Linda Vallejo

September 2004 -A History of Conflict-A Future of Hope; GaleriaZero, Frazier Museum, Kentucky


"A History of Conflict-A Future of Hope"


at the Fraizer Museum, Kentucky


Exhibition Dates: September 1st - October 7th, 2004


"A History of Conflict-A Future of Hope" is a collaboration project between Museum Frazier and GALERIAZERO. It is an international exhibition of contemporary art. The museum expects about 5000 visitors for this event and will take care of wide publicity in press and TV.


LINDA VALLEJO will exhibit three oil on canvas works including


Contemplating Truth, 2003; Death Valley, 2003; and Thunder, Lightning and Rain, 2004.


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September/November 2004 - A Prayer For The Earth: Paintings and Installation; Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, California


Cornegie Art Museum


"A Prayer for the Earth"


Painting & Installation by Linda Vallejo


Exhibit Date: September 11 - November 21, 2004


Reception: TBA

La comunidad regional, nacional e internacional Linda Vallejo de la BIOGRAFÍA de los artes, nacido en Los Ángeles en 1951, es artista profesional practicante que crea las imágenes, que describen el mundo de su entrenamiento y comprensión indígenas. Las concesiones incluyen Quien es Quien en el comercio de ESTADOS UNIDOS, concesión nacional, 1994; Estudios Nacionales De Chicano De la Asociación, Recognition Distinguido, 1993; y Latinas que hace la concesión de la historia, Comision Feminil de Los Ángeles, 1991. Las exposiciones seleccionadas incluyen?NATURE Y ALCOHOL? a solas exposición, museo del arte de Latino, Pomona, California 2002; Y ALCOHOL? a solas exposición, Howell y galería de arte fina verde, Topanga, California 2002?Dreams y realidad? universidad de la galería del judaísmo, de Marjorie y de Herman Platt; ¿?Los Cielos? Una Demostración De la Mujer, SPARC, Los Ángeles, 2000; Museo del martillo de Armand, museo del arte de Laguna, museo del arte museo de Tejas del sur, Anchorage de la historia y del arte, del museo de Bronx, del museo del arte moderno York nueva, del museo del San Antonio, del museo del arte del módem de Ciudad de México, y de Galeria Las Américas; ¿y el?East del museo de Santa Mónica del río? 2000, y el museo de Carnegie, Oxnard CA, que adquirió cuatro esculturas para su colección permanente. Las publicaciones y los medios importantes incluyen el arte contemporáneo de Chicana y de Chicano, prensa bilingüe, centro de investigación hispánico, universidad de estado del Arizona, revisión del artista de los tiempos de Los Ángeles, octubre de 2000, noticias de negocio del arte, arte del sudoeste, Saludos Hispanos, revista comercial hispánica, los "corazones fuertes, mentes inspiradas," los libros de Rowanbeny, tiempos de Los Ángeles, compartimiento latino del estilo, PBS "la historia del movimiento americano mejicano de la derecha civil," 1996. La huésped Lectureships y las posiciones de la enseñanza incluyen el museo del arte (1992-1993-1994), LA del condado de Los Ángeles; Museo del arte contemporáneo (1991-1992-1993), museo metropolitana del arte de Fresno; Departamento Del Arte De Long Beach De la Universidad De Estado De la Caloría; Universidad de California, de Irvine, del departamento del arte, y de la universidad de la ciudad de Santa Mónica. La comunidad espiritual indígena Linda Vallejo nació en Los Ángeles, California, en 1951. Ella viajó y estudió a través de los Estados Unidos, de la Europa y del México. Ella recibió un amo del grado fino de los artes de la universidad de estado de la caloría, Long Beach, en 1978. En los últimos años 70 y los años 80 tempranos ella estudió la danza de Maya y de Azteca con el Flores de Aztlan Troupe. Durante estos años formativos, Las Flores de Aztlan presentó enseñanzas y talleres a través del estado de California en los centros culturales, universidades, y en las ceremonias nativas tradicionales del americano y de Chicano que incluyeron a Fiesta de Maiz y Dia de Los Muertos en Los Ángeles, Fiesta de Colores en Sacramento, y día del parque de Chicano en San Diego. Sobre los últimos veinte años, ella ha participado adentro y ceremonia tradicional apoyada en Dakota del sur, California y el Arizona. Ella sirvió como voluntario de la comunidad para la sociedad religiosa americana nativa, centro de la rehabilitación de California, Norco por los últimos quince años. ¿Listas Recientes Los?Los Cielos? la habitación sobre de cincuenta trabajos (1997-2000), fue exhibida con éxito en cinco lugares en California meridional (2000-2001), publicada y repasada en dos compartimientos nacionales de Latino, y los tiempos de Los Ángeles. ¿Ahora, una habitación nueva titulada?Nature y alcohol? ¿El EL Espiritu de Naturaleza y del la? una lista sobre de treinta trabajos producidos entre septiembre 2001 y de 2002, incluyendo el aceite en lona y documento, y gouache sobre los trabajos de papel es una continuación de la lista importante pasada de Vallejo?s de los?Los Cielos. de los trabajos? ¿?Nature y alcohol? se abarca de los mountainscapes de California que representan la línea del horizonte y su relación al carácter humano, las formaciones de roca monumentales antiguas, y los oceanscapes que representan vida profunda del mar forma con simetría cristalina intrincada. Estas dos listas secuenciales continúan expresando el esmero de Vallejo?s a un ecosistema sano y una conexión intrínseca de los humanity?s a la naturaleza.

