Jul 162012
 
The Tenderloin/Polk Gulch
Austin at Polk
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American Indian Occupation by Jaque Fragua and Spencer Keaton Cunningham
Jaque Fragua is an acclaimed multi-media artist from New Mexico. From his cultural background, he has developed a yearning for creativity and for the intrinsic process that is Art. Experimenting with various mediums, such as aerosol, found-objects, earthworks, poetry, & music, messages of civil unrest, social justice, emotional introspection, and personal healing have heartened his unique perspective on life through art. Fragua has studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and in turn, has taught many community-based workshops, such as mural projects/public-art studies, and studio classes for figure drawing & painting. Fragua has worked with fine establishments such as Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Institute of American Indian Arts, & Museum of Indian Arts & Culture to produce progressive/innovative exhibits concerning the plight of Native America.
Spencer Keeton Cunningham (Nez Perce) is originally from Portland, Oregon and along with drawing and painting, he shoots experimental and documentary films. He graduated from SFAI with a BFA in Printmaking in May 2010. Spencer currently works at White Walls Gallery in Central San Francisco. Since 2010, Spencer has shown his prints and drawings internationally in Canada, and most recently Japan, all the while collaborating with Internationally recognized artists as ROA and Ben Eine.

  9 Responses to “American Indian Occupation in the Tenderloin”

  1. That’s quite a dramatic corner there! I like how the figure looks like he’s sitting on the red car in your second shot.

  2. This is wonderful – traditional but modern – fabulous!

  3. Good sequence – it looked from the first photo that he has sitting on the car and then when I first looked at the second photo I thought may be the car was part of the mural.

  4. Wonderful colors in the mural. I am glad you put the car in the foreground because it helps give the scene a sense of scale.

  5. I love the style of the clothing – it has a wonderful textured feeling. I like the inclusion of the turquoise skateboard. I am intrigued by the ” Occupied” sign.

  6. Your title set me back to the Indian occupation of Alcatraz. I knew one of the native people who was out on the island. The image is appealing and updated with the skateboard. But I notice he wrote “exhausted” in the corner. Maintaining one’s optimism and energy over the decades is a challenge to any activist. His art, however, still has an edge and seems plugged into the street art movement. Thanks for contributing to this week’s Monday Mural.

  7. That should read “sent” me back.”

  8. Very cool indeed!

  9. […] these gems. In fact, you can see the abstract wave/flame-ish one in the last photo. Anyway, the large person was done by Jaque Fragua and Spencer Keeton Cunningham. I like it in it’s weirdness and […]

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