TMR Creative Collective

You may have noticed our ‘Looking for the Artist’ posts in our stories. Well, this one led to quite a trail so I thought it warrants a blog post. Cameo and I were searching for art as we do and she sent me this velvet painting and said “I would still like to find the artist of this one”. I made a ‘Looking for the Artist’ story searching for him, then I noticed the name in the bottom right corner. “Argo” it said. I searched for Argo on Instagram and the internet. I found art dealer links claiming he’s a renowned artist, but truly nothing related to the artist as to his history or contact information. That is unusual. I sensed something was different or off. I finally found a short documentary about Argo called ‘The Last Velvet Painter in Tijuana’ tucked away on one of the art dealer sites. I got the inclination to email the name that showed at the end of the documentary. He happens to be journalist and author, Sam Quinones, (@samquinones_author).

I awkwardly reached out to Mr. Quinones. After a couple of exchanges trying to figure out who I was and me trying to put into words TMR Creative Collective and this crazy scheme of an Instagram account, he shared Chapter 2 in his book Antonio’s Gun and Delfino’s Dream: True Tales of Mexican Migration about the lucrative velvet painting trade in Juarez and Tijuana 1970’s. The velvet painting movement was HUGE partly due to the ingenuity of a working-class fella from Georgia and a partnership with a Russian Jewish immigrant in Chicago to bring these inexpensive paintings into every living room from coast to coast in the Continental US. Talented young Mexican artists such as Chuy’s Morán, stopped at nothing to learn the craft to get into the trade.

What makes this story remarkable, however, is how the Mexican artists joined forces and took back their art form from the grip of commercial exploitation and saw it through the eventual end of velvet fever. They started an art collective called Quetzalcoatl Painters Union that had up to 90 artists at one time. Many quit the velvet trade when the popularity waned, but continue the arts in a variety of beautiful ways.

Back to Argo. Mr. Quinones kindly contacted Mr. Rodríguez’s grandson. Artist Alfredo “Argo” Rodríguez Ortiz did indeed create the velvet painting of Jack White. Argo continues to paint to this day. We are still working to get a good contact for any who want to commission him. We will update everyone once we do. Many thanks to Sam for his kindness and effort to help out this nutty broad on a mission. Read his chapter when you get a chance. It’s a moving story of the velvet journey.

Xx Angie