Artwork copyright Roberto Delgado. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2024.

Artwork copyright Roberto Delgado. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2024.

LIFE, 2024

Roberto Delgado
(born 1944)

Location: Washington State University - Vancouver, Vancouver

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

LIFE by Roberto Delgado is semi-abstract mural made with collage techniques. It includes image fragments from photographs and other graphic materials related to the Washington State University Vancouver campus, the region of Southwestern Washington, and academic disciplines taught within the Life Sciences Building. The final result is a semi-abstract mural with bright colors and plenty of patterns. This mural is installed within an architect-designed recess on a curved wall.

This four-part artwork is composed of three murals and a series of tiles installed into the floors.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Washington State University.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Roberto Delgado creates paintings, prints, and murals that "evolve from the reality of the photo.". His art is based on the people and circumstances that he meets, as well as an appreciation of the human figure.

Delgado was born and raised in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles. He spent time in the U.S. Army in the 1960s, and graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles's (UCLA) Master of Fine Arts program. He spent the 1970s and 1980s in Chiapas State, Mexico, where he honed his skills in murals and public art. He has been awarded two Fulbright Fellowships which he used to live, work, and teach in Mexico City and Honduras, working on large monotypes and murals. He is interested in the influence of "Mexican-American-Chicano barrio realism" on Mexico City and Los Angeles, as well as on young artists.