Enter the downtown L.A. loft of painter Carlos Almaraz in the 1980s, and you’d first notice the artist himself, warm and charismatic, in black beard and paint-spattered overalls. “His aspiration was to be a great American artist,” says his widow, artist Elsa Flores Almaraz, who is co-directing a documentary on his life. He’s definitely here with us.”Richard Schulman / Getty Images Carlos Almaraz, photographed in 1989, six months before his death. Carlos Almaraz, photographed in 1989, six months before his death. “He got all these guys together and formulated the theory of Chicano art, and that we were unique and special and deserving of attention."

Source: Los Angeles Times August 30, 2017 09:56 UTC