Murals/Past Exhibit Flyers-Publications
Basta Con La Violencia Mural 1996-1997
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Leyendas Aztecas Mural 1997-1998
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San Antonio Express News Article
September 12, 1998
Ramiro Burr - Staff Writer
"Leyendas Aztecas," one of the largest hand-painted murals in the city, will be officially unveiled today on the city's West Side. The 18-by-80-foot mural, conceived by artist Israel "Izzy" Rico, took a year to complete with the help of more than 60 community residents, many of them students. The mural rests on the east wall of the Auge Packing Co. Building at South Brazos and Tampico. Unveiling ceremonies from 3 to 6 p.m. will include a blessing by Father Marty Elsner from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. Poets Angela de Hoyos and Nephtali De Leon will do readings, and Danza Azteca and Anselmo "Chemo" Garza & the Isabella Sound Company will perform. The event is free and open to the public. Food and drinks will be provided.
The colorful mural - the ninth and largest mural project this year by the nonprofit San Anto Cultural Arts - depicts such images from Aztec mythology as a jaguar warrior, an emperor dressed as an eagle and an Aztec priest. Rico hopes the images will demystify the Aztec symbols. The goal of San Anto's mural program is to help develop an understanding and appreciation for neglected communities, says Manuel Castillo, executive director of the group that provides free cultural arts programming. It was established in 1993 and is supported by Inner City Development Inc., a nonprofit group, a community-based, family services agency. For Krystal Gonzalez, a 15-year-old Burbank High School sophomore who participated in the painting, the process was an educational one. "This was about learning the heritage, learning a little bit more about what they really don't teach you in class," she says. She was one of the many students recruited by Rico and San Anto Cultural Arts officials who visited local schools and community centers to find volunteers. Gonzalez' sister Udanna, 18, says the mural is a source of pride. "It's pretty cool to know that we helped out with this," she says. "In a few years we'll stop by and it'll still be there, and I can say I helped out with it." The mural also provided at-risk students a self-esteem building opportunity, officials and participants say. George R. Braun, owner of the Auge Building, says, "They put tremendous hard work into it. It's good to see young people doing something positive. You hear so much about young people getting into trouble. It's good to see a different side of the story. "It's important because (the mural) has to do with the heritage of the people who live in the community, and there needs to be a whole lot more of it, not only for Mexican-Americans but for the Germans and other nationalities that make up San Antonio. There are a lot of stories to tell."
"When you have these types of projects, you help break stereotypes," Castillo says. "You create something and when you have some 66 people from the community helping with it, it helps the whole community." The mural participants developed talent they were not aware they had, Castillo says. In the process, they gain "respect for neighborhood and an understanding of history and of their own background."
Last year, Rico completed another mural project, "Viva Cesar Chavez 1927-1993: Basta con la Violencia," at Nogalitos and Glass streets. "That mural depicted the life of Chavez and his belief in non- violence," he says. "The message is not just for gangs, it is for anyone who believe in stopping any violence and believing in what Chavez stood for." Rico, 28, graduated from Brackenridge High School and studied art at San Antonio College.
September 12, 1998
Ramiro Burr - Staff Writer
"Leyendas Aztecas," one of the largest hand-painted murals in the city, will be officially unveiled today on the city's West Side. The 18-by-80-foot mural, conceived by artist Israel "Izzy" Rico, took a year to complete with the help of more than 60 community residents, many of them students. The mural rests on the east wall of the Auge Packing Co. Building at South Brazos and Tampico. Unveiling ceremonies from 3 to 6 p.m. will include a blessing by Father Marty Elsner from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. Poets Angela de Hoyos and Nephtali De Leon will do readings, and Danza Azteca and Anselmo "Chemo" Garza & the Isabella Sound Company will perform. The event is free and open to the public. Food and drinks will be provided.
The colorful mural - the ninth and largest mural project this year by the nonprofit San Anto Cultural Arts - depicts such images from Aztec mythology as a jaguar warrior, an emperor dressed as an eagle and an Aztec priest. Rico hopes the images will demystify the Aztec symbols. The goal of San Anto's mural program is to help develop an understanding and appreciation for neglected communities, says Manuel Castillo, executive director of the group that provides free cultural arts programming. It was established in 1993 and is supported by Inner City Development Inc., a nonprofit group, a community-based, family services agency. For Krystal Gonzalez, a 15-year-old Burbank High School sophomore who participated in the painting, the process was an educational one. "This was about learning the heritage, learning a little bit more about what they really don't teach you in class," she says. She was one of the many students recruited by Rico and San Anto Cultural Arts officials who visited local schools and community centers to find volunteers. Gonzalez' sister Udanna, 18, says the mural is a source of pride. "It's pretty cool to know that we helped out with this," she says. "In a few years we'll stop by and it'll still be there, and I can say I helped out with it." The mural also provided at-risk students a self-esteem building opportunity, officials and participants say. George R. Braun, owner of the Auge Building, says, "They put tremendous hard work into it. It's good to see young people doing something positive. You hear so much about young people getting into trouble. It's good to see a different side of the story. "It's important because (the mural) has to do with the heritage of the people who live in the community, and there needs to be a whole lot more of it, not only for Mexican-Americans but for the Germans and other nationalities that make up San Antonio. There are a lot of stories to tell."
