The first time Lalo Alcaraz's work hung in the Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery in Seattle it was part of a social justice show a few months back. The gallery’s co-directors say it wasn’t there for very long.
"Both pieces sold the first day,” said Jake Prendez.
“Within the first hour,” added Judy Avitia-Gonzalez.
“We had throughout the month we had people coming in saying ‘we read that you had an Lalo Alcaraz piece’,” said Prendez.
So Prendez and Avitia-Gonzalez invited Alcaraz to put on a much larger solo show, which opens this weekend.
Alcaraz’s work often revolves around political and cultural issues -- including vaccine hesitancy, the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, plus economic and immigration issues.
He was born along the border in southern California to immigrant parents from Mexico. Alcaraz said in order to address the discrimination that immigrants often face, he began turning to satire.
"It can kind of poke your critical thinking centers in your brain, you know,” Alcaraz said. “And I think the Latino community needs that. I don't know if that's a function of being immigrants and just not kind of connecting with the American sense of humor, ya know."
For more than two decades he's penned a daily comic strip “La Cucaracha,” and a weekly political cartoon, putting his perspective on the news.
"Everything I do is political or cultural or both, because of my upbringing and seeing that injustice early on,” he said.
Alcaraz, who's also been a writer and consultant for movies, including Coco and TV shows including Bordertown on Fox, said he's seen steady progress in how Latinos are presented in the media and in popular culture. But he said there's still a long way to go.
Alcaraz is scheduled to speak at the University of Washington on Friday ahead of his appearance Saturday at the gallery. It’s his first ever trip to Seattle.
A reception featuring Alcaraz takes place Saturday afternoon starting at 2 p.m. at the Nepantla Cultural Art Gallery; a brief musical performance from La Cafeteras is planned at 4:30 p.m.
