Arguably, the most haunting work is Deer Dancer for Hyacinth (2001) by Rick Bartow.  (1946-2016).  A Pacific Northwest artist, he fought with addiction and post-traumatic stress that emerges in his dark compositions.  Here, his distorted male figure appears to be in a state of transformation, his head sprouting antlers.  The power of this large pastel, charcoal, and pencil drawing suggests the raw intensity of Austrian painter Egon Schiele’s naked portraits.

Xavier Viramontes is a nationally renowned printmaker whose prints impacted many political movements and social justice campaigns during the 1970s. His prints are also part of the revolutionary canon of Chicano art produced at Galeria de la Raza in San Francisco. His most famous print, “Boycott Grapes, Support the United Farm Workers Union” from 1973, which depicts an Aztec warrior smashing grapes with his fists as the grape juice and blood drip over the title, is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.  He spoke with Edgardo Cervano-Soto about his career and art.