Luis Jiménez

Luis Jiménez (1940–2006) was born in El Paso, Texas, and became the most prominent sculptor of the Chicano art movement. Working in fiberglass reinforced with epoxy and finished in vivid automotive urethane enamels, Jiménez created large-scale public sculptures that combined Pop Art vernacular with Chicano identity, Mexican muralist ambition, and the iconography of the American West. His "Vaquero" (1980), installed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, depicts a pistol-waving cowboy on a rearing horse — a monument to the Mexican vaquero tradition erased from Anglo cowboy mythology. "Cruzando el Rio Bravo" depicts border crossers with the dignity of sacred figures, confronting viewers with the human cost of immigration policy. Jiménez died in his studio in Hondo, New Mexico, when a portion of a large blue mustang sculpture fell on him during production; the "Blue Mustang" was installed posthumously at Denver International Airport in 2008. His work is held in the collections of the Smithsonian, the Albuquerque Museum, and museums throughout the country.