"When you have these types of projects, you help break stereotypes," Castillo says. "You create something and when you have some 66 people from the community helping with it, it helps the whole community." The mural participants developed talent they were not aware they had, Castillo says. In the process, they gain "respect for neighborhood and an understanding of history and of their own background."
Last year, Rico completed another mural project, "Viva Cesar Chavez 1927-1993: Basta con la Violencia," at Nogalitos and Glass streets. "That mural depicted the life of Chavez and his belief in non- violence," he says. "The message is not just for gangs, it is for anyone who believe in stopping any violence and believing in what Chavez stood for." Rico, 28, graduated from Brackenridge High School and studied art at San Antonio College.
The Metaform Collaborative @ The San Antonio Public Library
(1998-2001-2002)
Segundo De Febrero @ Centro Cultural Aztlan 2009-Present
Dia De Los Muertos @ Centro Cultural Aztlan 2009-Present
Celebracion De La Virgen De Guadalupe @ Centro Cultural Aztlan
(2009-Present)
Una Noche De Arte Chicano April 2010-March 2011
Collaborated with Pedro H. Flores
SAN ANTONIO CURRENT
5/11/2011
Visual Arts Manny Castillo retrospective at Museo Alameda
by Scott Andrews
Manny Castillo is reported to have remarked, “I’ve done everything I wanted to do,” before he succumbed to cancer at the age of 40 in 2009. The exhibit “Manuel Castillo: The Painting of a Community,” on view to August 31 at Museo Alameda, presents 16 works by 19 artists who worked with Castillo. Their tribute is proof of an ample life. What started as a community art project for the organization Inner City Development became Castillo’s life work, San Anto Cultural Arts. The mural project he began on the Westside has now completed 40 masterpieces.
The exhibit chronicles Castillo’s life as an artist/activist, but has traces of his personal life, too. Perhaps they weren’t all that far apart. Set in vitrines are mementos from Castillo’s work with San Anto and proclamations dedicated to him from the City of San Antonio and State of Texas, displayed as if part of a commemorative altar. Video of his band performing is placed next to his drum set and dual turntable dub mixer; band posters and a jacket emblazoned “Taco Land, TX” are nearby. Copies of the neighborhood newspaper El Placazo, founded by Castillo, abound. The heart of the exhibit, though, is the collection of paintings by San Anto muralistas who worked with Castillo, each painting paired with a photograph of a mural that they directed as lead. By Adriana Garcia is Confrontation of Self. The self-portrait, covered with red and blue veins and arteries, is painted in an almost classical style (save for the see-through skin). The palette echoes the colors of her mural Brighter Days, redolent in azure and gold at the Paul Elizondo Clinic on Zarzamora.
Pushing another part of traditional Chicano mural stylings is Israel Rico, whose use of pre-Columbian motifs is seen in both his Legends Aztecas mural on Brazos Street and The Azteca Tree, an acrylic on view next to the mural photo. Depictions of strife and redemption are common themes in the San Anto murals, which are foremost community art projects that speak publicly to the neighborhood. Though designed by a lead artist, the murals are executed by crews, and receive public input through the process. The conventions of Chicano Movement painting — social realist figuration and symbolic decorative elements representing notions of mexicanidad — abound.
The personal artwork by the San Anto muralistas at the exhibit, mostly paintings, present a broader range of forms, ranging from Cruz Ortiz’s text on foil banner to composite graphic design and expressionist figuration. San Anto mural coordinator Ruth Buentello’s taste for the latter is seen in her canvas of a mother and child, rendered without the fastidiousness often found in Westside realism. Broad, fat strokes of muted color are mixed with a judicious use of paint drips to convey a conventional scene in fresh manner; the unnamed piece is one of the most painterly in the exhibit, demonstrating a deft, confident hand. In contrast to the tender scene, the photo of Buentello’s mural Piedad, located at Colorado and Buena Vista, shows a dark montage of violence. The police cruiser, shackled hands, and looming oilrigs might be found in a panel from a graphic crime novel about West Texas.
A stylized graphic cutaway heart accompanies a photo of Alex Rubio’s lush, accomplished low rider mural. Sections of the illustration are numbered; a key reveals different areas of the heart named as people. Rubio, who directs the student art program MOSAIC at Blue Star Contemporary Arts, has devoted much energy to San Anto murals.
The photographs of murals would benefit by being larger, but even as small prints they are key to the show’s success. The pairing of studio painting and murals maps the city in a personal way that lets us see through Manny’s eyes.
