Somos La Luz

Charles "Chaz" Bojórquez, Somos La Luz, 1992, oil, zolatone, aluminum paint and aluminum leaf on canvas, 56 ³⁄₈ x 88 ¹⁄₄ x 3 ¹⁄₂ in. (143.2 x 224.2 x 8.9 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1994.81

Artwork Details

Title: Somos La Luz
Artist: Charles "Chaz" Bojórquez
Date: 1992
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
/
3rd Floor
/
East Wing
Dimensions: 56 ³⁄₈ x 88 ¹⁄₄ x 3 ¹⁄₂ in. (143.2 x 224.2 x 8.9 cm.)
Credit Line: Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Mediums: aluminum
oil
Mediums Description: oil, zolatone, aluminum paint and aluminum leaf on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Abstract
Object — written matter — graffiti
Object Number: 1994.81
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1994.81

Artwork Description

Charles "Chaz" Bojórquez began his artistic career "tagging" his neighborhood of Highland Park, Los Angeles, in the early 1970s. Though he now paints on canvas instead of on walls, his work references the history and aesthetics of urban graffiti. The artist's calligraphic letters are adaptations of Cholo-style writing, one of the oldest forms of graffiti. It was invented by Mexican Americans in the 1940s, when gangs marked their territories with roll-calls, or lists of names. In Somos la Luz, Bojórquez created a roll-call of prominent Los Angeles graffiti artists. The title translates as "we are the light."