Paint it Forward

Upcoming show at Cass Contemporary gallery. Paint It Forward is a group show that asks established artists to pair up with emerging ones for the creation of new works. I used this opportunity to ask my wife Bu Nation to return to painting after a 6-year long hiatus. Below is what we submitted. 

Left Image: 'Neo Xicana' by Me
Right Image: 'Superstars & Refugees' by Bu Nation

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Visit Cass Contemporary by clicking HERE. Other participating established artists include...

Adam Caldwell | Alex Rosmarin | Bask | Beau Stanton | Buff Monster | Caroline Caldwell | Dave Thomas | Derek Gores | Eric Inkala | Greg Gossel | Gregory Siff | Hush | Jason Pulgarin | Jonny Alexander | Joram Roukes | Juan Travieso | Justin Bower | Kashink | Killer Acid | Low Bros | Mad Meg | Meggs | Pablo Benzo | Peter Van Tongeren | Reinier Gamboa | Sam Rodriguez | SEK | Sjaak Kooji | The London Police | Tom Thewes | Tristan Eaton |

Samsung

Mural commission I did in November 2016 for Samsung offices in San Jose, California.
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Last Works of 2016

Last pieces of 2016. Click images to see full painting.

Doña MayFair

'Doña MayFair' - New Mural in collaboration with School of Arts & Culture in East San Jose. It will be exhibited alongside their series of events called 'MayFeria', scheduled throughout this year and 2017.

For more info visit http://schoolofartsandculture.org/ Thanks to Demone Carter for inviting me to do this project!

I was really excited and proud to participate in this project as East San Jose, is where my family is rooted. The focus on this mural was the Mayfair neighborhood where the inspiring leader Cesar Chavez once lived. This area was known as 'Sal Si Puede' (leave if you can), a twist on the United Farm Workers campaign slogan 'Si Se Puede' (Yes You Can). Though rich in culture, it's residents, mostly Mexican and other Latino groups, have historically experienced income, and justice inequality along with negative press. Today, it is good to see positive movement blooming throughout the area, as many grassroots efforts are being made to push East San Jose more toward a 'Si Se Puede' environment.

Kizuna | Pow! Wow! Japan

Last week I had an amazing opportunity to paint a wall for Pow! Wow! Japan, an event and week long artist residency held in Kobe, Japan. Upon researching the city of Kobe I learned of a devastating earthquake known as The Great Hanshin. The disaster which took place January 17th, 1995 took thousands of lives. Each year the people of Kobe memorialize those lost through candle lit vigils that form Kan'ji for 'Kizuna'. This word translates to bonds or connections between people. This motivated the thinking behind my concept in which I emphasized the ties between elders and youth. For the Roman (English) typography part of the image, I was inspired by playful Japanese packaging and signage. The aesthetic was also influenced by the films of Hayao Miyazaki. Click here to read more about this on Vice's art section.

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Above image & Below Lower Left photo: Brandon Shigeta // Below drone image by: Andrew Tran

Vice | Creators Project | Pow! Wow! Japan

I just returned to California from Kobe, Japan for a week long artist residency with Pow! Wow! Japan. During that time I participated in a live feed for Vice media's Creators Project to talk shop and inspiration during my stay over there. Below is the video. More photos to come of my completed mural.  Link to a written feature >>

Aaron De La Cruz x Sam Rodriguez

I finally did a mural collaboration with my long time friend and now family member Aaron De La Cruz. We often see one another through non-art related friends and family gatherings and have always kept a project collaboration on the back burner. Years later, we finally had the chance to set some time aside to put something special together and it was an amazing experience. I learned a lot about letting go of my process habits through the give and take that is required to form a well balanced collaborative project. More importantly, the community of all ages in San Francisco's Excelsior district where Aaron and his family lives, showed so much love to us during the process. It was a positive and motivating couple of days. Big thanks Aaron De La Cruz & family who despite being sick still came out to work. Hope to do many more.

Mural Location: Mission St. & Onondaga Ave. in San Francisco, California

Process photos by Kenneth Berling-Orozco
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Empire 7 Studios x Art Party SJ

Last week I participated in a group exhibit put on by Empire 7 Studios, and Athen B. Gallery. Empire 7 is a gallery and mural organization based out of my home city of San Jose, California. They exhibited 10000 square feet with local and international pieces as a portion of 'Anne & Marks's Art Party', the largest annual art fair in San Jose. I showed some of my recent works, and painted a mini wall installation. What you see in these photos is only one-fourth of the entire event. It was an amazing staycation, showing work at home and connecting with my community. 

Summer of '16

‘Summer Of 16’ Series As many of you know, this summer has been crazy eventful in the media with critical situations popping off locally and abroad. The Pulse night club shooting, missing students in Oaxaca, Syrian crisis, gender inequality issues, Police shootings, ridiculous presidential candidates, floods in Louisiana, contaminated water in Michigan, Rio Olympics and so much more. It has proven to be a season that has exposed many of humanities negative attributes, some of its complexities and sometimes its grace. Around the first couple of weeks in June as I was working on a series of ten small illustrations for a client, I was listening to National Public Radio as I usually do while I work and could not help but notice the higher-than-usual frequency of these dramatic events. I know there is always international news coverage of the like, but somehow it seemed much more frequent this summer and in some instances, similar stories would repeat themselves in different places in such a small amount of time. Maybe it’s because many of us now have access to broadcasting the news ourselves via social media. I don’t know, but whatever the case, I absorbed all of it and created an album of visual responses. In these pieces I felt like it was important not to repeat what had already been broadcasted or give you a matter-of-fact literal reaction, since cameras, eyewitnesses and journalists already provide that. I’m not a professional wordsmith, or journalist so I will leave you with these visual perspectives and let you do the rest.

Thanks for viewing.
-Sam

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