A Flower Growing In Concrete

Creating art has helped Jose López navigate through the darkest periods of his life

- By Jonny Watson

As a young child growing up in Mexico, Jose López had been interested in art, but never thought too much about it. It wasn’t until a shooting left him paralyzed at the age of 15 that he became passionate about the subject. As he was learning to live with a wheelchair, López spent much of his free time drawing with pencils, attempting to replicate the art of José Guadelupe Posada, Jesús Helguera and others. From pencil drawing he moved to black-and grey tattooing, eventually establishing himself as one of the premier artists working in the style. But even as tattooing paid the bills, López continued to explore other mediums of art. We spoke with him about his fine art, the powerful influence art has had on his life and more.

What sparked your interest in art?

It happened when I lived in Mexico. One day I was walking to school and saw a Day of the Dead pencil drawing. It was a La Catrina, an image of a laughing skull representation of a woman made famous by an artist named José Guadalupe Posada. I was so amazed that I copied it, and it was pretty close to the original. Turns out a teacher had drawn the image, and when he saw the one I did he said I should look deeper into drawing.

That motivation soon vanished. I lived with my grandma, who raised me and my two brothers and sisters while our parents were in the States, and I was only 6. I remember going to a papelería—a shop where they sell school supplies—and I would look at all the possibilities right in front of me, yet so far from reach. It was impossible for my grandma to afford those things.