ARCADIA, Calif. -- His colorful expressive works, reflecting everything from cartoonish-looking characters to Aztec warriors, would come to cover everything from the walls of subways to those of major museums during a long career that put Gilbert "Magu" Lujan at the forefront of the Chicano Art Movement.
Lujan died Sunday at Methodist Hospital of Southern California. He was 70 and had suffered from cancer, said his son Naiche Starhawk Lujan.
Photos courtesy of Magulandia.com. The Lujan family is accepting donations in lieu of flowers or other gifts at this time. For more information please reference the website. Story continues below.
"Los Angeles has, sadly, lost a cultural icon," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Tuesday.
Lujan's style - colorful, often humorous and just as often political - sprung from the sidewalks, freeway overpasses and low-rider cars of largely Hispanic East Los Angeles in the 1970s. Like the work of such contemporaries as Carlos Almaraz, Frank Romero and Beto de la Rocha, his murals and other creations have come to define Chicano art.
Perhaps best known as a painter, Lujan also worked in a variety of media including sculpture, prints and even whimsical assemblages of sticks and twigs. He painted on canvases, parking structures and low-rider cars.
"Magu's work always just seemed to mirror him. It was fun, it was funny, it was smart and it was really accessible," said Father Bill Moore, an abstract artist who for years had a studio just down the street from Lujan's in the city of Pomona's Arts Colony.
One of his best known, and most widely seen, creations is "Hooray for Hollywood," which graces the subway station at the famous intersection of Hollywood and Vine. It includes a "yellow brick road" directing people from the plaza to the train platform, as well as benches sculpted in the form of low-riders and support pillars that look like palm trees.
Other works have been exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Houston Museum of Fine Art and numerous galleries.
Although Lujan's work always reflected his barrio roots, it came to transcend all genres, said prominent Chicano author Luis J. Rodriguez.
"He was always true to the barrio, he was always true to the culture he came out of," said Rodriguez, a longtime friend. "But he needs to be recognized as a great artist from any genre. In any community."
While his work could be light, colorful and whimsical, it just as often contained powerful messages directed at the culture.
"Everything I do is about humans," he once told the website Latinopia.com. "So I make the car a human being, but for me making them these cartoon characters is a subterfuge for something else. This way I could deal with racism in a different way, to counter a lot of these anti-Mexican feelings by hiding behind whimsy, color, innocence, folky."
Lujan was born in the California town of French Camp in 1940 and grew up in East Los Angeles.
After serving in the Air Force, he earned a degree in ceramic sculpture from California State University, Long Beach, and a master's in fine art at the University of California, Irvine. It was there that he joined with Almaraz, Romero and de la Rocha as "Los Four" for a groundbreaking exhibition of Chicano art in the early 1970s.
In the late 1970s, he taught at Fresno City College and served as chairman of the school's La Raza Studies Department.
In addition to his son, Lujan is survived by his other children Risa Liviana, Otono Amarillo, Joasia and Michelle; his mother, Josefina; brothers Richard, Robert, Phillip, Ronnie and Mark; and several grandchildren.
Funeral services are pending.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.