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Desde Las Orillas/ Somos Sur II

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Jimmy Centeno is a multimedia artist. He has coordinated cultural events between community and universities. Most of his work is philosophical in content influence by story tellers from the Global South and Mesoamerican mythology. He has taught welding technology at Compton Community College and is a coordinator for the association of philosopher in U.S (AfyL). He was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. He is currently the curator for Casa0101 Theater and is an independent scholar, curator, writer and art consultant.

Artist Talk with Jimmy Centeno

A tribute by Ngũgĩ wa  Thiong’o

  • (Image of Essay, page one) 1 Jimmy Centeno: The Dreamer as a Prophet. A tribute by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o I had talked to him a couple of times, then one day, August 2017, Jimmy Centeno turned up in my office at the University of California, Irvine, with a gift for me. It is a sculpture of the eponymous hero of my novel, Matigari. What, somebody in Los Angeles, a Latinx, had been inspired by my novel, and took the time to sculpt the hero? The novel is set in Kenya. It describes a freedom fighter who, after years in the mountains, finally comes home with dreams of rejoining his family, only to find that those who inherited power had continued all the colonial structures he had been fighting to dismantle. His family is still torn apart. He wants to put back his broken home together. But to do so, he must seek the truth of what had happened. He is on the road again, this time an unarmed seeker of truth and Justice. What was it that had made this citizen of Los Angeles, with roots in Latin America, spend so much time and energy sculpting this image of Matigari, a character drawn from Kenya People’s armed resistance to British colonial rule? In one image, Centeno had somehow linked the struggles in Kenya, Africa, with those of Latin America. Matigari could have come from any country in Latin America or wherever in the world dwell seekers of truth and Justice. Then I noticed his Matigari had several metal rings, a chain link around the neck, two suspending red banners all joined together by a broken wood handle from a shovel. A small square plate with a large coat button installed in the center of the wood handle served as a memory medallion. The base was round and collective.
  • (Image of Essay, page two) So, the sculpture was made out of discarded metal, buttons and wood, including a shovel, clearly a pointer to a worker and their tools. Centeno had given life to discarded material, making them whole, breathing the life of a freedom fighter. He had turned the seemingly lifeless into a sculpture that breaths freedom. It reminded me of the work of Pitika Ntuli, the SouthAfrican poet-artist, whose sculpture is nearly always made out of discarded material, including bones. And both Ntuli and Centeno remind me of Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones, who is commanded by the Lord to tell them: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. In the same way the Muse commands Centeno: Collect these discarded pipes, and shovels and wood, and breathe life into them. Centeno’s Heart and Mind and Hands are united as they connect the pieces into images. And the discarded united objects now talk, Centeno’s art talks. In one of his exhibitions, Somos Sur in Los Angeles in 2019, I saw an elongated serpentine water pipe sculpture with a tap at the end and I turned it on. No water . The tap without water is titled in Spanish ' La Muerte También Tiene Sed ', Death is Also Thirsty . This spoke volumes about the human made desertification of the land. The image reminded me of Ritwik Kumar Ghatak , the Indian Bengali director, whose film A River Called Titus , had similarly seen and warned the consequences of the human misuse of nature. The same theme is captured in Centeno’ sculpture "Barbequing The Global South” , part of his upcoming exhibition. It makes a reference to the abuse of the natural resources of the Global South and its people as a labor force, by the Global North.
  • (Image of Essay, page three) I can now see what attracted Centeno to the figure of Matigari. He must have seen himself reflected in the character. Just like Matigari, Centeno is an artist of connection: the human, the water, the air, and the earth, are one; or rather without the earth, without the air, and without water, there is no human race. And the human and the nature on earth need the light and heat from the Sun. Connection is the heart of life. This is what he says of himself:“I seek to connect my art with my way of living and being. It can not be separate. It is an extension of my commitment , my solidarity and concern for justice and truth” This is well illustrated in another of his creations combining two art pieces: metal bed frame titled 'Dreaming Between Fences' (2008) and