Driving around the valley, I kept noticing these particular murals with geometric patterns and colors that were so eye catching, I was curious as what artist was painting these amazing bodys of work and I wanted to know more.  Meet John Cuevas! 

 

Q:  What is your full name and where are you from?

 A:  My name is John Cuevas and I live and work in the Coachella Valley.  The 10 FWY is my Nile river, so I consider that conduit, that flow, where I'm from.  When you're from Southern California, territory is vast.

 

Q:  How did you get into art?

 A:  I think it happened by prioritizing the act of looking.  I say I think because I started drawing and painting at a very young age so I can't remember a time I wasn't into Art.  Growing up in Southern California, we are surrounded by Art; there are countless Museums and Galleries and the streets are bursting with Art.  Art is a part of the daily fabric here.  When I was about 2-5 years old, my family lived in Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles.  The Murals in East Los Angeles definitely loom large in my circle of influence.  The generosity and influence they hold by being accessible 24 hour a day, everyday, makes them an unparalleled power source.  

 

Q:  How did you learn the techniques you use for your murals and your style of painting?

 

 A:  Trial and error, but to be honest it's just trial.  I learned quickly that there are no mistakes in a conversation that is self directed and exploratory.  

 

Q:  What would you describe as your style?

 A:  Hmm, style? ...maybe a hoarder/collector of curiosities.  I"m definitely influenced by flatness.  Takashi Murakami's "Super Flat" dissertation resonates with me.  It just makes visual sense to engage with a phenomenology of materials in a way that acknowledges the expansive breadth of human cultural production.  I love Minimalism, but I also feel like it was convenient at the time.  The 1950's -70's was teaming with political change in America; pushing an Art that asked us to ignore representation felt a lot like an ostrich with its head in the ground.  

 

Q:  What inspires you?

 A:  People inspire me.  It's kind of funny that I'm being so hard on Minimalism, because I love it.  I think it was just convenient and used.   A lot of my current work is pure geometric abstraction too.  But in the weirdest way, when I'm painting these geometric abstractions I take into consideration people and their skin tones and what will complement them.  I'm fascinated by my subject being a future collaboration; it's endemic to art in the age of social media.  I do need to paint more people. It's on my to do list.  

Q:  What would be the ultimate goal for you to achieve as an artist?

 A:  I'm riding that wave right now.  Thriving as an Artist is my ultimate goal; that's enough.  But I get there by listening to people and allowing myself to be both creator and collaborator.  I'm an agent of change and transformation; amorphous like a storm.

Q:  What is your purpose in this lifetime?

 A:  I feel the purpose as it travels through, like a river.  I can't define it, but I know when I'm ignoring it.  I have this feeling that If I ignore the passion of creativity it will flow past me.  Inspiration must  be kinetic, potential energy will find a way to be kinetic everytime.  If you're not running, it will pass by.  So I run; I'm a javelin thrown, that is all I wish to be. 

 

Q:  I ask this in all of my interviews:  What is a question you wish I had asked you and answer it 

  What Artists do you love? I eat so much Art, digest it and collect it.  My influences are like an Amazon warehouse and here are a few (in no particular order): Takashi Murakami, Gabriel Orosco, Margaret Killgallen, Bridget Riley, Marc Rothko, Jean Michel Basquiat, Carlos Ramirez, Hilma AF Klimt, Vincent Van Gogh, Agnes Pelton, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Utagawa Hiroshige,  Edward Vulliard, Jose Luis Cuevas, Andy Warhol, Rufino Tamayo, Walt Disney, Peter Doig and Hayao Miyazaki to name a few.