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José Bechara is best known for his conceptual paintings made directly on found truck tarpaulins or animal skins. At first glance his works appear simple and minimal in nature, but upon further examination, his paintings are truly complex. Both gritty and theoretical, Bechara’s work is often suggestive of the contemplation of time and transience. His art comments on the ephemeral nature of life with its constant and inevitable change and decomposition, within the context of its relationship to time. It is because of life and time that most objects ultimately degrade from their original state, once again emphasizing the temporality in all existing matter.

Using discarded materials from a local slaughter house, Bechara’s work entitled Nine Females contains a total of nine panels, seven of which are covered with cow hide and two painted with oil on tarp. Interested in the marks made on the skins of animals over time, he stretches and adheres the hide of female cows to a wooden frame. Viewers can examine the history of each skin displayed and its relationship to time; the older the cow, the more marks it should have. The cow skins are not only indicative of the lifespan and memory of the animals, but are also metaphorically referring to the fragility of life of all objects and a consciousness of mortality.

Bechara studied at the School of Visual Arts in Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro from 1987 to 1991. His work was included in the 25th São Paulo Biennial in Brazil and recently at Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts Gallery in Miami, Florida, Art Basel Miami, Florida, and Latin American Art Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona. His art has been included in group exhibitions in Chicago, Lisbon, London, New York, Germany, South Korea, and at numerous venues in Brazil. 

Enrique Chagoya is a well-known artist who creates profound paintings and prints that discuss the changing nature of culture. Born in Mexico City, Chagoya received his early education and bachelor’s degree in political economics. In 1976 he immigrated to the United States and went on to earn an undergraduate degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Since 1995, he has been an assistant professor of art at Stanford University.

Chagoya’s art often contain images from American culture that are placed within the contexts of the developing world and indigenous perspectives, which reference colonial histories. His complex and colorful works often reflect a mixing and melding of cultures that may be derived from his own experiences as an immigrant. Thus, American culture plays a large part in his work. He often alludes to the diversity of the United States, a world where, as Chagoya notes, "all cultures meet and mix in the richest ways, creating the most fertile ground for the arts ever imagined."

In his painting, St. Sebastian, Chagoya has associated himself as a representative of those who have experienced the challenges of immigration, with the figure of St. Sebastian, the Christian saint and martyr often depicted tied to a post and shot with arrows. Instead of being persecuted by soldiers, he is shown here being executed by the classic cartoon character Olive Oyl, an icon of American culture. Through this imagery Chagoya discusses the pains of cultural dislocation. Having experienced many cultures by growing up in Mexico and living in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as spending time in France, he was made to feel as though he was “a citizen from everywhere and yet a citizen from nowhere.” Now an American citizen, he explains that “immigration has been more than a change of citizenship, it has been an inner journey, an inner change that is sometimes painful but at the end with many rewarding moments.”

Patti Warashina
A major figure in the development of studio ceramics since the 1960s, Patti Warashina's divergent influences include Asian pottery traditions and California funk ceramics. Warashina's teaching career spanned more than 30 years and includes positions at the University of Wisconsin, Eastern Michigan University, and at the University of Washington, where she taught for over 25 years and is now Professor Emeritus. Together, with fellow artists Robert Sperry, Howard Kottler and Fred Bauer, she brought national recognition to the department. 
Warashina has always worked thematically; her car kilns and altars of the 1970s; white porcelain figures through the 80s; and most recently her Mile Post Queen series, influenced by Greek and Egyptian columnar figures. Her work is best known for its surrealist themes combined with personal experiences and expressed through highly colored figurative imagery. By juxtaposing a wide range of familiar forms (figures, animals, household objects) in unconventional ways, she creates narratives that are humorous, dream-like, and often surprising.
Much of her sculpture is autobiographical. Like Father, Like Son was made after the birth of the artist’s grandson.  Following any baby's arrival, there is always much discussion between family and friends concerning which parent the infant physically resembles- the father or the mother. Here, the nurturing father receives the bird, who is the messenger of good fortune.

In speaking about her work, Patti states “The human figure has been an absorbing visual fascination in my work. I use the figure in voyeuristic situations in which irony, humor, absurdities portray human behavior as a relief from society’s pressure and frustrations on mankind. At times, I use the figure in complex arrangements so that it will be seethingly alive. I like the visual stimulation of portraying human energy, as a way to compare it to any biological organization found in nature."

Warashina has dazzled viewers with seductive surfaces and playful yet provocative subject matter. Never a follower, she has charted a highly individual path throughout her career and has achieved critical acclaim.

 

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