"Linda Vallejo" by John Mendelsohn.

"Linda Vallejo" by Ann Landi.

"What makes Linda Vallejo’s art so compelling and relevant to contemporary life?" by William Moreno, 2007.

"Linda Vallejo: Environmental Art," Downtown LA Life, June 2007.

Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art. Bi-lingual Press, Hispanic Research Center, Arizona State University, 2002.

"Linda Vallejo y Su Visión de los Cielos," Nuestra Gente,
Nov./Dec. 2001.

"Celebrating Art, Life, and El Dia De Los Muertos with Artist Linda Vallejo,"
Latin Style, Issue 41, Oct./Nov. 2001.

"Two of a Kind," Inland Empire Calendar, Feb. 2001.

"Chicana artists speak on their work," University Times, 167, No. 14.
November 20, 2000.

"Celebrating Life Forces: Linda Vallejo," Los Angeles Times Calendar,
Oct. 2000.

“Los Cielos 2000: The Work of Linda Vallejo” -
Sybil Venegas, art historian, writer, and professor of Chicano Studies, East Los Angeles College; September 2000.

"Oxnard Museum Readies First Exhibit of New Artworks," Los Angeles Times,
August 21, 2000.

" Notes from the Living Room Couch: A Collector Speaks Out” -
Armando Duron, major contemporary art collector, president of the Artes de Mexico Festival Committee in 1991 and ex-president of the Board of SPARC; 2000.

"Linda Vallejo: Los Cielos/The Heavens," Saludos Hispanos, May/June 1999.

Henkes, Robert. Latin American Women Artists of the United States. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1999.

"Arte de las Americas 1996," Latin Style. Vol. II, No. 3.

Mavor, Anne. Strong Hearts, Inspired Minds. Portland, OR: Rowanberry Books, 1996.

"Vallejo and the Art of the Americas," The Hispanic Reporter. April, 1995.

"United: All the Continent, Galerias Las Americas," ARTNews. February, 1994.

"Collecting Collectors," Los Angeles Downtown News. Volume 22, number 6.
February 8, 1993.

Rosas, Alejandro. Chicano and Latino Artists of Los Angeles. Los Angeles, CA:
City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, 1990.

"Linda Vallejo," Caminos, October 1980. Vol. 1, No. 6.

