Ed Fuentes lives and works in the Artists District of Downtown Los Angeles.  He recently combined his background in graphic design with his “working hobby” of photography to create a series of digital collage public art installations with Mexican Mural narrative.

After exploring his own personal influences having being raised in Casa Blanca, a Riverside, California barrio that has it’s identity defined for 100 years, he has merged his personal and professional influences to create his own body of work called “Bookmarks: People and Place in Public Space. “Bookmarks: Family Reunion” appeared at La Prensa’s Fiesta De La Famila in October, 2005. Currently “Bookmarks: Quiet Heroes” is in installation at the Casa Blanca Family Learning Center.  In addition, he is currently creating a photo essay of the Historic Core in Los Angeles that will go into his personal mural piece “Angels Over Broadway,.” and a mural entitled the "History of Casa Blanca."

"The tradition of story telling in public space is a part of a Latino fine art movement that is soon to be a century old," states Fuentes. "Any form of public art that is presented to community is an opportunity to identify and interpret a cultural landscape.”

In his abstract, Fuentes noted that “The  specialized discipline known as ‘public art’ includes a myriad of practices and approaches to making and placing art and images outside  conventional art  spaces, such as museums and galleries.  In this depicted image, the orange depicted is ripe from harvest; it has the ghosted image of those working in the fields.  The hands of children will line the bottom, as if lifting the work from the ground.”

From 1996 to 2003, Ed assisted in the development of works as a contributing artist at SPARC under the Artistic Direction of Judith Baca, while doing graphic and advertising design for clients including Variety, NBC, Fuji Film, and the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation.

Fuentes attended Riverside Community College, California State University, Fullerton, and Loma Linda University.

Orange Picture by: Carla Conti Bender

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Giant Orange Artist  - Ed Fuentes
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