NADA New York 2022

“This painting is inspired by a collage photos of Mexican American families who were displaced from their homes in the early 1950’s to build Dodger Stadium. When I was a teenager, I didn’t know this history. It was then that I met my friend and mentor Manazar Gamboa (R.I.P) who lived in one of the 3 neighborhoods called La Bishop. He took me there one day and we sat on the outskirts of the stadium as he told me the stories of him and his siblings playing with firecrackers in the dirt. I listened to his poems about loss, his tremendous heartache as officials came and took his family out by force. In his later years, Manazar dedicated his life writing about his experience and his neighborhood. I was so lucky to inherit a copy of his self-published book he called, “Bulldozed Barrio.”

This one is for him and for all those Mexican American families who fought until the end for their homes-some of them who lived in tents after their homes were shattered. ” - Karla Diaz