a centerpiece with branches inside the bed frame, titled 'Homage to Karl Marx' . It intrigued me. Centeno noted my curious puzzlement. This is what he told me: “ The brutal persecution by merciless landowners of the peasantry as they collected wood from the ground haunted Marx's indignation. The prohibition to collect wood from the ground was as disturbing as the water wars in Bolivia, where Indigenous were banned from collecting rainwater from their roof tops without a permit in 1999” It was from the same exhibition that I was drawn to a marble and welded steel sculpture titled Rising Up . I went round the gallery several times, looking at the various images, and I would end up at the same one. I bought it. Rising up seems to embody the spirit of Centeno in life and work. As the curator for Casa0101 Theater, Centeno is driven by the same spirit of Rising, which necessitates connections. The connecting spirit can best be seen in Centeno’s reaction to my gĩkũyũ language story, called Ituĩka rĩa Mũrũngarũ/the Upright Revolution : Or Why Humans
  • (Image of Essay, page four) walk upright. The story tells of an epic battle between hands and legs to settle once and for all which organ was more important to the body, only to find that no organ can really do without the other. Through the efforts of Munyao Kilolo, the story has now been translated into more than ninety languages in the world. These translations can be found https://jaladaafrica.org/2016/03/22/jalada-translation-issue-01-ngugi-wa-thiongo/ . Centeno organized a number of Latinx artists and One Nigerian for a visual interpretation of the story. There have been two exhibitions of this effort. The first exhibition of 'A visual Interpretation of Upright Revolution or Why Humans Walk Upright' took place from May 2nd to August 30th 2019 at the Jean Deleage Art Gallery located in Casa 0101 Theater, Los Angeles CA. The second exhibition took place from March 1st to April 26th 2020 at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, CA. See https://jaladaafrica.org/2019/06/13/text-to-mixed-media-a-visual-interpretation-of-the-upr ight-revolution/ . In Centeno’s own words, “Curating Ngugi wa Thiong'o's story, The Upright Revolution Or Why Humans walk Upright, as a visual interpretation with paintings, linocuts prints and sculptures, merged Latin American and African aesthetic. It allowed each artist to express unity with a story of resilience.” So here is Jimmy Centeno connecting Los Angeles to Africa and Latin America. Centeno says he is inspired by La Escuela del Sur ( The school of The South ) where by means of rescued objects a language of self determination arises in the process of giving shape to sculptures, assemblages and mixed media art pieces. Desde Las Orillas ( From The Edges ) includes hints and influences from life, de-colonial
  • (Image of Essay, page five) writings, literature, art, poetry, mythology, film and oral traditions. In his exhibitions all the its and bits that make up the artwork join as a personal statement that embodies many voices. Centeno, in life and art, reminds me of the 18 th Century English poet-artist William Blake. Blake was a poet, painter, print maker, basically a worker. He was also a visionary who saw angels sprouting among trees and the working class. He once opened his Auguries of Innocence with these immortal line: To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour These lines are at the heart of my book: Globalectics. Centeno strives to see the world in everything he touches. His exhibitions and all his artwork are a personal statement that embodies many voices. He thus is driven by a globalectic view of the world. Or as he says: his work is political, cultural and globalectic. Sultan Somjee, a Kenyan artist who worked on community based peace museum, has published a book titled: One Who Dreams is called a Prophet. Centeno is such a dreamer. BIO Jimmy Centeno is a multimedia artist and a welder by trade. He has coordinated cultural events between community and universities. Most of his work is philosophical in content
  • (Image of Essay, page six) influenced by storytellers from the Global South and Mesoamerican mythology. He has taught welding technology at Compton Community College. He is a coordinator for the Association of Philosophy and Liberation in the U.S (AfyL) and a founding committee member of Philosophies of Liberation Encuentros (PLE). Centeno holds a degree in Latin American studies with an emphasis in art and Latin American philosophy from CSULA. His art practices date to his high school experience in the industrial metal shop program. He is the founder of the newly Latin American Art Research (LAAR) an educational tool to promote studies and interest in the contributions of Latin American Art in the United States and Europe. He was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. He is currently the curator for Casa0101 Theater and is an independent scholar, curator, writer and art consultant.

