Sunday, August 10, 2014

Emidgio Vasquez, descansa en paz

emigdio_vasquez_cypress_street_mural_2009.jpg
Emigdio Vasquez in 2009. Photo by Keith May.

Over at the OC Weekly, Gustavo Arellano reports that OC artist Emigdio Vasquez has passed away.

Denizens of IVC may recognize the artist as the one whose artwork, a large mural, distinguishes the B-100 building.  In the 1990s, Vasquez was also a frequent visitor to campus, appearing at various events and participating in the annual Kinder Caminata. One year his work graced the cover of college literary journal, the Ear

Arellano writes:
"Emigidio Vasquez, a legendary Chicano artist most famous for his epic murals that continue to dot Orange County, passed away yesterday after a long illness. He was 74.

Born in the mining town of Jerome, Arizona, Vasquez moved to Orange's Cypress Street barrio in the 1940s and eventually gravitated toward painting. In his heyday, he achieved the almost-impossible: mainstream, underground AND governmental success, as his works became famous nationwide among art lovers and lionized among Chicano activists. He even scored contracts to do public murals for the county of Orange (the sprawling epic of OC history off the old OCTA bus terminal near the Civic Center in SanTana) and the city of Anaheim (in a mural located in the lobby of Anaheim City Hall) during the 1980s....
Here's a link to the rest of the article: 
Emigdio Vasquez, Legendary Chicano Artist, Passes Away

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...