The Enchanting World of a Chicano Trickster: The Whimsy in José Lozano’s Pictures
Metro/La Brea and Exposition Station/One of Eight Panels, ceramic tile, 2012 By Dianna Marisol Santillano, Special to Brooklyn & Boyle In Junot Diaz’s novel, This is How you Lose Her (2012), he tells of the Dominican experience in the U.S. and in particular Dominican love and life in New Jersey. The narratives portrayed are of everyday folks that simultaneously occupy two cultures and how they shape and negotiate their reality as they seek to redefine their identities. What is refreshing and distinct in his work is that his subjects are complex individuals full of gravitas, whose very real depiction collapses the fine line between good and evil. Visually, and on the opposite coast, one can locate a similar type of authentic yet nuanced and multidimensional representation in the rich imagery produced by Chicano artist José Lozano. Born in Los Angeles, but having spent his childhood in the borderlands of Juarez, Mexico before returning to southern California where he attend...