Jesus Barraza: Long Live Arafat!

Print is 22'' x 22.''
Jesus Barraza is an activist printmaker based in San Leandro, California. Using bold colors and high contrast images, his prints reflect both his local and global community and their resistance in a struggle to create a new world.

Barraza has worked closely with numerous community organizations to create prints that visualize struggles for immigration rights, housing, education, and international solidarity.

In 1998 Barraza was a co-founder of ten12, a collective of digital artists. He has also worked as Graphic Designer for the Mission Cultural Center/Mission Grafica, where Calixto Robles, Juan R. Fuentes and Michael Roman mentored Barraza in various screen-printing methods. In 2003, he co-founded the Taller Tupac Amaru printing studio to foster resurgence in the screen-printing medium, where he has printed over 400 editions. Additionally he is a partner at Tumis Inc., a bilingual design studio helping to integrate art with emerging technologies.

This piece of art was selected to be part of the Justice Matters exhibit, a joint project of the Middle East Children's Alliance, Alliance Graphics and the Berkeley Arts Center. The exhibit was first exhibited in 2005 and includes the works of the following artists: Ayed Arafa, Jesus Barraza, Eric Drooker, Ala Ebtekar, John Halaka, Mildred Howard, Lisa Kokin, Rafik Majzoub, Toxqui Perez, Jackie Salloum, Josh Short, Christine Wong, Holly Wong, and Jos Sances.