Sergio O'Cadiz: El Artist

THE CITY OF FOUNTAIN VALLEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR DESTROYING THE  MURAL OF LA COLONIA JUAREZ BY O'CADIZ. INSTEAD OF RESTORING IT, THEY REPLACED IT WITH A PLAIN BRICK WALL. THE MURAL MAY BE GONE, BUT THE IMPACT THAT IT HAS MADE TO ME WILL LIVE ON FOREVER. THANKS TO THAT MURAL, I'M WHAT I AM TODAY... AN INTERNATIONAL ARTIST! 

His energy help fuel and form the Santa Ana Artist Village long before the bars and restaurants capitalized on the good vibe.  

Given the abundance of creative contributions coming from the Latino community in OC I am often surprised that there is not an association or foundation that recognizes Citizen Artist who happen to be of Latin American and or Mexican decent.   As a Suzuki Violin teacher at OCCTAC in Santa Ana, I am always looking for examples of Citizen Artist (in the most inclusive sense) that I can encourage the young people coming up under my wings to aspire to.   In such an economy it is not easy for our urban families and  youth to find examples of how the arts play a role in the development of their lives, careers and the economic expression of their communities.   Sergio was an extraordinary example of one way the Arts and Technology make that essential dove tail.  

Many of our most creative young people struggle against the notion that the Arts are a luxury that you ice the surface of the education cake with as appose to a structure that holds the education cake together from the plate up..  As someone who works with Preschoolers I have personal experience with the reluctance to sink permanent roots for the Arts deep in the ground.   It is easy to understand that caution when someone like Sergio has the integrity of his works ripped apart.  But I can't help but notice in the faces of the next generation that there is more where that came from waiting in the wings.  Having a network that recognizes Local Citizen Artists in all of their diversity, encourages their impulses in the main streets of OC and explores their potential to make difference in the lives of future generations would do much to help transform the myths we have at street level about the arts being a frill.  

I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Maria and her family last night at their home. I had no Idea where my friend was taking me, only that I was to meet the woman I would be DJaying for at her upcoming birthday party, and that her father was an artist. As and artist and aspiring curator, I was floored and truly moved by all the works on the walls. I felt an amazing spirit and vibration coming from this family and their home. As soon as I went home, I read the article and felt even more humbled to have witnessed first hand, this masters work.

amazing write up, amazing story. Michael Ziobrowski

Gracias Gustavo for your wonderful write up of my father's work, life and struggle. Too, I appreciate the comments from those who appreciated his artistic contributions and the extraordinary human being he was to so many. La lucha continua...

Bravo Pilar.  My heart is with you.

Maestro O'Cadiz came to Orange County as a well educated professional member of the establishment.  He designed architecture for the Orange County Institutions who contracted with the Architectural Firm which brought him to O. C. and hired him for his technical expertise.  He put that Firm on the map with his Artistic insight and gave it international recognition in its day.  We need that kind of entrepreneurial creativity and imagination to get us out of the economic slump we are fighting to get out of in 2012.      He was also a father who concerned himself with what kind of world his daughters would be growing up in.   If Sergio has become controversial in the past, it is only because we are the ones who have provoked him with our ignorance of history.

It's great to see Pilar championing her father's work.  Certainly art evokes a personal aesthetic that while important to be owned by the viewer appears to be taken a bit self-righteously from some of the comments I see below.  And regardless of that aesthetic Sergio is a very important part of the rich but understated history of art in Orange County that gets overshadowed by the lines of cinderblock walls of central OC and the gated communities to the south that create a narrative of isolation and social conservativism.  Personally I do see Sergio in the artistic vein of one of the earliest artistic pioneers of OC, Madame Modjeska who steeped herself in the depths of her artistry bringing art to both the high brow city folks of Chicago and San Francisco and the low brow long forgotten mining town folks of the late 18th century.  It was an exploration of the meaning of art but also how it inspired our humanity.   Sergio was very much a part of that same narrative.  He was passionate about community as he was about his own personal explorations.  Many, including myself, considered him to be one of the cornerstones of the early Santora artist community in Santa Ana.  At art openings or just on a basic afternoon he could be seen sitting out in front of Neutral Grounds sketching whatever caught his fancy and conversing with whomever stopped to wonder and watch a blank page turn into a picture book which is how I initially got to know him.  Over time he became a good friend.  Gustavo's article does good job of capturing many important qualities of this multifaceted man.  The two events that did seem to be the gut punch for this proud and passionate man towards the time before his untimely, that came up a number of times in conversation were the destruction of the mural in FV and the brutal cutting in half of his architectural relief at the court house.  As one can imagine, regardless of your own personal aesthetics and response to Sergio's public art, it became a personal tragedy for the artist to have his work that he had poured his heart and soul into only to have thoughtlessly discarded by bureaucrats with no consideration for the history or passion that went into it, that many though obviously not all, considered a cultural treasure.

frankbell

Annemariew views are disturbing on so many levels. Whatever you feel about this artist and his work is your opinion but, the jury is still out on this one. He painted in a style that was relevant to his time and still has things to say to us.  Would you refer to Picasso and Van Gogh's work as lousy and paint by numbers?  This was a gifted artist who contributed to the Orange County Community. If you had explained yourself better and not used such a dismissive term as "Lousy" your argument would have been more credible. The Nazis destroyed many great works of art they because they viewed them as decadent. Let's not go down that road of mob rule opionion and make a mistake and in the process, some great works of art are lost forever, and forever is forever.  

Dearest Gustavo---Thank you for this lovely piece on a dear, old friend and Mentor of whom I continue to mourn the untimely passing of. I can only add that, he once told me the story of how "Coto de Caza" got its name: He personally coined it at the behest of the developer; "...it is a "nonsense, Spanish-sounding name," to quote; I'll never forget the mischievous look in his eye when he said, "I knew that it would appeal to a 'certain class of American' who'd want to buy into it just because of the name...." You really paid the great man and his equally-impressive daughter, Pilar, ample justice; he would've liked you very much; I wept throughout the article. Sincerely, Maria Schowengerdt

@Lokahi Gracias!

This guy was lousy.  His "works" look like really bad paint-by-number CRAP.

@nativeVnetwork Gracias for the tweet! Hope you liked it!