Central Park in the Winter, Acrylic on Canvas, 2017 by Roberto Gutiérrez. Review by Abel Salas Artist and studio painter Roberto Gutiérrez isn’t pulling any punches these days. In fact, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say the native son of L.A.’s Eastside is coming up aces more often than not. And when he isn’t walking away from his latest self-imposed challenge with a resounding victory, he’s holding his own with a combination of skill, panache and charisma that forces a split decision in his favor. And with the title belt all but his, he’s primed and ready to face off once more with a few of the most important metropolitan centers in the world. Having taken them on one after another in an allegorical ring where the traditional ropes have been replaced by the outermost edges of a canvas stretcher or a sheet of artist’s paper, the plucky maestro has returned whole, unscathed and reinvigorated from his arresting and emotional encounters with Los Angeles, Paris, and, of late,...

By Pancho Lipschitz, El Art Pocho Before I was hanging out in John Valadez’ new Boyle Heights studio a few miles from where he grew up, before he poured two shots of good mezcal into styrofoam cups and we toasted to nada y todo, I always thought he was one of the best painters working in America over the past 40 years. After we hung out, I realized he’s just a cool vato who happens to be one of the best painters working in America over the past 40 years. (Left: Emerald Float, 2016, pastel. Courtesy of John Valadez) Pancho Lipschitz: I know you said you grew up in Boyle Heights but I didn’t know you worked at the Fine’s Market. John Valadez: I always had a job. I lied and said I was 16 when I was 15. I was there about four and a half years. Every week I would buy an album. PL: What was the first art that influenced you? JV: I liked drawing, and I remember in grammar school when the Flintstones were the big rage. I spent one night looking at Fred Flintstone and trying to draw ...