The irresistible impulse to paint that Alfredo de Batuc has felt since he was a child, I don’t know, has been taken away by Guillain Barré, the syndrome that attacked him ago 16 years, and that practically left him disabled. And although his mobility has improved, he still feels trapped and limited in continuing to fully develop as an artist.
That hasn’t stopped him from his numerous jobs, many of them with the recurring theme of Los Angeles, continue to be exhibited in different collective exhibitions, and you can also go to Hollywood to admire the Dolores del Río Mural.
A couple of works by Alfredo “Cometas sobre la Mayoría” by 1985 and “7 Views of the Town Hall” by 1989, can be seen in the LA Memo Chicana/o Art exhibition at LA Plaza de la Cultura and the Arts that it exhibits 38 works by 31 artists, made between 1972 and 1989, as a result of the Chicano Moratorium, the movement against the Vietnam War, police brutality and civil rights that impacted art in Los Angeles.
Alfredo was born as an artist in Hermosillo, Sonora, a city that he considers the center of his world.
“I started drawing and making lines on paper before going to kindergarten without anyone telling me. I discovered that I had the ability to create images.”
It was others who told him he was good at drawing.
“It was mainly my father, who discovered that I had an irresistible urge to draw.”
The first thing he drew with chalk before going to kindergarten were the letters of the Pepsi Cola soft drink.
“I had no concept of the letters, I just followed the outline and I got almost the same. My father saw it and said, you know how to draw.”
As he grew older, his interest in plastic arts, painting and drawing drawing was older.
“I started taking classes at the university, and devouring anything related to the plastic arts. In the library I found art books, and I immersed myself in what others were doing”.
Their desire to develop as an artist found them limited in Sonora, and It was when he decided to emigrate to a place where there were exhibitions, art museums and more cultural activity.
“I tried to go to Mexico City, but Los Angeles is closer to Hermosillo than Mexico City; and here he had relatives”.
In 1975, to the 25 years old, Alfredo arrived in the city of Los Angeles.
One of the first things he did when he arrived was to go to work, not necessarily in what he liked the most.
“I worked with prekindergarten children and was a teacher’s assistant for three years,” she recalls.
Of course, he wasted no time and while he earned a living working as a teacher, he continued with his art classes.
So a year after arriving in Los Angeles, began to participate in exhibitions. “Little by little I became known and they called me to more collective and individual exhibitions.”
Alfredo’s works are inscribed within of figurative art that represents objects and things that exist in reality, unlike abstract art that does not offer any identifiable figure.
His works are full of multiple philosophical, political, social, spiritual and spiritual meanings. erotic, and often have a satirical streak with a playful sense of humor or playful irreverence.
A constant in his work
A constant figure in the work of this Mexican artist is the City Hall or City Hall of Los Angeles. Alfredo has dozens of works where the main actor is the municipal building built in 1600.
Why did the City Council captivate you so much?
“ When I arrived in Los Angeles in the 38, the art world revolved around New York. New York here, there. I wanted to mark the territory, and I tried to look for symbols that represented Los Angeles, and I came across the city hall building, which has a lot to offer, and represents everyone politically, for better or worse.”
And add whether you like it or not, architecturally the City Hall of LA is very interesting, and has been featured in many forms of popular culture such as TV shows and movies.
“Many people in other parts of the world do not identify it as a political building; and in LA there are those who do not know it and simply for them it is one more building; but for me, it is a unique building that was made in 1928, the era in which the Art Deco, the art of that moment”.
The mural of Dolores del Rio
In 1990, Alfredo de Batuc made the mural of Dolores del Río that can be found in 6528 on Hollywood Boulevard in the middle of Hollywood.
“The idea was born because there was a call to submit proposals for a mural, and the name of the call was ‘Pride for the Neighborhood, the place where you live’. I lived in Hollywood”.
When looking for a topic that was related to her neighborhood, she found that Dolores del Río (1904-1983) had been a superstar in Hollywood before moving to Mexico, and decided that she was going to be the center of that mural.
“She did many starring roles in Hollywood”.
Have you been able to make a living from art?
“Barely to survive and badly. Most of the time I have struggled to make ends meet.”
But she says that despite having a bad time, he feels lucky to be in the middle of it, constantly going to exhibitions and soaking up art.
“That is very satisfying. You suffer but you enjoy”, he laughs.
Guillain Barré
When the strange Guillain Barré syndrome attacked him, he says that he was left completely disabled without being able to move his limbs, so painting passed to the last degree of his desires .
“ What he wanted was to get me up, sit down, eat. The first 12 months, they had to feed me by mouth. My priorities completely changed ”.
Even when they have passed 16 years, Alfredo says that the hands they haven’t fully recovered his ability.
“I still have them crippled. I have improved but not to the point of being able to do everything I wanted”.
Can you paint?
“There are two things that are needed to paint, skill, and a large and ventilated space. I don’t have that space”.
And he mentions that one of the symptoms of Guillain Barré is absolute tiredness and extreme exhaustion with little movement.
“I’m kind of trapped, even if I can do something, I end up exhausted with a little exercise.”
Almost have passed 25 years since Alfredo left Hermosillo to come to Los Angeles following his I dream of being a plastic artist.
“I am never satisfied with what I have done, but I am happy with many of my works. I don’t know if I’ve become the artist I wanted to be, and I’m still here, even though I’d like to have more mobility, and not being able to do so is depressing and frustrating””.
For now, his priority is to regain his health and continue doing work.
“Painting is an intrinsic part of my being”.
The exhibition at LA PLaza de Cultura y Artes, in front of Placita Olvera is free and will be open until 14 of August; and has been organized by AltaMed and LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, and has the guest curatorship of Rafael Barrientos Martínez, curatorial assistant of AltaMed Collections.