Poets Without Borders Opening Reception
This is for the opening Rreception of a retrospective on the work of San Diego artist/muralist Mario Torero, featuring Beat Poet Laureate Chris Vannoy, National Slam Poetry Champion Viet Mai, Taco Shop Poetess Jackie Lopez, Izzy Blaze, Yvonne King, and Igor Goldkind.
The exhibition celebrates Mario Torero's public art and personal work. One of the founders of Chicano Park and the Centro Cultural de la Raza, he has graced the walls of cities all over the world with powerful visions of cultural empowerment. The energy of his teenage graffiti of years evolved into striking murals, reflections of his involvement with the San Diego Chicano Civil Rights movement of the 70s. As his mural technique developed through the study of the Mexican muralists and Fauve painters like Gauguin, so did his unique vision of political art practice. The title of the exhibition includes a term that Torero coined: “Artivism” as the marriage of art and activism.