Israel Campos
Our Lady of Angels
at The UCSC Contemporary Print Media Research Center, Baskin Art Studio G111
Exhibition dates: May 24 – 26, 2018
Reception with the artist: Friday, May 25, 4:00pm – 6:00pm
The Art Department and the Contemporary Print Media Research Center proudly present a solo exhibition of the work of Israel Campos entitled Our Lady of Angels. Our visiting artist and a UCSC alumnus, Israel Campos will show recent works, including new prints exploring the contemporary cultural landscape of Santa Cruz and its transformation since he was a student here. Cities across the country are experiencing a deep changes driven by an affluent class. Israel has investigated whether Santa Cruz is experiencing some of the same drastic changes currently taking place in Los Angeles.
Campos is a California-born artist currently living and working in Los Angeles. His work primarily draws on his experiences living in Los Angeles as well as Mexican traditions and contemporary social issues. He is heavily influenced by his upbringing in a community of first-generation Mexican immigrants and the relationship of his community with an ever-changing urban landscape. The Los Angeles he draws upon is heavily industrial and predominantly working class, where the sunshine and palm trees of the city provide a backdrop for sewing machines and 18- wheelers. Israel synthesizes and explores American and Mexican Cultures in his work as a reflection of the same cultural fusion happening throughout the city.
Israel graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2011, developing his practice as a print media artist. He later acquired n MFA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work is in the permanent collections of the Kohler Art Library, the Zuckerman Museum of Art, and the Oregon College of Art and Craft. He has exhibited in venues across the country, including the ArtHelix Gallery in New York City, the Ronna snd Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art in Portland, Oregon, and the Juanita Lowe Art Gallery in Imperial, California.