Organized by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Luis Jiménez: Works on Paper presented more than 30 drawings and lithographs created over the course of the artist’s career. The exhibition included examples from the Museum’s permanent collection in addition to loans from the collection of Joe A. Diaz, San Antonio. Known predominantly for his work in sculpture,Luis Jiménez: Works on Paper explored the artist’s talent as a printmaker and draftsman.
Jiménez was born in El Paso, Texas, in 1940. He received a Bachelor of Science in art architecture at the University of Texas at Austin and completed additional studies at the Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City. He moved to New York in 1966 to pursue a career in art and had his first solo exhibition at Graham Gallery in 1969. Jiménez spent the majority of his career in the Southwest, establishing a studio in Hondo, New Mexico. Jiménez died in 2006 while working on an enlargement of a fiberglass sculpture commissioned by the Denver International Airport.
Jiménez’s works fuse his interests in popular culture and social commentary with his identity as a Mexican-American. He explores diverse themes in his work, from death to the American Southwest to illegal immigration and border crossings, utilizing bold colors and a highly expressive style. Jiménez also captures the gritty realities of urban life and culture, capturing a world filled with prostitutes, lowriders, and tattoos. This is the first exhibition of Jiménez’s work at the Museum. Highlights include American Dream (1972), Rose Tattoo (1983), Study for Southwest Pieta (1983), andTan Lejos de Dios, Tan Cerca de Los Estados Unidos [So far from God, so near the United States] (2001).
