Luis Jiménez

Luis Jimenez or Luis A. Jiménez, Jr. (July 30, 1940 – June 13, 2006) was an American sculptor of Mexican descent. He was born in El Paso, Texas, and died in New Mexico. He studied art and architecture at the University of Texas in Austin and El Paso, earning a bachelor's degree in 1964. He moved to New York City in 1966 after completing his post-graduate work at Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, D.F. He became an accomplished artist and taught art at the University of Arizona and later the University of Houston.

Career

For over 30 years, Jimenez produced a consistent body of work informed by his highly developed craft skills, knowledge of art history and his own placement in time. Jimenez was known for his large polychromed fiberglass sculptures usually of Southwestern and Hispanic themes. His works were often controversial and eminently recognizable because of their themes and the bright, colorful undulating surfaces that Jiménez employed. John Yau observes that one of the underlying reasons his public sculptures have been controversial is because he keeps bringing into view that which has been overlooked; he keeps reminding us that our history is made up of many points of view, many tales and tellings. A reexamination of the context and purpose of public sculpture and the making (writing) and remaking (rewriting) of the untold tales and popular myths about the formation of the continually changing American West. He was influenced by the murals of José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera. Jimenez is very much a contemporary artist whose roots are in pop art, as much as they are in both the modernism of the Mexican muralists and the regionalism of Benton and Grant Wood. Heroic sculptures are Mr. Jimenez’ forte, but his art is for the people. Proud of his Chicano heritage and working-class background, he champions the common man. Working in his father's shop, making neon signs, as well as lowrider car culture, featuring brightly painted fiberglass bodywork, were also artistic influences. He unapologetically finds his images in stereotypes and magnifies those stereotypes into a kind of celebration. As much as anything, what makes Jimenez’ sculpture alive, what makes it sculptural, it also gives life to Olmec heads, Aztec serpents, and the statues of Rodin, and the totems of David Smith: movement.

In 1993, he was a recipient of the New Mexico Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts. In 1998 he received a Distinguished Alumni award from the University of Texas in recognition of his artwork.

His eldest daughter lives in New York, where she creates fashions designs. Jiménez's daughter Elisa is a multimedia artist and fashion designer and was a contestant on Season 4 of Bravo's reality television series Project Runway.

Works

• Assyrian Lion, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, 2004
• Man on Fire, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC, 1969
• Progress I, Albuquerque Museum, New Mexico, 1974
• Vaquero, Moody Park, Houston, Texas, 1980
• Sodbuster, Wichita State university as part of the Ulrich Museum of art outdoor sculpture collection, 1980–81
• Honky Tonk, Wichita State University as part of the Ulrich Museum, 1981
• Southwest Pieta, Longfellow Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1983 (declared a national treasure by President Bill Clinton in 1999).
• Howl, Albuquerque Museum, New Mexico and Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, 1986.
• Border Crossing/Cruzando el Rio Bravo, Santa Fe, New Mexico and Los Angeles, California, 1989.
• Steelworker, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama, 1990.
• Fiesta Jarabe, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
• Cleveland Fallen Firefighters Memorial, Cleveland, OH, 2006.
• Blue Mustang, Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado,
• Los Lagartos, Downtown, El Paso, Texas, 1993

Death

Jimenez died in an accident at age of 65 in his studio in Hondo, New Mexico on June 13, 2006, when a large section of his 32-foot-high work Blue Mustang, intended for Denver International Airport, fell on him and severed an artery in his leg. The sculpture was based on the eight-foot-high sculpture Mesteño (Mustang), on display at the University of Oklahoma.

Collections