List of Works

1. Espejo Negro II (Black Mirror II) Series (2019-2021)
Mix Media: rescued wood and oil.
Size: 59 inch diameter

2. Un Ojo Abierto y Cinco Siglos de Amor, Tonanzin (One Open Eye and Five Centuries of Love, Tonanzin) Black and Red Series. (2021)
Mix Media: oil wash/paper and oxidized metal frame
Size: 20in x 21in
Private collection of Camilo Cruz

3. Blue=Agua, Rojo=Life, Yellow Sol (2017)
Mix media: oil wash/paper and oxidized metal frame
Size: 19in x 21in
Private collection of Camilo Cruz

4. Un Ojo Cerrado y Tres Noches de Amor ( One Closed Eye and Three Nights of Love) 2020
Mix Media: oil/paper and oxidized metal frame
Size 19.5in x 20in
Private Collection of Camilo Cruz

5. The Fall of EROS (2009)
Medium: Rescued metal/ welding
Size: 12in x 13in x 12in

6. The Rise Of Ego (2009)
Medium: Rescued metal/welding
Size: 16in x 19in x 12in
7. Olin, Mitos Combativos II, Series (OLIN, Combative Myths I Series) 2017
Mix media: paper collage, photography, paint and fabric
Size: 38.5in x 48in

8. Corn, Rebels and Saving Sensibility (2011)
Assemblage: rescued objects
Size: 30in x 20in

9. Readings In Latin American Civilization ( East L.A series) 2010
Mix Media: paper collage, photography and paint
Size: 24in x 30in

10. El Norte Series (2004-2008)
Assemblage: rescued objects, oil on wood and photography
Size: 15.5in x 18in

11. Untitled (2009) and El Viejo Papel Pide La Palabra (2006)
Assemblage: rescued objects, photography and paper
Size: 49in x 73in and 16in x 3in

12. Mitos Combativos en Movimiento II (2014)
Mix Media: paper collage, photography and ink
Size: 48in x 17in

13. Tired Stone (1994-2017)
Mix Media: Stone and welded steel
Size: 36in x 16in x12in

14. Quetzalcoatl Points The Answer is Below (2013)
Mix Media: Rescued material/ Welding
Size: 16in x 54.5in

15. La Muerte Tambien Tiene Sed ( Death Too is Thirsty) 2019
Mix Media: rescued objects and welding
Size: 60in x 17in

16. Barbecuing The Global South (2018/2021)
Assemblage: rescued material and welded steel
Size: 13in x 14in

17. Una Bandera Color Tierra ( An Earth Colored Flag ) 2007
Mixed Media: wood, rescued metal and welding
Size: 7in x 17in x4in

18. Untitled
Mixed Media: rescued metal/ welding
Size: 4in x 13in
Yr: 2018

19. Desde La Orillas (From The Edges) 2008
Mix Media: Rescued objects, gold and welded metal.
Size: 7in x 29in

20. Tata CHE (2008)
Mix Media: wood, rescued material and welding.
Size: 19in x 7in

21. Felipe Quispe Huanca: EL MALLKU ( El Cóndor) 2019
Mix Media: rescued object and welding
Size: 7.5in x 3in
22. Homage to La Mujer Obrera/Campesina (2009)
Mix media: rescued objects and welded metal
Size: 28.5in x 6in

23. Pink Mortar (2009)
Mix media: rescued objects and welded steel
Size: 30.5in x 16in

24. The Marriage Between Heaven and Earth (2011)
Medium: Welded Steel
Size: 17in x 12in

25. Matigari : The Keeper of Memory (2012)
Mix Media: rescued material and welded metal
Size: 36in x 6in

INSTALLATION IN ROOM: FIRE AND DREAMS

26. Untitled (2010)
Medium: Oil on wood
Size: 11in x 14in

27. The American Way II (E.L.A series) 2010
Mix media: black and white photography, found objects on Canvas
Size: 18x 20
Yr: 2010

28. In The Ring Of Fire, Fire Series (2016)
Medium: Oil on board
Size: 11in x 14in

29. Standing Stone: La Mujer (2019)
Assemblage: rescued material
Size: 6in x 16in

30. El Desgarado Se Levanta ( The shredded One Rises Up) 2016
Mix media: welded steel
Size: 5in x 10in

31. Los Abuelos Piden La Palabra ( The Elders Ask To Speak) 2006
Mix media: Black and White Photography and oil
Size: 8in x 10in

32. Tree of Fire (2015)
Medium: oil on wood
Size: 5in x 7in

33. The Chicana/o Compass: Lead With Heart, Mind and Hands (Dedicated to Paloma) 2013
Medium: oil on wood
Size 8in x 10in

34. Pensando en Ti ( Thinking of You) 2013
Medium: Oil on wood
Size: 9in x 12in

35. Writing With Fire (2016)
Medium: Oil on board with rescued aluminum Frame
Size: 10in x 14in
36. The American Way I (E.L.A Series) 2010
Mix Media: color photography and paper
Size: 16in x 20in

37. El Norte II Series (2010)
Mix media: black and white photography, paper and wood
Size: 19.5in x 21in

38. Dreaming Between Fences. La Cama del Inmigrante (2008)
Installation: Rescued objects and welding
Size: 60in x 84in x 48in

39. Homage to Karl Marx (2016)
Medium: collected wood branches
Size: 4ft x 6ft

40. Una Mochila Bajo Sospecho ( Pa Los Rebeldes) 2021
Medium: installation/ hand bag
Size: 36in X 12in