City Bridge II

Echo Park in downtown Los Angeles was home to Carlos Almaraz and his family, and a favorite subject in his work. In City Bridge II, a couple crosses an Echo Park bridge and others meet and mill in the park. It is a mysterious gathering, each figure not much more than a shadow amidst a churning composition of trees, water and sky. The atmosphere is charged with energetic slashing diagonal lines and the artist's bold and hot Latin palette. The Los Angeles sky line in the distance itself seems to be set into motion. Amidst this animation the people are mysteriously dark and anonymous. This is a common contrast in Almaraz's work and speaks to a deeply personal chord.