Francisco Palomares
May 2023 | New Voices
4th Street Wholesale, 2023, oil, grip tape on canvas, 48 x 60 inches
“I am mixing my past, present, and future: a first-generation Mexican-American who grew up in a working-class community of house cleaners, and strives to succeed in the art world.”
—Francisco Palomares
Editor-in-Chief Amanda Quinn Olivar speaks with the young Mexican-American artist about his life, work, and current exhibition at Bermudez Projects in Los Angeles.
Francisco Palomares is a first-generation native Angelino—the son of immigrant parents from Michoacan, Uruapan.
Palomares's passion for art began from observing the murals painted by Chicano artists around his neighborhood of East L.A. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the California State University of Long Beach. After graduating, Palomares opened his first art studio in Boyle Heights, PalomaresBLVD—a fictional street where he re-envisions Los Angeles by inviting viewers to take the stage with him in storytelling.
Palomares's artwork has been featured on Telemundo, Spectrum News, and in the L.A. Times. Recent gallery and museum exhibitions include Craft in America, Los Angeles Mexican Consulate, and Armory Center. He is a recipient of the L.A. Lakers In the Paint competition and is an artist in residence at Quinn Emmanuel Law Firm.
Amanda Quinn Olivar: How would you describe the unique style and themes present in your art?
Francisco Pamares: My artwork is a visual diary inspired by Renaissance art. I intertwine traditional oil painting techniques with Mexican elements to document my experiences as an Angeleno. I paint still lives, landscapes, and portraits to celebrate the richness of historically marginalized communities. In celebrating my Mexican-American culture, I challenge politicized notions of immigration, the public realm, identity, and Machismo to eliminate stereotypes.
AQO: How did your upbringing in East L.A. and your studies in Italy and China influence your art-making… and what informs it today?
FP: Growing up in East L.A. was unique. As an only child and a first-generation Mexican-American, my neighborhood educated me in the history of Hispanics in Southern California. This gave me a sense of pride, identity, and community. Instead of Picassos and Warhols, I saw murals about family, U.S.-Mexican history, and ancestral roots. The art I saw daily on the street inspired me to be an artist. My community had Los Four, Carlos Almaraz, Gilbert “Magu” Sanchez Lujan, Roberto de la Rocha, and Frank Romero. These artists communicated to me that art was, and continues to be, a powerful tool for sharing our histories of resistance and resilience.
When I got to study in Italy and China, it was an opportunity to get out of my comfort zone. It challenged my studio practice. I was in unknown countries and had to discover the source of my inspiration. Using the drawing/painting exercises I learned back home, I created distinct bodies of work that feel authentic to me in describing my experience in these brand-new lands.
Today I live and work between Downtown and East Los Angeles. I recently relocated my art studio to Boyle Heights with OG Frank Romero, and I live in the gentrified area of the Arts District. These opposites inspire my current work. On one side of the bridge, I am immersed in wealth and fine dining, and across the bridge, folks are surviving. I think of the quote by Queen Victoria, “Beware of artists. They mix with all classes of society and are, therefore, the most dangerous.” My presence in any of America’s institutions can be seen as a celebration and protest of the status quo.
Alameda Street, 2023, acrylic, oil, grip tape on canvas, 47 x 60 inches
AQO: Please talk about your painting process and how you approach your work.
FP: I tell stories through my paintings. I have two processes:
One is plein air painting. I take a small easel into the city for urban and scenic landscapes. Plein air painting allows me to practice my favorite painting techniques from artists like Claude Monet and Wayne Thiebaud.
My second process is working from photographs in my studio. I use public transportation and a bike to get around. Through this perspective, I experience the city very intimately. I begin to see beauty in spaces the public is too busy to notice. I’ll be commuting and suddenly will have a vision for a painting. A building, person, or car will catch my eye, and I’ll envision a story.
Brujo Mayor, 2023, oil on canvas, 36 x 42 inches
AQO: I'm excited to learn about your solo exhibition No Parking on PalomaresBLVD, at Bermudez Projects in Los Angeles…
FP: No Parking on PalomaresBLVD tells how I became an artist. I'll be exhibiting landscapes of East and Downtown L.A. that influenced my childhood. My still lives are ofrendas to mothers like mine. I am mixing my past, present, and future: a first-generation Mexican-American who grew up in a working-class community of house cleaners, and strives to succeed in the art world.
My paintings of piñatas export my culture out of my East L.A. neighborhood into the white walls of America. Piñatas are my prize possessions—they hold cultural symbolism.
Piñata in 17th Century Landscape, 2022, oil on canvas, 60 x 72 inches
Guapo, 2019, oil on canvas, 32 x 32 inches
AQO: Choose a piece in your show and tell us the story behind it.
FP: ‘Mariposas, Escobas, y Flores’ is a conversation between my mom and me. It is an oil painting of a bouquet in the style of a 17th Century Dutch floral still life. Aside from the decorative flowers, I've inserted cleaning supplies like mops, sponges, globes, and butterflies that my mom used at her job.
When I was a little boy, I remember going on errands with my mom to the flower district in DTLA to decorate the home. During this trek, we would encounter paintings of decorative flowers, and she would say, "You should do paintings like these; people would purchase them." That was the type of artwork she would like to see.
While I enjoyed those decorative paintings, they weren't authentic to me. I lived in a working-class community of janitors, warehouse workers, and house cleaners. In my teens, my mom started her own business cleaning homes. She has been successful and hired additional employees.
The monarch butterflies represent me and how it is in my DNA to want to migrate to my ancestral roots in Mexico. The cleaning supplies showcase the community I grew up in, and painting in a classical Dutch still life is my future of being in the fine art world.
Mariposas, Escobas, y Flores, 2022, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches
AQO: What's your current obsession?
FP: Chocolate and coffee. I can't get enough.
AQO: What is your favorite art accident?
FP: The ones I make, and nobody notices.
Francisco Palomares in his studio, 2023
Francisco Palomares
No Parking on PalomaresBLVD
Bermudez Projects
Los Angeles
April 22 — May 13, 2023