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Calendar frames artist’s painting

Larry Yañez injects whimsy into his work

Chicano artist Larry Yañez’s world view – as evidenced in his almost cartoonish art – has always been whimsically askew, his bicultural sense of humor delightfully twisted.

Cocina Jaiteca, his silkscreen print portraying his recollection of aunts’ kitchens, is featured on the cover of the 2007 Smithsonian Latino Art calendar, and adorning the month of December.

“Everybody in my family is going and cleaning out the stores,” Yañez says, proud of achieving the ultimate success for a Chicano artist – family approval.

Yañez, who works as an exhibition installer at the new Tempe Art Center, says his Cocina print has garnered a certain fame he has enhanced by not getting in the way.

“That’s the way I do things,” he says, “I just let things happen.””

And here’s what happened: The print was created at a silk-screening workshop put on in1988 by Self Help Graphics in Los Angeles, one of the first Chicano cultural centers. The print was featured in a Chicano art exhibition at the Wight Museum at UCLA, which later collected that print and others produced at the workshop, as did the Smithsonian. Cocina later found its way onto promotions for both institutions, as well as books and art catalogs, and most recently, the calendar.

“Now with the calendar, I’m the Chicano Norman Rockwell,” Yañez quips.

The Cocina Jaiteca title is a play on words, he adds. Cocina is “kitchen” in Spanish. Jaiteca is an imaginary word. But because in Spanish the “j” is pronounced like an “h,” jaiteca also sounds like “high tech.” Get it? Welcome to Larry’s world.

The wall calendar features a dozen reproductions from the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of Latino art, including artists like Cesar Martinez, Emilio Cruz, Alfredo Arreguin, Carmen Lomas Garza and more. Check out www.calendars.com to buy one.