A LIFE IN PRINT XAVIER VIRAMONTES: PRINTMAKER DOCUMENTARY

A LIFE IN PRINT

XAVIER VIRAMONTES: PRINTMAKER

DOCUMENTARY

A LIFE IN PRINT is a profile of printmaker Xavier Viramontes, one of the most influential artists of our time and a founding member of Galeria de la Raza. His iconoclast silk screen poster, Boycott Grapes, for the United Farmworkers rallied a nation and galvanized the Chicano movement in art. The documentary showcases the man at work in his studio interwoven with a retrospective of his art.

At one of the countries largest printmaking departments at City College of San Francisco Xavier has been teaching since 1980. In 2012 Xavier retired. His printmaking technical mastery has touched and guided countless people in the medium of printmaking. The viewer has rare access to the technically complex and artistically challenging process of multiple plate etchings. Xavier provides an in-depth demo of the entire printmaking process taking the viewer step by step from concept to a completed hand-pulled print.

WELCOME

A retrospect gallery of his art work from 1970 to the present with contributions by Andrew Connors Senior Curator for the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Juan Fuentes Director of Mission Grafica, Art Hazelwood Curator and printmaker, Patricia Rodriguez Curator of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, and Rene Yanez co-founder of Galeria de la Raza, open up an understanding of the artist’s world view and personal vision expressed over time. We view Xavier’s early works of painting, silk screening, evolving into single plate etchings to his current multiple plate etchings. From the political to the personal exploring tradition, personal identity, community and the rituals of a Chicano family.

Also featured are the works of over 50 San Francisco based artists, including Dr. Amalia Mesa-Bains, Victor Cartagena, Timothy W. Drescher, Juan R. Fuentes, Rupert Garcia, Ester Hernandez, Pirkle Jones, Carlos Loarca, Yolanda M. Lopez, Ralph Maradiaga, Emmanuel Montoya, Jose Montoya, las Mujeres Muralistas, Patricia Rodriguez, Rachael Romero, the Royal Chicano Air Force & René Yañez.