Born of the revolution, the muralist movement of the early 1900s bathed in the ideas of radical agents that let their passion bleed through the tips of their brushes. Originally contracted by Jose Vasconcelos to drape the walls of public buildings with murals, these artists helped a nation build a new identity. Artists such as Jos Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera were the fathers of this Mexican revolt in art that drenched public buildings in vibrant pigments and complex ideals almost becoming too profound for the masses. Since the end of the Mexican Revolution, the muralist movement has been documented in every art history book published. An art form with its roots buried in Mexico was embraced by the world for its bold imagery and overall political complexity. An art form known for letting the passion of the artist emerge and document the political or cultural climate. It's a blessing that it's a craft still practiced almost a century later.
Our current artists of the day are not that much different than those who founded this movement. No, they're not communists trying to portray injustice in the current government; they are simply storytellers who use there canvas to express the complexity of their culture. When the murals left the walls for more suitable locations, nothing was lost. These are still stories to be told not through words, but a purging of the soul to be placed on display for public consumption.As a Tijuana-born muralist, Fonzy continues this form of art, which almost comes as a birthright. He has found a place in the lowrider community, not so much as a hired gun, but as more of a current resident being paid to create images that depict beautiful women and sugar-coated cars in all of their glory. When the paint mixes with the air and is forced out of the tip of his professional-grade Iwata, Fonzy begins to shape and form his vision of splendor, which rides on asphalt and gleams in the California sunshine.
Fonzy's home away from home is none other than the "City of Angels," where he currently lives while producing some of the best work that our scene has been a witness to in more than a decade. Make no bones about it, Fonzy is an artist bent on perfecting his skills and pushing the limits of what can be done with an airbrush. With studio works laid out on a treated aluminum canvas, his goals of taking his art outside the confines of the lowrider community have begun to see daylight. His dream of art gallery shows will come true in the not so distant future. Expanding his palette beyond the airbrush has given way to Fonzy's art taking shape in the form of tattoos and pinstriping, which proves that there are no limits for a true artist. Whether the mural built is on a revolution, plastered to the side of a New York train that's riding the rails, or pinned to a candy-painted car dragging the back bumper through the streets of Los Angeles, it's there as a voice from someone who felt that it was necessary to speak out.