Title of Work: Retrato
Date: 2018
Medium: Oil on black velvet
Dimensions: 48 inches by 36 inches
Painted by Zenon Jimenez in Tijuana, Mexico
This is a commissioned painting based on a photograph of Franco Castilla. It was painted by Enrique Felix in Tijuana, Mexico.
Canvas became widely used as a surface to paint on during the Italian Renaissance. Academic painting from the 17th century to the 19th century also used canvas. Canvas is still widely used today by artists and exhibited and collected by art institutions. Black velvet paintings are generally excluded from these institutions.
The painting comments on my family's immigrant experience in two ways: the paintings' movement originating in Tijuana, crossing the border, and arriving in Los Angeles; the medium of black velvet marginalized from the Western history of painting.
Canvas became widely used as a surface to paint on during the Italian Renaissance. Academic painting from the 17th century to the 19th century also used canvas. Canvas is still widely used today by artists and exhibited and collected by art institutions. Black velvet paintings are generally excluded from these institutions.
The painting comments on my family's immigrant experience in two ways: the paintings' movement originating in Tijuana, crossing the border, and arriving in Los Angeles; the medium of black velvet marginalized from the Western history of painting.