5-11-12* Borrowed from SA Current Magazine
5/11/2011
Visual Arts Manny Castillo retrospective at Museo Alameda
by Scott Andrews
Manny Castillo is reported to have remarked, “I’ve done everything I wanted to do,” before he succumbed to cancer at the age of 40 in 2009. The exhibit “Manuel Castillo: The Painting of a Community,” on view to August 31 at Museo Alameda, presents 16 works by 19 artists who worked with Castillo. Their tribute is proof of an ample life. What started as a community art project for the organization Inner City Development became Castillo’s life work, San Anto Cultural Arts. The mural project he began on the Westside has now completed 40 masterpieces.
The exhibit chronicles Castillo’s life as an artist/activist, but has traces of his personal life, too. Perhaps they weren’t all that far apart. Set in vitrines are mementos from Castillo’s work with San Anto and proclamations dedicated to him from the City of San Antonio and State of Texas, displayed as if part of a commemorative altar. Video of his band performing is placed next to his drum set and dual turntable dub mixer; band posters and a jacket emblazoned “Taco Land, TX” are nearby. Copies of the neighborhood newspaper El Placazo, founded by Castillo, abound. The heart of the exhibit, though, is the collection of paintings by San Anto muralistas who worked with Castillo, each painting paired with a photograph of a mural that they directed as lead. By Adriana Garcia is Confrontation of Self. The self-portrait, covered with red and blue veins and arteries, is painted in an almost classical style (save for the see-through skin). The palette echoes the colors of her mural Brighter Days, redolent in azure and gold at the Paul Elizondo Clinic on Zarzamora.
Pushing another part of traditional Chicano mural stylings is Israel Rico, whose use of pre-Columbian motifs is seen in both his Legends Aztecas mural on Brazos Street and The Azteca Tree, an acrylic on view next to the mural photo. Depictions of strife and redemption are common themes in the San Anto murals, which are foremost community art projects that speak publicly to the neighborhood. Though designed by a lead artist, the murals are executed by crews, and receive public input through the process. The conventions of Chicano Movement painting — social realist figuration and symbolic decorative elements representing notions of mexicanidad — abound.
The personal artwork by the San Anto muralistas at the exhibit, mostly paintings, present a broader range of forms, ranging from Cruz Ortiz’s text on foil banner to composite graphic design and expressionist figuration. San Anto mural coordinator Ruth Buentello’s taste for the latter is seen in her canvas of a mother and child, rendered without the fastidiousness often found in Westside realism. Broad, fat strokes of muted color are mixed with a judicious use of paint drips to convey a conventional scene in fresh manner; the unnamed piece is one of the most painterly in the exhibit, demonstrating a deft, confident hand. In contrast to the tender scene, the photo of Buentello’s mural Piedad, located at Colorado and Buena Vista, shows a dark montage of violence. The police cruiser, shackled hands, and looming oilrigs might be found in a panel from a graphic crime novel about West Texas.
A stylized graphic cutaway heart accompanies a photo of Alex Rubio’s lush, accomplished low rider mural. Sections of the illustration are numbered; a key reveals different areas of the heart named as people. Rubio, who directs the student art program MOSAIC at Blue Star Contemporary Arts, has devoted much energy to San Anto murals.
The photographs of murals would benefit by being larger, but even as small prints they are key to the show’s success. The pairing of studio painting and murals maps the city in a personal way that lets us see through Manny’s eyes.
5-11-12* Borrowed from SA Current Magazine
Clear Channel Outdoor Communications of San Antonio
Clear Channel Digital Art Billboard Galley (Nov- Dec 2011)
Painting Used “Azteca Road” (2010)
2012
OLLU Best of the West (2012-2013)
Una Noche De La Gloria (2012-2018)
FACEBOOK (2014)
Lynda Carter marking like on My Mujer Maramuerte II Painting On her Facebook Page on 10-9-2014
Thank You Mrs. Carter!
2014-Present
Published Works (2012-Present)
"Roses Do Not Blossom Overnite"
(2012)
Poetry Book by Lisa Marie Dominguez
"En La Punta de la Lengua- A Filo de La Imagen"
(2012)
Book On Gender Studies Against Women Book Limited to 700 Copies
Texas Monthly May 18, 2017
Artist Expression Magazine October 4, 2020
TELEVISED MEDIA
ABC Television Broadcast The 2014 NBA FINALS
Leyendas Aztecas Mural
(Shown in segments)
Game 1 Pregame Show Original broadcast date June 5, 2014
Game 5 (during 1st Commercial Break)
Original broadcast date June 16, 2014
Killing Lounge Interview June 2015
Que Onda Show with Dee Dee Blase Interview August 2015
KSAT 12 Interview On Fiesta Medal April 2019
All art Copyright to Israel Rico
Images may not be used without the artists consent
Images may not be used without the artists consent