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21st De Colores Art Show Honors
Legacy of Chicano Artist Saturday

October 17, 2014
Santa Paula News

Gilbert “Magu” Luján at the Santa Paula Art Museum

The Santa Paula Art Museum is proud to announce the premiere of the 21st De Colores Art Show: In Search of Magulandia, opening with a celebration on Saturday, October 18, 2014. Featuring art by over 30 artists from across Southern California and the Southwest, the show is a tribute to the legacy of visionary Chicano artist Gilbert “Magu” Luján (1940 - 2011). Magu was a founding member of the groundbreaking Los Angeles art collective Los Four in the early 1970s. With their historic exhibition at LACMA in 1974, Los Four brought Chicano art into national conversation. Magu’s work, with its colorful blending of Chicano iconography and contemporary Los Angeles scenes, continues to inspire artists to express their own unique voice.

While famous as one of the foremost figures in Chicano art, Magu is perhaps best remembered as a friend and mentor to fellow artists like Xavier Montes, founder of the De Colores Art Show, which has been held annually in Santa Paula for over 20 years. Magu exhibited his artwork in the De Colores Art Show for many years, and also led workshops for Santa Paula students. It is Luján’s legacy of encouraging and sharing ideas with other artists that is being celebrated in In Search of Magulandia. Montes and co-curator Vanessa Acosta invited artists to create artworks inspired by their relationship with Magu. Acosta says, “We wanted many generations of Mexican-American and Chicano artists to be represented. As the show began to develop and the artists’ work began to arrive, one could not help but feel the love and respect that these artists have for their late friend Magu.”

The exhibition’s opening day celebration on Saturday, October 18, will feature events at both the Santa Paula Art Museum and the nearby Museum of Ventura County Agriculture Museum. The Santa Paula Art Museum’s reception will run from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. featuring music by Conjunto Los Pochos led by Magu’s eldest son Otoño Luján. The MVC Agriculture reception will run from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. featuring music by Mike Molina and Los Fabulocos. 

Guests of the reception will also be able to view the famous “Magulandia Family Car”, Magu’s colorfully painted 1950 Chevy Coupe. The car will be on display at the MVC Agriculture Museum along with a number of Magu’s original artworks through February 1, 2015. Admission to the opening receptions is $3.00 at each museum. To attend the events at both museums, guests may purchase a $5.00 wristband at the Santa Paula Art Museum. Both events are free for SPAM and MVC Members as well as students. This event is generously sponsored by Calavo, Clinicas del Camino Real, Guerrero Insurance Services, La Cabana, Latino Town Hall, Gayel Childress, Vanessa Frank and Rebeca Mendoza.

The exhibition features artists Juliane Backmann, Armando Baeza, Grace Barraza-Vega, Anna Ríos Bermúdez, Jackie Bermúdez, David Botello, Oscar Castillo, Gayel Childress, Ray Cirerol, Paty Diaz, Ricardo Flores, Angel Guerrero, Jaime Guerrero, Wayne Healy, Maribel Hernández, Sergio Hernández, Nicholas Herrera, Pola Lopez, Heriberto Luna, Isabel Martínez, El Moisés, Mike Molina, Louie Moreno, Angel María Ortíz S., Gilbert Ortiz, Sylvia Raz, Kevin Stewart-Magee, Gregg Stone, Eloy Torrez, Mario Trillo, Manuel Unzueta, Andrea Vargas-Mendoza, Doreen Villanueva, J Michael Walker and Gerald Zwers. The show runs through February 22, 2015.

The Santa Paula Art Museum is located at 117 North 10th Street in downtown Santa Paula. The Museum’s regular hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sundays from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. Regular admission is $4.00 for adults, $3.00 for seniors and is free for museum members and students. For more information, please contact the Museum at (805) 525-5554. The MVC Agriculture Museum is located at 926 Railroad Avenue in downtown Santa Paula. For more information about the MVC Agriculture Museum, please call (805) 525-3100.Stone, watercolor, gouache and ink, 37” x 29”, Collection of the artist