With any piece of art work, interpretation, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. With that said, have you seen the mural depicting a devil reaching into heaven for hops and barley? It is located on the corner of Third Avenue and Davidson Street in Chula Vista’s downtown business district and is the product of the mind of multidisciplinary artist Jorge Mendoza.
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Property owner Alan Cassell said the artwork is temporary as the corner building undergoes renovation. “Rather than have a blank wall there, I wanted people to look at something interesting … and see how the community reacts (to the art).”
Cassell owns properties in downtown Chula Vista as well as in Barrio Logan.
Mendoza works out of his studio, The Nest, in Logan Heights and currently lives in Chula Vista. Castle has since commissioned Mendoza to paint three permanent murals on properties that he owns. He said the temporary mural may wind up inside one of the properties as a wall mural.
“When I heard about the city of Chula Vista’s cultural arts plan, I wanted to get involved to help improve the area,” Cassell explained. “One way to do that was through art. But rather than the type of more progressive art that you see in places like San Francisco, I wanted to see more fresher art similar to what’s in Barrio Logan. So far, I’ve heard positive remarks.”
Castle met Mendoza through his contacts in Barrio Logan and commissioned him to produce art for new businesses opening there. Cassell and his business associates have also helped provide Mendoza with space for workshops and to conduct community art classes.
Castle called Mendoza’s art “free form and flowing.”
“I really like what he sees,” Cassell said.
So do others.
Mendoza is the subject of “Dream with Your Eyes Open,” a short film by Chris Radomski that screened as an official selection of America’s Finest Film Fest 2016 held in early August.
The film, which is available for viewing on Vimeo, documents a slice of Mendoza’s life as an artist and the vision that drives his art.
“Through painting, pottery, photography, curating and teaching, his work is a way to communicate ideas, and as a means to convey how he views the world,” the synopsis on the film reads.
A native of Santa Cruz, Mendoza has painted in various cities in which he has lived.
“The past few years in San Diego have been amazing, with new friends and experiences that inspire me at every turn, the good times and the bad times that evolved and to knowledge and are turn in to creation, the past that brought me to the present and takes me to the future,” Mendoza recently posted on the Nest Murals Facebook site. “I want to thank everybody that has crossed my path and has made this such an interesting home.”
Mendoza thanked Radomski for believing in his vision and, in Mendoza’s words, “documenting a fraction of the life of a wanderer.”
“The vision doesn’t stop here; this is only the beginning,” Mendoza posted. “Expand your mind and share the love!”
The Nest, which is located at 210 S. Evans St., San Diego, is open to gallery shows, workshops and ceramic making … “a place where people can come to share their creativity and have a place to work,” Mendoza notes in the film.
It is through art, Mendoza feels, that the community gets to know the people who live in it. He believes art can prompt a positive change in the community — “not just yourself but to people around you,” Mendoza relates in the film.
Children see bright colors on a wall and are uplifted — as well as made curious about their meaning.
Mendoza canvasses the community with camera in hand. He believes he is capturing moments that might be considered history at some time in the future.
He says he draws inspiration from freedom, such as birds that fly without borders. “There’s inspiration everywhere, you just got to see it,” Mendoza exposes in the film.
The artist admits there is a “fine line between creativity and chaos.”
“When you wake up, you think anything is possible,” he explains.
As an artist, Mendoza believes that people, in his words, “start seeing life in a different way when you take a closer look at things.”
“For me, painting is just part of learning how to see society,” he relates in the film. “When you look into the shadows of things in the past, you start seeing a different truth and you start to discover more and more about life. It ties into painting when you study little details; it just makes you focus on different things that before you might not have seen.”
