Object Record
Images
Metadata
Artist |
Federico Villalba |
Title |
Bici Rider #1 of Saipan |
Date |
2015 |
Medium |
Photograph print |
Dimensions |
H-20 W-24.5 inches |
Dimensions |
20" x 24.5" |
Description |
Federico Villalba Bici Rider #1 of Saipan, 2015 Photography print on paper, 20" x 24.5" Mexic-Arte Museum Collection 2020.2.289.1 Gift of Juan Antonio Sandoval Jr. Taller 75 Grados, Mexico City, MX Desert Triangle Print Carpeta "Bici Rider #1 of Saipan is my Desert Triangle serigraph, which originated with the crisp click of my camera’s shutter, while covering a grassroots rally in May 2014 to save the historic Lincoln Center in El Paso, Texas, from the destructive swing of a wrecking ball for new freeway construction. The still photograph has been featured in several art exhibitions in the photography form. My friend, Karl Whiataker, asked to use the image for a print created by maestro Arturo Negrete and his team at Mexico City’s Taller 75 Grados. The print features Luis (Tego), a young Chicano bicycle enthusiast proudly resting on his beautiful blue and chrome, three-wheel custom lowrider bike in the midst of Lincoln Park, an urban jungle playground of grass and freeway concrete pillars adorned with colorful art murals with Mexican American themes. The area has become a center of the celebration of Chicano culture, art, and heritage with its Chicano-themed murals and events like the annual Lincoln Park Day, featuring lowriders cars and bicycles, art, music, dance, and attire. It is El Paso’s flavor of San Diego’s famous Chicano Park. Lincoln Center and Park are located under several feeder arteries in the I-10/54 "Spaghetti Bowl'' freeway exchange area, historically known as Concordia and Saipan. Lincoln Center, the last remaining structure from El Paso’s past, was a training camp for Buffalo Soldiers (1860’s) and the first non-segregated school, admitting Mexican American and Black students (1915). The summer when I took the photograph of Luis, the issue of Lincoln Center’s future had reached a fevered pitch, involving the Texas Department of Transportation, El Paso City Council, multiple car clubs, and several grassroots neighborhood groups, like Save Lincoln Center and Lincoln Park Conservation Committee. El Paso is my home base to wander the US/Mexico border. My street photography art tends to focus on visually documenting the things – dimples and blemishes – that make life along "la frontera" so colorful and unique. The debate on the future of Lincoln Center is still ongoing." – Federico Villalba |
Object Name |
Photograph |
Search Terms |
Border El Paso Bicycle |
Object Number |
2020.2.289.1 |
Collection |
Juan Antonio Sandoval Jr. Collection |