Elsa Flores

Elsa Flores (Born 1955 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a well known Chicana street artist.[1] Her mother's name was Maria Valenzuela and she was originally from a small village called San Javier located in Sinaloa, Mexico.[1] She is one of the best known members of the Chicano street art movement.

Elsa Flores
Born1955
Las Vegas, Nevada
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
Known forChicano Art
Spouse(s)Carlos Almaraz

Early life

Elsa Flores demonstrated interest in arts from a very young age. She grew up on Los Angeles' east side,[2] where Chicanos comprise a large percentage of the state's population. While a high school student, Flores received a scholarship to attend the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts.[3] She then studied photography at California State University Los Angeles and afterwards enrolled at the Art Center College of Design[3] in Pasadena, where she focused on her drafting skills.[4] While at the Art Center, she taught art and music education at Plaza de la Raza with artist Carlos Almaraz and Louie Pérez and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos. Flores occasionally performed in Los Lobos, as well as in the punk band The Knuckleheads formed with Pérez and Hildago. The latter band mixed electronic instruments with the accordion, violin and flute.[4]

Career as an artist

Flores began to gain recognition for her paintings, which have been exhibited around the world, during the 1970s. She met Carlos Almaraz in 1974,[5] a fellow Chicano who was part of the early Chicano street art movement. Almaraz was a member of the famed Los Four artist collective. Elsa Flores and Carlos Almaraz eventually married in 1981,[6] and the two collaborated on one of the most famed Chicano murals, the California Dreamscape.[7] While Almaraz was already an icon among Chicanos because of his murals across California (as part of Los Four[7] and as a solo artist), "California Dreamscape" helped Flores become an icon herself among Chicano artists. The 15' x 70' California Dreamscape mural was commissioned by the California Arts Council and is exhibited at the Reagan State Building on 3rd and Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles.

In the celebratory year leading up to the Los Angeles bicentennial, Flores, Pérez and other artists collaborated to complicate the celebrations. Together with Pérez, Flores produced a multimedia event at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, which took place on September 5, 1980. Electric guitar, recordings played on tape recorders, and participants yelling at the audience were features of the event. In a related action, she photographed Pérez as "Screwy Louie" carrying a cross through the Second Street Tunnel.[4]

Carlos Almaraz was diagnosed with AIDS during the 1980s, eventually leading to his death. After his death, Flores' fame continued to grow. Her paintings have been shown, to critical acclaim, in museums and art houses in places such as Hawaii, New York City and Mexico. She has had solo exhibitions in New Mexico and in Los Angeles. Many of her other exhibitions have been group exhibitions where her paintings have been showcased alongside those of other famous artists.

References
  1. "Oral history interview with Elsa Flores, 1997 Feb. 18 - Apr. 30". Archives of American Art. February 17, 1997. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  2. Miranda, Carolina A. "Object Lesson: What Elsa Flores' painting of Carlos Almaraz reveals about a marriage of artists". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  3. "Biographical Note | A Finding Aid to the Carlos Almaraz and Elsa Flores papers, 1946-1996". www.aaa.si.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  4. Axis Mundo : queer networks in Chicano L.A. Chavoya, C. Ondine,, Frantz, David Evans,, Gómez-Barris, Macarena, 1970-, Alvarado, Leticia, 1982-, Bryan-Wilson, Julia,, Doonan, Simon, 1952-. Los Angeles. 2017. ISBN 9783791356693. OCLC 982089590.CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. "Other Voices: Elsa Flores Almaraz | LACMA". www.lacma.org. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  6. "Object Lesson: What Elsa Flores' painting of Carlos Almaraz reveals about a marriage of artists". Los Angeles Times. 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  7. "In life and on canvas, the 'tragic explosions' and L.A. dreamscapes of artist Carlos Almaraz". Los Angeles Times. 2017-08-30. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
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