"Urban Prayers: The Celestial Imagery of Linda Vallejo" -
Reina Prado, cultural activist, educator, and curator in Tucson, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

"Linda Vallejo and Los Cielos: Reaching for the Heavens" -
Susan Rinderle, journalist.

"Linda Vallejo," Artweek. Vol. 25, No. 7.

2009

An Evening with Linda Vallejo. FOCUS ON THE MASTERS, Tuesday Talk Series. Technology Development Center, 5200 Valentine Dr., Ventura, April 7, 2009

Women Artists on Immigration: Crossing Borders, Confronting Barriers, Bridging Identities. Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles. February 20-March 7, 2009

(re)cycle at L2kontemporary. January 3-31, 2009

2008

Ancient Ofrenda: Elements of an Altar. Arizona State University Museum of Anthropology, Oct. 27, 2008 – January 23, 2009

Guest Lecture at UCLA. October 2008

Death of the Bush Era - What Next?. Social and Public Art Resource Center

Xochiquetzalli Anthology 2010. Selection announced, October 2008

National Museum of Mexican Art presents LA VIDA SIN FIN - 22nd Annual Day of the Dead Exhibition. September 26 - December 14

THE HIVE GALLERY and bluegirl productions present BEE-ROTICA. September 6-27

Howeeduzzit Gallery presents THE CHAIR SHOW. September 14 - October 5

Ma Art Space presents VIVA LA RA-ZA. September 14 - October 5

City of Brea Art Gallery presents THE ART OF THOUGHT. August 10 - September 12

Self Help Graphics, 2008 MAESTRA ATELIER. July 2008

PATRICIA CORREIA GALLERY presents PINTORES DE AZTLAN and SABADO GIGANTE. June 28 - August 30

Spirits of LA Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California

"Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye, it also includes the inner pictures of the soul."
Edward Munch



My first memory of painting was at four years of age and it has continued as my life’s dedication. My goal as an artist has been to consolidate multiple, international influences gained from a life of study and travel throughout Europe, the United States and Mexico. My creative influences are many and varied. They include the surreal, violent, and spiritual images of Picasso, Goya, and Dali, Turner’s mysterious and glorious skies and cloud formations, Rothko’s distant horizons and soft edges, the monumental forms and brilliant coloration of the Mexican muralists Rivera and Siqueros, and the sensual power of Georgia O’Keefe’s landscapes. I have also been deeply influenced by international contemporary artists such as Kaoru Arima’s (Japan) haunting manipulated newspaper collages, Ana Mendieta’s (USA) uncanny use of nature and natural materials combined with photography, Lee Bontecou’s (USA) nature-inspired, mixed media “crystalline” sculptural forms, Harum Farocki’s (Czechoslovakia) monumental digital photographs and videos, Isa Genzken’s (Germany) complex digitally-based mixed media sculpture, and Mangelos’ (Croatia) postproduction digital paintings and sculptures. Finally, I have always had a keen interest in ancient architectural sites, history, and mythology. I have visited several sites in both Europe and Mexico, studied ancient philosophy and symbolism, and participated for the past twenty years in indigenous ceremonial rights. All of these influences have been brought together to create two environmentsentitled A Prayer for the Earth and HOPE, In the Midst of War, Death and Destruction.

During the first twenty years of my career, my painting and sculpture investigated humanity’s fundamental and metamorphic relationship with nature through the completion of over 200 “fantastic realism” landscape oil and acrylic on canvas paintings and 50 earth-based sculptures made of found tree fragment and handmade paper. As I continued to explore images to articulate the significance of our relationship to the natural world, I began looking for ways to incorporate these paintings and sculptures into a three-dimensional presentation. After much investigation and experimentation, I produced A Prayer for the Earth and HOPE, In the Midst of War, Death and Destruction.

A Prayer for the Earth was originally presented at The Carnegie Art Museum in California. This first environment combined paintings representing the beauty of nature; earth-based mixed-media sculpture focusing on a symbiotic relationship to nature; a central “mandala” of manipulated photographs with images of pollution juxtaposed with images of international indigenous cultures in the act of ceremony and prayer; all surrounded by a mixed media assemblage depicting earth, water, fire and air. A Prayer for the Earth has been successfully installed at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum, the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum, and the Orange County Center of Contemporary Art in 2006 and 2007.

