Transcriber: Emma Gon Reviewer: Tatjana Jevdjic
Hi, guys.
I love painting naked women. (Laughter)
Great, thank you.
You know, I was thinking, I mean,
I was trying to think what to say, very smart,
and I was having a real hard time.
And I realized that making art is something amazing.
It really doesn't matter if you sell it,
the idea of making art is actually to make the object.
And I truly love making art, whether it is art or not,
just the enjoyment of making art is amazing to me.
But, there is another part of this that I'm really quite touched by
and it is kids.
And one of the reasons why, is because I had the experience
of working with kids, in an indirect way and then in a very direct way.
So, this is a -- I truly believe that
if you introduce creativity to kids at an early age,
the possibilities for these kids are just incredible.
So I decided to do something really crazy and don't ask me why.
But this is a little map of where my studio was
and it's on 59 and Slauson, in the middle of South Central Los Angeles.
And you're wondering, why would I do such a thing?
The only thing I can tell you is that I felt like it. (Laughter)
So, the second week that I was there
I opened the newspaper one day,
the article said where crimes happen.
And in one side there was a map of the United States
and in every state there were little red dots.
As you get to Chicago, New York, there were more red dots
And when you get to the Los Angeles there was just a lot of red dots.
Then in the other side, they took that section of Los Angeles
and they amplified it.
And right in the middle of all the red dots, said
59 and Slauson. (Laughter)
So I was in real trouble, because I didn't realize how dangerous it was.
And while I was there, I decided to do something about it.
So I decided to teach, to get kids out of the streets,
and bring them into my studio and expose them to art.
This is just a picture of some of the kids in my studio in South Central.
And these kids are ages between 10 to 14 years old.
And some of these kids have to take the bus for an hour
to get to my studio.
And the sad part of it, is that they only live 3 to 5 miles from me,
but they couldn't walk, because it was so dangerous.
So it was really touching, I mean,
some of these kids shouldn't be on the bus alone and they were.
And they had an impact on me.
Here is the older group, which is 14 to 19, I think.
So I watched through every semester
the incredible progress with these kids
and I was just amazed by it.
Because some of these kids have never taken art before.
They were so serious and they were just [making] magnificent drawings
These drawings were done by kids of 13 to 18 years old.
And they can compete with some of the guys here, by the way.
(Laughter) This is amazing.
And I have to tell you something else, too.
These kids, 99% of these kids are doing something related to art, right now.
That's pretty amazing.
And some of them are here.
They are going to School of Art Center and that is to me really incredible.
This is their reality outside my studio.
These are all the guns collected by LAPD from the streets of Los Angeles.
And by the way, this is our city, I remind you.
So I was wondering, I had the opportunity
when I was there, one day, this group of police guys walked in.
And I said, "OK, I'm done, I'm gonna be arrested, what am I doing here?"
And it happened to be Charlie Beck, who is the chief of police today.
But at the time, he was not the chief of police,
I think he was a part of a big station.
He came to me. He was, you know, "What are you doing here?"
And I said, "This is what I'm doing in."
He was so compelled that I was actually teaching art to kids
in the middle of the most violent place.
He said to me, you know, "One day, you and I are gonna work together."
So, the time went by and five years later,
I talked him into giving me two tons of guns
destroyed from the streets.
And this is one of the pictures of some of the guns.
And then, they break down the guns and they become this.
Last year I happened to lose a very closed friend of mine.
And he just fell in love with this woman
and he gets a call, six months after that
and it's her husband.
So he, of course, he didn't know.
And he was such a gentleman.
He said, "Why don't you come over my house and talk?
Because this is kind of news to me."
So the guy came over and killed him. Just like that.
So I was thinking -- it had such an effect on me,
that this is a portrait of my friend, Efren.
And I decided to do these portraits with guns,
based on our relationship.
This is my attempt of making art.
I brought one here, so you can see it physically
because it's so different when you see it in a photograph,
and you see it -- it weighs about 250, 300 pounds
and the material is -- it has a certain kind of energy
because these are guns, and these come from crime scenes,
and I don't know what else to think about that except that
it was -- the response was completely unexpected.
When I had the opportunity to work with kids
and see them up here, how amazing these guys are.
They're so pure, I guess, is the word,
but, just to encourage them, and to open up the door of creativity for them,
I saw this transformation.
For me it was just like magic.
Because, I'm busy doing my own things
and I didn't think that something like that really would have a major effect on me.
And I realized that art is a very powerful vehicle
for you to express yourself, and it has actually changed me.
Now I'm looking at art very differently,
even though I've been painting for 25 years
I really don't care whether people like my paintings or not,
and I don't paint them to sell 'em,
I just do what I want.
Sometimes I get lucky and I sell a painting or two
and sometimes I get an exhibition and it's pretty incredible.
But I have to tell you that there was one moment
where I was invited to the Pacific Art Foundation.
And right in the middle, I asked a question,
I said, "What is art?"
And, you have to understand, these are the people who are in the arts business everyday,
and nobody wanted to say anything.
Nobody wanted me to look at them and I kept saying, "What is art?"
And there was this silence.
And I said, "Well, I'm gonna answer that question for you,
because the best answer I've ever heard was from an 8 year old."
And this was, of course, a very smart guy,
very bright little kid, I was having dinner in my friend's house.
And this kid was just incredible and we were talking back and forth.
And I asked him, "What is art?"
And without even thinking about it, he says,
"Art is when you draw the heart of something."
And I said, "Oh, wow."
I mean, oh my God, this is amazing, you know.
It was beautiful.
So why should I ask anyone else?
This comes right from the heart. It's so simple, right?
This makes sense.
It doesn't have a political agenda, it doesn't have -- it's just pure.
And I thought, "How amazing is this?"
Recently, I had the opportunity to work with kids at the Laguna Art Museum.
And I happened to walk in for an interview.
But instead of the interview, I was interviewed by a hundred kids.
It was sort of an accident,
I walked in, and one of the teachers recognized me and says,
"Would you mind saying a few things to the kids and take a few questions?"
And an hour later, I was answering questions
to every [kid] between 4 and 10 years old,
and it was -- just the most amazing questions.
But right in the middle of it, one of the teachers says,
"You know, you guys can ask any questions."
You know, I was in trouble there and I didn't expect this one.
And all of sudden this kid raised his hand. I said, "Yes,"
and he says, "Who is God?" (Laughter)
All of a sudden everybody wanted to quiet him down, you know.
They felt very uncomfortable, because that is a loaded question.
He didn't know that. That was beautiful.
And I said, "No, no, let me try to answer that."
So I said, instead of trying to really answer that question
which is sort of difficult to answer for an 8 year old kid --
When he says, "Who is God?" I said, "What is art?"
And it was just incredible.
The kids went, "Oh, OK, that's good."
(Laughter)
And I got away with that one. (Laughter)
But I would like to leave you with the same question:
What is art?
And I thank you very much for the time of you here.
This is amazing. (Applause)
Thank you. (Applause)
Thank you, guys.