Gonzalez's works are a quiet celebration of Los Angeles, focusing on the overlooked elements of urban life. From the cheerful, larger-than-life smiles of billboard lawyers to the abandoned cars dotting freeway shoulders, his paintings capture the human stories lurking behind everyday scenes. While his canvases are devoid of actual people, they brim with a sense of lived experience, offering a poignant commentary on the city's character and resilience.
Drawing inspiration from his upbringing as the son of a professional sign painter, Gonzalez channels the aesthetic of hand-painted signs and murals that once dominated LA's streets. This isn't just art imitating life-it's art preserving life's fleeting, urban poetry.
'I approach this work not as an outsider, but as a resident,' Gonzalez states. His paintings are a dialogue that explores the essence of community while preserving its visual history, making the unremarkable extraordinary.
As rapid development threatens to erase these visual markers of working-class life, This Was Here serves as a vital time capsule. Gonzalez's work documents the visual identity of neighborhoods grappling with gentrification, ensuring that the stories and struggles of their communities remain visible.
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