CHAZ BOJORQUEZ The Art and Life of Chaz Bojórquez
Chaz Bojórquez has been an active artist for decades. His influence has been immense, not only through his work and technique but also through his attitude. Many would say that a thorough book about Chaz Bojórquez is well overdue, so it is really good to see that his work has finally been pulled together in such a detailed way.
Unlike many graf books that can leave you barely more informed on a subject than before you read them, this is a work that leaves you feeling knowledgeable with good insight about its featured artist. Unusually for an art book, it feels like a more equal weighting has been given to the text in relation to the images too. Don’t worry, there are plenty of photos to look at, but there is also a lot of detailed text to keep you busy reading.
The book begins with some introductory sections illustrated with plenty of photos from Bojórquez’s personal collection, numerous photos of him through the years, including action shots, great portraits of him dressed as his famous fedora-wearing skull character ‘Señor Suerte,’ and some excellent examples of his stylised, powerful Cholo graffiti roll calls painted on the streets and river bed of LA. The main part of this book is structured around an extremely in-depth interview that leaves no stone unturned. Alongside, are essays from Usugrow and Flycat.
The work covers Bojórquez’s life and work from graffiti, calligraphy, commercial work, philosophy and his ‘Señor Suerte’ character – which has been ‘adopted’ by ‘The Avenues’ gang as a life-protecting charm.
Slightly further on in the book the focus shifts from this broad range of elements in Bojórquez’s art and life to his fine art. Here each piece is given its own page so that the photographs can shine. Usefully, some of these images have accompanying comments from Bojórquez that help explain all the involved symbols and meanings properly. There is also a whole section given over to examples of Bojórquez’s stunning calligraphy and Cholo-style letters, a key element to his work.
In summary, this is a good-looking book with great depth and context from the artist himself. Highly recommended. –Sami Montague
For more images and information go to: www.chazbojorquez.com