HOPE, In the Midst of War, Death and Destruction, an installation originally produced in 2003 in response to 9/11, is a political and spiritual statement focusing on the reconciliation of opposites: the spirituality and tranquility of nature juxtaposed to the carnage and violence of war. This original installation combined paintings inspired by Goya’s Desastres and a central “mandala” of manipulated photographs containing images of war dead (Civil War, WW I and II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam, Iraq, Auschwitz and Hiroshima) surrounded by an assemblage of natural forms and symbols representing HOPE.

After continued research and development, both A Prayer for the Earth and HOPE, In the Midst of War, Death and Destruction have become environments with accompanying mixed- and multi-media sculpture and collage components. This newest series of digitally based works have been designed to reveal the complexity and obscurity of postmodern life and experience, and to serve as “juxtaposing” elements within the environments. Censored, GTMK?, The Ferris Wheel, Postmodern Trash, and Earth’s Altar utilize pre-produced wood and plastics, newspaper pages, and recycled products in combination with mixed media and manipulated digital images taken from the Internet and my own paintings. The environment is installed in one or two rooms, with paintings and collages placed on walls, sculpture placed on walls and pedestals as appropriate, and the central “mandala” composed in the center of the floor space. Walls and floor may be painted in brilliant colors to unify the multiple aspects of the environment.

A Prayer for the Earth and HOPE, In the Midst of War, Death and Destruction present interlocking, juxtaposing painting, sculptural and collage elements that surround the viewer, pressing them to search for the question: “What is the value of nature in calming and resolving the confusion and losses created by the far-reaching postmodern problems of raging pollution and war?” The environment draws the viewer into a space where their attention is divided between images that portray the loss of natural resources and human life juxtaposed with images of the beauty and solace of nature and the natural world. My goal is to create a space that communicates the idea that without nature humanity, history and culture as we know it are lost, that nature is the thread that encircles and describes all of us, regardless of gender, race, age, or creed, and finally, that nature is beyond politics, religion, market, and even art!



What critics and curators say about the work:

William Moreno, Executive Director, Claremont Museum of Art, California, states, “What makes Linda Vallejo’s art so compelling and relevant to contemporary life? For one, her broad command of a variety of mediums: painting, sculpture and site-specific installations are all within her prolific oeuvre. There is nearly something for everyone. Ms. Vallejo’s interests and subject-matter spans are considerable. Themes of beauty, consumption, war, excess, world pollution, iconic references to international indigenous peoples and earth-based installations all reside in her works. Ms. Vallejo has a natural affinity and bond with the natural world and that connection is reflected in her ethereal works. Her paintings of surreal, electrified and transformed landscapes suggest a more vibrant and alluring reality. Color and energy swirl throughout the canvasses and transport you into her alternative world. Her work is not held hostage by fashion or trend – rather she is a singular voice with apparitions all her own. Such visualizations and the tactile nature of the work resonate in a contemporary and abstracted world – we crave the “here, now and hope” of a less complicated life. No commitments are implied in her work, but rather veiled assurances and alternatives. Such well-composed and thoughtful gestures seem hard to come by in our image and information-saturated lives. Ms. Vallejo’s posture is one of deep concern and commitment. One can’t ask for more than that.”

Dr. Betty Ann Brown, Art Historian and Critic, states “Linda Vallejo who participates Native American ceremonials, is keenly aware of the sanctity of the oaks. “Electric Oaks” combines beauty with expressionist intensity. Looming above a sacred circle, these paintings unite imagery with spiritual action. The saturated colors and sense of dynamically charged landscape evoke the work of Vincent Van Gogh, who once wrote, “Keep your love of nature, for that is the true way to understand art more and more.” Vallejo would agree.