Roberto Chavez

In 1961, Roberto Chavez received his MFA from UCLA, where he studied with William Brice and John Paul Jones, but he turned away from the abstraction of his teachers in favor of figurative, symbolically-charged work. Part of the diverse roster at the iconoclastic Ceejee Gallery, Chavez painted his community and contemporaries in everyday moments, amid the scenery of the era—standing on the sidewalk, frowning in the bedroom—or grappling with the issues of the times—like worker strikes, student walkouts, and anti-war rallies.

As the “Spiritual Father of Chicano Art,” Chavez shaped the first-wave Chicano art movement. He was extremely active in the Chicano art scene of East LA, serving as a mentor, role model, and collaborator to many artists, including Asco members Willie Herrón and Gronk; Carlos Almaraz, Gilbert “Magu” Luján, and members of the collective Los Four; Oscar Castillo; Ofelia Esparza; Margaret Garcia; Roberto Gutiérrez; Leo Limón; Joe Rodriguez; and John Valadez. In 1969, Chavez co-founded the Chicano Studies Department at East Los Angeles College (ELAC) amid widespread campus protests and resistance. In the mid-1970s, Chavez began painting public murals throughout the city of Los Angeles where the La Raza political movement was gaining ground. His 1972 anti-war mural Porque Se Pelean? Que No Son Carnales became part of artist Sandra de la Loza's Mural Remix show at LACMA Mural Remixed. Chavez was a part of Roberto Chavez and The False University: A Retrospective at the Vincent Price Museum, Murales Rebeldes: L.A. Chicana/o Murals under Siege for Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA Beyond Borders, the Getty Center's Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A., 1945-1980, and the Smithsonian’s Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art exhibits.