Artist

Carlos Almaraz

born Mexico City, Mexico 1941-died Los Angeles, CA 1989
Also known as
  • Carlos D. Almaráz
Born
Mexico City, Mexico
Died
Los Angeles, California, United States
Active in
  • New York, New York, United States
Biography

Born in Mexico City, Carlos Amaraz soon moved with his family to the United States, settling eventually in East Los Angeles. Almaraz was aware from an early age of a "bifurcation" in his surroundings. He studied at California State College at Los Angeles, and spent a few years in New York before returning to California. In the 1970s he became involved with César Chávez's farm workers' movement, Luis Valdez's Teatro Campesino, and Mechanicano, a cooperative gallery in East Lost Angeles. Almaraz was one of the founding members of the Chicano art collective Los Four, whose other members included Gilbert "Magu" Luján, Roberto de la Rocha, and Frank Romero.

Jonathan Yorba Arte Latino: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (New York and Washington, D.C.: Watson-Guptill Publications, in cooperation with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2001)

Works by this artist (6 items)

Carlos Almaraz, Europe and the Jaguar, 1982, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of The Friends of the Corcoran), 2020.20.7
Europe and the Jaguar
Date1982
oil on canvas
On view
Carlos Almaraz, El Corazon del Pueblo, from Méchicano 1977 Calendario, 1976, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2012.53.3, © 1976, Carlos Almaraz Estate
El Corazon del Pueblo, from Méchicano 1977 Calendario
Date1976
screenprint on paper
Not on view
Carlos Almaraz, I Dreamed I Could Fly, 1986, pastel on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Margery and Maurice H. Katz, 2014.44, © 1986, Carlos Almaraz Estate
I Dreamed I Could Fly
Date1986
pastel on paper
Not on view
Carlos Almaraz, Night Magic (Blue Jester), 1988, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Gloria Werner, 2011.12, © 1988, Carlos Almaraz Estate
Night Magic (Blue Jester)
Date1988
oil on canvas
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2011.12 - SAAM-2011.12_1 - 77591
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
October 25, 2013March 2, 2014
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge.