Chicano artist left a mark on SoCal scene

Jose Lozano said he focused on family and the Latino community as "sociological portraits.

- GABRIEL SAN ROMÁN

HE CAPTURED AN IDENTITY Jose Lozano visits the Fullerton Museum Center's Madre Tierra exhibit. Lozano said he focused on family and the Latino community as "sociological portraits."

Before art collectors, such as Cheech Marin, and galleries across Southern California began coveting his work, Jose Lozano had questioned his talents as a graduate student at Cal State Fullerton.

During the 1980s, he had demonstrated his creativity through the Abstract Expressionism of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, much to the chagrin of his professors.

Growing up in Fullerton and becoming frustrated, Lozano drew a portrait of “Queenie,” a Black neighbor. In doing so, he stumbled upon his knack for transforming everyday people into muses. The drawing caught the attention of Pierre Picot, a visiting professor, who affirmed his new artistic direction.

"I know composition [and] how to tell a story," Lozano said, reflecting on the moment in an archived Cal State Fullerton oral history interview last year. "It’s what a drawing demands and it’s going to be fun."

Before he died from cancer last month at 67, Lozano’s artwork came to animate spaces in Latino communities, including “Aliso Dreams,” a mural painted on the side of the LA Plaza Village apartment complex near Olvera Street in Los Angeles, and the “Lotería Card #1” mural that stands at the Bristol Swap Mall food court in Santa Ana.

His portraits of Metro riders, families, Mexican wrestlers and clowns challenged conventional notions of depicting Chicanos in art.

"He comes from the second wave of Chicano artists," said Albert Lopez Jr., a Santa Ana artist. "He captured the gestures and identity of his culture and the people he wanted to talk about. When you see his work, you can identify it because of its unique style."