This exhibit showcases 45 Years of Self-Help Graphics & Art (SHG), a community center in East Los Angeles dedicated to the creation and promotion of new works by Chicano and Latino artists through experimental and innovative printmaking techniques.

Since 1973, SHG has been the intersection where arts and community meet, providing a forum for local and international artists.

Gandhi's Seven deadly sins, "Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Science without humanity, Knowledge without character, Politics without principle, Commerce without morality, Worship without sacrifice.”

It all began when a Franciscan nun, Sister Karen Boccalero, began making prints with Latino and Chicano artists in a garage in East Los Angeles. After studying art at college, Sister Karen settled in Los Angeles and taught printmaking at a drug and rehabilitation center before starting SHG, which she led until her death in 1997.
I appreciate this postage stamp by Sandow Birk, an artist with creations that often develop into expansive, multi-media projects. His works take unexpected turns from forgotten scenes in history, to gritty scenes of contemporary life. With an emphasis on social issues, his past works have included inner city violence, graffiti, political issues, travel, war, and prisons, as well as surfing and skateboarding. This exhibit had something for everyone.
This piece by Yreina D. Cervántez is the image used to promote this exhibit. For over forty years, Ms Cervántez has painted politically charged and spiritually informed works in watercolor, acrylic, fine art prints and muralism. These projects reveal historic intersections with social justice work in California, feminist and Latin American solidarity movements, the Chicano art movement, and the era of multiculturalism.



There was something about this piece by Jaime "Germs" Zacarias that called to me. Is it whimsy? If you take a closer look at his pop surrealist paintings, you'll catch a glimpse of hidden messages in the form of eyeballs, bacon, and robots. You might even see an image of an iPhone with an emblem of the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Virgin Mary. Unique indeed.

The last work, Sam Coronado's Pan Dulce, caught my eye as I was leaving. There was something in the color and subject matter (was I hungry?). For most of his artistic career, Texan Coronado has been a painter, using bright acrylics and familiar icons to subtly address universal social and political themes. So interesting.

This exhibit was one that shed light on the healing power of art and its ability to unite and give purpose. Each of the 50+ fine art prints tell its own unique story. I was glad I had the chance to hear at least some of them.