Luis Valderaz
The Mariachi Guerrilla Photos Series by Luis Valderas
In the series El Mariachi Lacho I use the image of my father dressed in his 1930's mariachi outfit as an icon and alter ego of the Mexican-American hero navigating modern arrays of sociopolitical structures. I create compositions based on a reinterpretation of ancient myths with contemporary issues. These narratives in combination with icons I have created based on Meso-American glyphs and design sensibilities form the basis of my work. The Mariachi Guerrilla Photos Series is a group of Guerrilla-Art photographs that I take while superimposing the image of my father dressed in his 1930's mariachi outfit onto already existing surface compositions-billboards, advertisements, walls, train boxcars, etc. The photo-cutout image becomes my expropriation tool to make social commentary. I further alter the image by adding my icons and glyphs to the compositions.