ORTEGA, TONY

Statement
Throughout history, artists have responded to social concerns around them with artwork that depicts culture, social injustice, human rights, environmental degradation and political power. Artists have created artwork as extensions of their caring hearts and concerned minds to explore the aesthetics of interconnectedness and social responsibility. I believe that there is a link between art and social justice.  My goal as an artist is to create artworks that are personal and which also express a sense of social responsibility. 

In my creative process I use distortion and exaggeration for emotional effect. I apply vivid and dynamic color, overlapping transparent color with opaque color.  I combine flat space with cubical space. My work interweaves, juxtaposes and superimposes unlikely images from American and Mexican popular cultures that include icons, symbols, history and the contemporary world to foster opportunities for the bending of meaning. 

Biography
Tony Ortega holds a MFA from the University of Colorado and is currently an associate professor for Regis University. He received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1999 and the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1998. Tony Ortega’s lifelong project is to contribute to a better understanding of cultural diversity by addressing the culture, history and experiences of Latinos through his art. His work can be found in Denver Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum and the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center.  He has exhibited extensively in United States, Latin America and other parts of the world.

Tony Ortega has been in the Artnauts since 1998. 
www.tonyortega.net