Chicano Gráfica Presents Fragrance and Dirt, a New Limited-Edition Serigraph by John Valadez
John Valadez, Fragrance and Dirt, 2026
Silkscreen Print 20” x 30”
Edition of 51, signed, dated, numbered and chopped
LOS ANGELES, CA May 26, 2026 – Chicano Gráfica announces the release of Los Angeles based John Valadez’s Fragrance and Dirt, 2026, a limited-edition serigraph, marking Valadez’s first photo-montage silkscreen and his return to printmaking at Self Help Graphics and Art, the historic East Los Angeles workshop.
The newly released photo-montage silkscreen expands Valadez's five-decade exploration of Chicano identity, history, and visual storytelling. The edition reflects a continuation of his longstanding engagement with Chicano cultural narratives and community-based art production.
Valadez’s relationship with Self Help Graphics spans nearly five decades, beginning in 1977 when he received his first paid commission producing a silkscreen for Día de los Muertos under the leadership of Sister Karen Boccalero. His last major print project at the workshop, Chicano Heaven, was produced in 2013. This new edition represents both a return and a formal evolution in his printmaking practice.
Fragrance and Dirt bring together imagery from different moments in time, personal photographs, historical references, and cultural symbols to explore continuity between the ancient and the contemporary,” says Valadez. “I’m interested in how identity is carried through these layers through protest, ritual, and everyday life.”
Drawing from Valadez’s extensive photography archive, the composition weaves together references to the Chicano Movement, Indigenous iconography, and art historical influences, including the work of Mexican muralist Jorge González Camarena and photographer Edward Curtis. Elements such as procession imagery, protest banners, and hybrid figures create a visual narrative that moves fluidly across time, linking ancestral memory with present-day cultural expression.
Central to the work is an exploration of mestizaje and the concept of La Raza Cósmica, articulated by José Vasconcelos, reflecting a longstanding inquiry within Chicano cultural discourse into shared identity, indigeneity, and collective history. Valadez’s signature hyper-realism, combined with montage and allegorical layering, creates a dense visual field that invites close looking and multiple readings.
With a career spanning more than 50 years, Valadez has played a defining role in shaping the visual language of the Chicano Arts Movement. Working across painting, muralism, photography, and printmaking, his practice consistently centers working-class life in Los Angeles while engaging broader socio-political themes. Fragrance and Dirt continues this trajectory, offering a new body of work that is both formally innovative and deeply rooted in community history.
The following short video of John creating the print and discussing his work was produced as part of the forthcoming documentary on Self Help Graphics and Art, Chicano Gráfica.
EDITION DETAILS
John Valadez
Fragrance and Dirt, 2026
Printed at Self Help Graphics & Art,
Limited-edition archival silkscreen
11 Color Run
Dimensions: 22 x 30 inches
Edition of 51
Signed, dated and numbered by the artist, includes chop and certificate of authenticity.
$2,000 unframed (tax included; shipping and handling additional)
PRINT ON VIEW
La Tiendita Gallery
Plaza de la Raza
3540 N. Mission Rd.
Los Angeles, CA 90031
Gallery Hours:
Monday – Thursday | 10:00 a.m. - 6:00p.m.
Saturday | 10:00 a.m. - 5:00p.m.
PURCHASE
The print can be purchased through the link below:
https://chicanografica.com/fundraise/
or inquire at: productions@chicanografica.com
ABOUT JOHN VALADEZ
John Valadez (b. 1951, Los Angeles) is a painter, photographer, and muralist of global renown whose work has been central to the development of the Chicano Arts Movement. Raised in East Los Angeles, Valadez has built a multidisciplinary practice spanning large-scale paintings, public murals, documentary photography, and works on paper that have been commissioned and exhibited throughout North America and Europe. His hyper-realist style, often incorporating elements of montage and allegory, explores identity, labor, and cultural memory while challenging stereotypes and expanding representations of Chicano life in contemporary art.
ABOUT CHICANO GRÁFICA
Fragrance and Dirt is released as part of a fundraising effort to support Chicano Gráfica’s, forthcoming documentary on Self Help Graphics & Art, Sister Karen Boccalero, and the artists who helped define the Chicano Arts Movement. The film chronicles the organization’s transformation from a community-based art space in East Los Angeles into a leading international platform for Chicano art, driven by printmaking, exhibitions, and cultural exchanges. With many of the movement’s pioneering artists now in their later years, the project centers on the urgent need to document their stories firsthand, preserving a vital chapter of American art history for future generations.