Jesus Barraza

Jesus Barraza is an activist and printmaker based in San Leandro, California. Using bold colors and high contrast images, his prints reflect both his local and global community and their resistance in a struggle to create a new world. Barraza has worked closely with numerous community organizations to create prints that visualize struggles for immigration rights, housing, education, and international solidarity. Printmaking has allowed Barraza to produce relevant images that can be put back into the hands of his community and spread throughout the world. He believes that through this work and the work of Dignidad Rebelde, he is playing a role in keeping the history of graphic art activism alive.

Barraza’s print was inspired by King Chango’s cover of Sting’s “Englishman in New York”, which was changed to “Venezuelan in New York”. “The print reflects the violence that immigrants deal with while entering and living in the United States; the harsh reality that comes with making the journey North to the country that promises work to those who can no longer survive in their homelands,” Barraza said.  

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Artist website here.