Luis A. Jiménez

Luis Jiménez was born in El Paso, Texas on July 30, 1940. He is the son of an illegal immigrant who became a citizen at the age of 25. At an early age he worked in his father's neon-sign making shop. As a young person Jiménez witnessed the power of festival music and dance to build community identity, although because of his family's strict religious convictions, he was not allowed to dance.

After beginning his college education at Texas Western College in El Paso, Jiménez studied architecture at the University of Texas in El Paso and later studied art at the University of Texas in Austin. When he switched his major to fine arts, his father "basically disowned me. He [Jiménez's father] wouldn't speak to me for a couple of years." Camille Flores-Turney. (1997). Howl: The Artwork of Luis Jiménez, Albuquerque: New Mexico Magazine Press, p. 15.

In 1964 Jiménez studied art in Mexico City, and in 1966 moved to New York City. Jiménez lived in New York City during a time of street riots and anti Vietnam War protests. While living in New York, he worked for the NYC Youth board, worked as a sculptor's apprentice, and succeeded in having his artwork exhibited for the first time. "At his first show, Jiménez received a gold watch from his father. Engraved inside were the conciliatory words, 'To my son the artist.'" Camille Flores-Turney. (1997). Howl: The Artwork of Luis Jiménez, Albuquerque: New Mexico Magazine Press, p. 18.

A daughter, Elisa, was born to Jiménez and his first wife. Elisa is now a successful exhibiting artist. In 1971 Jiménez returned to the southwest, to Hondo, New Mexico, where he lives with his family today. His second wife is an artist and they have three children.
....Biography from Chicana and Chicano Space, Arizona State University
http://mati.eas.asu.edu:8421/ChicanArte/unit2/luis/q.a.jimenez.html#artmaker

Luis Jiménez's Border Crossings is now in the Art on Campus Collection at Iowa State University.

 

Education:

1959-1964 University of Texas at Austin
Bachelor of Science, Art and Architecture
1964 Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, Mexico, D. F.
1966 Assistant to Seymour Lipton, New York

Additional Web sites about the artist and his work:

Smithsonian American Art Museum
http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/tours/jimenez/index.html
Jiménez's work, Vaquero, stands at the entrance of the National Museum of American Art in Washington D.C.

Chicana and Chicano Space
http://mati.eas.asu.edu:8421/ChicanArte/index.html
Chicana and Chicano Space presents over 25 Chicana/o and earlier artworks and detailed information about each, as well as thematic instructional units focused on these artworks. Some considerations in selecting the artworks have relevance to significant themes, gender balance, geographic breadth, and historical range. This Web site is posted by the Hispanic Research Center at Arizona State University.

artnet
http://www.artnet.com/
artnet.com is Web site for art content and e-commerce.

Thumbnails of additional works
http://www.artnet.com/ArtHome/ArtistThumbnails.asp?CID=0&AID=592&Page=1

| Iowa State University | Iowa State University Extension |
| College of Family and Consumer Sciences | ISU Extension to Families |

Last updated 6/23/04
Contact Person: JaneAnn Stout
p 515-294-0863 f 515-294-1040 e janeann@iastate.edu