Gonzalo Plascencia Chicano Artist

Gonzalo Plascencia Gonzalo Plascencia is a Mexican- American or Chicano Artist that lives in El Paso, Texas who migrated to California from Juarez. He has created several Chicano historically themed mural and posters that exclaim the contributions of Chicanos in areas such as music, sports, film and history in generally.

Gonzalo Plascencia Plascencia graduated from high school Alisal High School in Salinas, California. He continued his education majoring in Chicano Studies and Art at San Jose State University and California State University at Northridge. The painting The Mexican Revolution of 1910 illustrates some of the leaders and soldiers of the revolution like brothers Enrique and Ricardo Magón. In 1904, Ricado Magón fled Mexico to hide in Los Angeles when the Mexican courts banned the printing of his revolutionary writings and he remained in the USA for the remainder of his life dying in the Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas. Some believe that he was deliberately murdered by prison guards as he wrote that his health issues were deliberately neglected by the prison staff. In the photo used in the painting is of brothers at the Los Angeles County Jail; arrested for trying to instigate the revolution.

Gonzalo Plascencia Having never learned about Mexican American history in high school, Plascencia’s interest in the subject was sparked by taking a Chicano Studies class in college. He began to paint about some of the people and events that he learned of in his college classes. His painting 460 Years of Chicano History is a mural in Victor’s Clothing Store in Los Angeles and has been turned into a poster and t-shirt. The bottom of the mural shows indigenous cultures such as the Olmec and Mayas. As it progresses upward it illustrates the influence of Spanish Colonialism and continues with the various stages of the growth of Chicano Culture and History.

Gonzalo Plascencia A 2016 study called the Comprehensive Annenberg Report on Diversity, found that Latinos are among the least represented in film and TV, even though they make up about 17.4 percent of the U.S. population. The report concluded that most Hollywood film stories "fail to represent the demographic composition of the U.S." Plascencia’s painting Latinos In Hollywood illustrates the many contributions made by Latino actors, actresses, and filmmakers by illustrating their faces.

Gonzalo Plascencia Latinos In Sports illustrates the many contributions made by Latino’s in the field of athletics. Soccer may be the most popular sport in the Latino community, but from baseball to boxing from Canelo Alvarez to Yasiel Puig, Latinos have been a leading force in professional sports.

Gonzalo Plascencia Latinos In Music illustrates the many contributions made by Latino’s in the field of music. Ritchie Valens is illustrated in the bottom right hand corner. Born Ricardo Valenzuela in Pacoima in 1941, he is remembered for his 1958 rock 'n' roll version of a Mexican folk song, "La Bamba“ and ballad “Donna”. Fewer people know that he played in a racially integrated band that included white, black, and Japanese American high school classmates. Valens was one of many young Chicanos like The Champs who shaped the sound of American rock and roll in the 1950s and 1960s. The Champs performed a song called "Tequila!" that was written by the saxophone player Danny Flores who was born in Santa Paula, California. Flores played a variety of music genres -- jazz, country, pop, and blues.

Gonzalo Plascencia Plascencia stated that he gets a mixed review of his posters. "Some people who see my posters are elated others are offended. I'm a Chicano artist." He explained that many people outside of California are offended by the use of his term "Chicano" on his posters although they like the majority of the images. Some people don't like the image of the Chicanos wearing "Lowrider T-shirts " included with the historical figures in 460 Years of Chicano History poster. "It is by far my most popular poster. This poster took me about four years. After the first year, it became a labor of love. My motivation is to enhance the pride of our people. How can our people develop self pride if they don't know their history?"