Jorge Antonio Gonzalez Jr. is a 23 year old Hispanic artist born and raised in Laredo, Texas. Influenced by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, Irish figurative painter Francis Bacon, American photographer Joel-Peter Witkin, and the music of industrial rock artist Trent Reznor, glam-punk outfit AFI, and the Omaha, Nebraska group Bright Eyes; Jorge‘s work is often existential and provocative dealing with deep personal issues of loneliness, despair, and frustration, as well as commenting on social, political, and religious issues.
Graduating from United High School in 2004, Gonzalez was a member of the SkillsUSA (originally known as Vocational Industrial Clubs of America) organization. During his Junior and Senior years in United High School, Jorge won both 2nd and 3rd at the SkillsUSA State Finals in the “Advertising & Design” category.
While attending the Laredo Community College Jorge was an active member of the Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity Eta Alpha Chapter by attending meetings, art seminars, fundraisers, and participating in public events hosted by the college. During the course of his Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior years‘ Jorge maintained a high grade point average as a Fine Arts major, making the Dean’s List every semester while enrolled in LCC.
In the Spring of 2007, Gonzalez along with ten other students not only designed but helped create “Striving For Knowledge”; a mural consisting of five 8’ x 4’ panels which were installed onto the Laredo Community College’s Lerma Peña Learning Center’s front entrance. The highly publicized mural gained much press in the local media and would continue to be displayed in the campus for many years to come. Jorge’s various works have also appeared in college art shows as well as local art exhibitions. “Still-Life No. 24” was showcased at the Laredo Community College Semi-Annual Student Art Show in early 2007, while his more deeper and personal pieces; “Migraine” and “Drained” were both displayed at the Laredo Center for the Arts’ SALSA Exhibition in the Spring of 2008. More recently his portrait of rock singer, Trent Reznor appeared in international Russian business magazine, CEO. In late May 2008, Jorge was the subject of controversy when his anti-republican senator John McCain artwork entitled, “War Porn” was removed by the administrator’s who run both Deviantart.com and Sheezyart.com for it‘s sexual imagery. Censored editions of “War Porn” were created in order to avoid a permanent ban.
Currently Jorge is attending the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas while majoring in Visual Arts. |
