César A. Martínez American, b. 1944

The conception of the Serape series dates back to Martínez’s college days when he stumbled across Gene Davis’ stripe paintings in one of his professor’s books, which struck César in their graphic resemblance of woven textiles. “For the first time in my life, before any cultural notions of “Chicano” were on the horizon, I reacted to contemporary art from a cultural standpoint. “These are like serapes!” said the artist. Keeping Davis’ work in mind, Martínez began to rework his technique, eventually leading him to the creation of his first Serape in the early eighties.