MFA Alum Artwork Brings Awareness to Latino Community

Posted August 27, 2012 in Alumni, Public

Salvador Jiménez, 2012 MFA Drawing graduate, knows the power of art. In 2000 he moved from a small town in Mexico to Chicago and was immediately enrolled in high school. He spoke no English, but found he could express himself through drawing and photography.

Today Jiménez is fluent in English, and still creating artwork; but now his interdisciplinary pieces are making broader statements on issues that affect the Latino community.

“My first instinct as an artist is to create art. However, I made a choice early in my career to create works that reflect my personal life experiences around my environment and deliver a message that generates questions and dialogue among the viewers. Up to this point the subject of my work has been about immigration, identity, injustices, and social commentary of our American society.”

“I don’t think Mexican or Latino art is becoming mainstream, but more people are paying attention to artists who are creating great work, in turn making our artwork more accessible to the community as a whole.”

Jiménez recently completed a residency at the Golden Apple Studio in Maine, where he began developing a new series related to the recent presidential elections in Mexico. “The same political party that was in charge for over 70 years has won the power back, Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). My work will include a timeline of the history of México projecting its heroes and villains in seven periods: From Ancient Mesoamerica to the Toltecs; Rise and Fall of the Aztecs; Hidalgo Santa Anna and War; Road to Revolution; Rebuilding the Nation; PRI in Power; Mexico Today.

"My goal is to bring awareness of the issues that affect my community, but I want to bring forth issues that are often missed by the mainstream media. I like to use art as a tool to create something that can be shown to the public, whether it’s a gallery or a coffee shop or on-line. By showing the issues, I hope to create a dialogue, a two-way conversation with the hope of creating better living conditions for all.”

Upcoming Shows:

Chicago

 Hanal Pixan-Food for the Souls  

Opening Reception: Fri., Sept. 14 

National Museum of Mexican Art

Milwaukee

Day of the Dead Ofrendas

Nov. 2–16

Opening Reception:  Fri, Nov. 2

Latino Arts, Inc. Auditorium & Gallery  

Holland

Obiter Dicta – Something Said in Passing