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Francisco Magdaleno. Courtesy photo.
By Armando Vazquez / Guest commentary
Francisco Magdaleno of Oxnard, the enigmatic introvert and private artistic genius passed away last Friday, September 16, 2016. He was a dear and sweet friend to all of us at the Acuna Art Gallery at the Café on A. Truth be told after many years of collaborations with Francisco in various art projects and exhibitions at the Acuna Art Gallery; I hardly knew him, he was guarded and private with his life. He was that gentle reclusive genius that you want to get to know intimately; but for me it never happened.
I came to know Francisco, through another artistic genius of our Oxnard community Jacqueline Biaggi. She introduces Francisco to me, and when he brought in his ceramic master pieces El Arrbol de la Vida and La Semilla de Humanidad, I knew instantly that I was in the presence of a master ceramicist.
In the ensuing years Francisco and Jackie collaborated on a number of important art exhibitions at the Acuna Art Gallery. One of the most memorable exhibitions ever held at the Acuna Art Gallery was the “Collective Voices-Abundant Years” that was curated by Jacquie Biaggi, Vanessa Acosta and Armando Vazquez. The “Collective Voices-Abundant Years” brought together some of the most important, creative and talented ceramists, sculptures and artists in Southern California area together for a historic arts exhibition. The “Collective Voices-Abundant Years” was a once in a life time show of ceramic masters and Francisco Magdaleno, along with his great friend and Jacqueline Biaggi, were the featured artists.
La Semilla de la Humanidad. Courtesy images.
I learned in my infrequent conversations with Francisco he was a mostly a self-taught artist who had the keen knack of learning ceramic techniques from artist friends like Jacquline Biaggi and Lynn Creighton, and other artist that volunteered to teach and work with him, He came into the work of full time artist rather late in his life and as such Francisco has a limited body of work, all the more to share it with the world!
I am moved to write this tribute to Francisco Magdaleno because I want the communities of Oxnard and Ventura and the rest of the world to know what a magnificent and magical artist he was. Hopefully this tribute will ignite a serious interest in the artistic career of this great artist. I have been an artist most of my life and I have been in the company of the most eclectic array of artists and art movements for over 50 years; and time and again I have over the years get lost, discarded or “warehoused” in garages, attics, basements, storage sheds and worst completely discarded. Such is the life of most artists: creation of art, isolation, poverty, and inevitably death. For most of us upon our death we are assigned to the dust bin of obscurity.
El Arbol de la Vida.
From my art gallery owner’s vantage point and arm’s length companero with Francisco Magadaleno, the introvert master ceramicist, he lived his life as a recluse and he coveted his privacy. So it is my sincerest hope that this tribute shines a bright light on the magical art work of Francisco Magdaleno. We are contemporaries, he is now gone and tomorrow will be my time. There is a large populations of Chicano and Latino masters, still unknown and “undiscovered” by most of the American art world; artists that are into their “golden years” and the light will go out on all of us soon enough, as it recently did for Francisco.
That is why I continued to be a passionate advocate for the arts for over 50 years; and in particular an advocate that thinks globally but acts locally on behave of my artist friends, like the late maestro Francisco Magdaleno. It is a labor of love, with a very specific purpose: that is to help educate, involve and energize the community regarding the majesty, magical and transformational power of the arts created by genius like Francisco. Francisco Magdaleno is now gone, yet he is with me every day through his wondrous art that I have collected over the years. That is the eternal grandeur of art created by masters like Francisco Magdaleno, and the eternal gift of his art work that he gave to all of humanity. Rest in peace my brother, your master work will now speak for you!
Armando Vazquez.
— Armando Vazquez, M.Ed., is the executive director of The KEYS Leadership Academy@ Café on A in Oxnard and chair of the Oxnard Multicultural Mental Health Coaltion.
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