They are the ones who ride the low-riders. The burros are a way of relating to current socio-political issues in a cool, funky, and far out way. L.A. David says the burros are everywhere. Their caricatures are only a part of a larger landscape.

L.A. David has received wide recognition for his artwork. He attended an art symposium sponsored by Arizona State University. Two of his paintings were purchased by the Hispanic Research Center at ASU as well. Five of his paintings were published in a hard covered book entitled “Triumph of Our Communities, Four Decades of Mexican-American Art”.