9 -- Recuerdos de Ayer, Suenos de Manana

(Remembrances of Yesterday,
Dreams of Tomorrow) 1982
Judithe Hernandez
37'H x 28'W

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History behind the Piece

The only work of public art sponsored by the los Angeles Bicentennial Committee is painted on the rear of the Brunswig Garage. Funded with a grant from the Crocker National Bank Foundation, the mural portrays La Reina de Los Angeles, the patroness of the city, moving through time while images from the past and present spread out from her all-encompassing veil.

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The Piece

The area's ubiquitous palm trees, depicted in a style reminiscent of travel posters and postcards from the 1930s, stand in silhouette against a California sunset. An athlete, representing both the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, appears to the left of the Plaza Church. The tower ofAngel's Flight located over the athlete and the Spring Street Trolley depicted behind the palm trees in the lower right both recall the city's once vital public transportation system.

Judithe Hernandez included Mexican campesinos to represent "the foundation for the state's former agricultural wealth." Believing their "exploitation as a source of cheap labor stands in sharp contrast to the city's conspicuous prosperity," she painted them in soft earth tones and framed them between clearly outlined palms and a stark white band representing a modern freeway. The freeway, which connects with the ribbons weaving through the virgin's hands, merges with City Hall to form and ensemble of universally recognized symbols of Los Angeles. To the left of City Hall, the Griffith Park Observatory can be seen within the yellow background.

Even though the Brunswig Garage is slated for demolition, Hernandez selected the building because its location in El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument complements the mural's commemoration of the city's history. Painted between October, 1981 and January, 1982, the mural was dedicated by Hernandez on February 10, 1982, to her friend Richard Hinojose, who died in 1981 at age 33 of cancer.

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The Artist

Judithe Hernandez (1948- ) was born and raised in East Los Angeles. She attended Otis Art Institute where she received her B.A. in 1972 and M.F.A. in 1974. Among the 12 murals she completed during the 1960s and 1970s are works at Ramona Gardens Housing Project and Stone Recreation Center. Her studio work has been exhibited in numerous group and sole exhibitions at museums in the United States and Europe, including the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, Spain. Courrently, she is a studio artist living in Chicago.