
"There was a time when artists were feared for what they could do with brushes and paint."
-Pablo Picasso
Born in 1972, Gene spent the first 18 years of his life raised in the Valley of Española, New Mexico. During that time he developed himself as a scholar, an athlete and an artist. Although his scholastic and athletic abilities were gifts from others, his art....was all his own.
Growing up in Española, he was surrounded by art everywhere, from the Indian art of the pueblos surrounding the Valley, to the many artists throughout Santa Fe and Taos. Even with all this artistry around him, art did not start coursing through his veins until around the age of 13. After seeing sketches that his friends created on their notebooks in school, he became envious of their abilities. He decided instead of being a follower and asking his friends to draw for him, he would be a leader and challenge himself to create his own images. He began with sketches of lettering and images from album covers of his favorite rock bands, as well as portraits of his favorite athletes. Soon thereafter, his friends were asking for copies of his drawings so they could hang on their walls. With what he felt was some early success he pressed on to more diverse and difficult techniques and subjects. Armed with nothing more than a pencil, paper, paint and canvas he would repeat in his head, “draw what you see”, which has been his mantra ever since.
Under the pressure of some of his friends, he enrolled in the school’s one art class the following year. Alongside two of his friends in the class, here is where he completed what he considers his first mural measuring 5 feet by 5 feet. A far cry from what his next mural would be years later. Although the class was meaningful to him, he still felt like he had more to give than what his instructor was allowing him to do, so he pressed on at his own speed outside of class exploring new images and styles.
Although he continued exploring on his own over the years, as he entered high school he focused on being an athlete. As a senior in high school, again under some prodding from his friends, he enrolled in the school’s advanced art class. Most students and teachers only knew him as an athlete and not an artist, so during the end of the year art show, teachers and fellow students alike were blown away by his portraits and nudes he had created during that time. Although he was learning, he still felt somewhat stifled by the structured approach of a classroom, but the fire burning in his veins for art was still bright, so he set out once again to continue teaching himself.
As he entered college he again tried to learn from an institution and enrolled in a art technique class at the college he was attending. Still not satisfied with the pace, never mind the control of the instructor trying to tell him what and how to draw, he used the class as practice for the ideas and images pulsing in his heart. Barely passing the class, he again felt like he had been handcuffed by the process of learning in a formal setting, and again set out on his own path to explore and learn.
In 1997, he graduated college with a degree in Civil Engineering and moved to San Francisco, CA for a job. With a massive art scene in the area, he was still creating art on his own and spent a lot of time focusing on viewing what other successful artists on display in the area were creating. It was during this time he stumbled upon an album by Los Lobos called “La Pistola y el Corazòn”. The cover art of the album just jumped off the cover and punched him in the face like a right cross. He was floored by the image of a man and women in a sensual embrace depicted as skeletons, the woman holding a pistol and the man’s heart illuminated in bright red. Once he got up from this knockout blow he realized this is how and what he wanted to paint. The style and subject were what he had been searching for all those years he was teaching himself. He researched the painting and discovered it was created by the chicano painter and muralist from East Los Angeles named George Yepes, whom he met later that year. All he could do for the next few years was study George’s art on his website in an effort to untangle the images he created with what was obvious passion. During a business trip to San Antonio, TX, he would have the opportunity to meet George again and visit his studio where he was painting at the time. Words could not describe what he saw in the “monsters lair” during that visit. The fire in his veins was now burning stronger than ever after having seen this modern day master’s work up close. This one visit set in motion the opportunity for him to study under George for years to come as a member of the Academia de Yepes.
Fast forward to 2006 when Gene had been relocated to Los Angeles for work and had continuously been exploring new images and painting techniques. He was visiting George’s website one day to see if anything new had been posted which he could study. There on the website was a call for artists for a mural project in Pasadena, CA as part of the Academia de Yepes. Although he had been in contact with George for a few years now, he saw this as a chance to continue to learn from the one artist that had floored him. Knowing this was an opportunity he could not pass up, he once again contacted George to ask if it would be possible for him to participate as a member of the Academia mural team, and without hesitation the answer was a resounding “yes”. This was the kick in the ass he had been looking for, to take what had been coursing through his veins over the years and unleash it onto canvas through paint and brush. As a member of the Academia de Yepes, for the next 3 months the team created a 340 foot long by 10 feet high mural for NASA. Following that project, he remained part of Gerge’s studio for the next two years, and under the instruction of el Maestro Yepes, he painted another mural for a downtown Los Angeles building. More importantly, during that short two year timeframe, he learned about painting what would otherwise take a lifetime.
Armed with this new arsenal of so much more than just painting skills, he continued his own designs and paintings on a more prolific level. The fire kept burning within him to dig deeper and go further. In a short period following his time at George’s studio, he completed several commission paintings and sold several to collectors as part of gallery shows in East Los Angeles. The fire was growing inside him and he continually challenged himself with new subjects and designs. He continued to sell and enter new gallery shows, hanging tough next to some of the best chicano artists around.
After being transferred for a short stint of work in Washington, DC, Gene relocated back to the Valley of Española in 2011. Having felt like a caged panther for the last year as he painted but did not exhibit, he was now ready to attack a new audience with the images and icons that constantly burn in his veins. He has come full circle to where it all started 25 years ago with a notebook sketch.