10.10.2005
3.3.2005
On the cover of ¡Ahora Sí! - March 2005
(The Austin American-Statesman's Spanish Edition)
1.20.2005
Note to doodlers, scribblers and would-be artists:
Ditch the "learn to draw" class you saw on that
late-night infomercial and stick with the DIY method. With a stroke of good luck, you could
end up like Paco Felici. The self-taught,
Austin-based artist is drawing a huge following
statewide and nationally for his simple
latex-on-plywood paintings. Born in Brazil and
raised in Latin America and Africa, the
well-traveled Felici marries foreign cultures with
American commercialism in works like Gum
Stix, which features images of instantly
recognizable but renamed chewing gum packs
("Big Red" becomes "Big Rojo," for example,
while the familiar "Juicy Fruit" pack is now
"Juicy Fruta"). With his cartoony, multicolored
portraits appearing on book and CD covers and
even in the upcoming flick The Wendell Baker
Story, you'll be seeing a lot of Felici in the future.
Meet him at today's opening reception from 6
p.m. to 9 p.m. at Foxglove Antiques, 1420 West
Alabama.
The ice cream man cometh: Paco Felici showcases his cartoony art (like Mexicani, above) at Foxglove Antiques. See Friday.
12.22.2004
FRIENDS IN NEED
Paco joined forces with TKO Advertising to create the artwork for the Central Texas Literacy Coalition's bilingual public awareness campaign, which includes print ads, posters and bookmarks. The Coalition reaches out to 100,000 Cental Texans who need help learning to read.
TKO Art Director James Walker conceived the idea of print ads with minimal text, depicting figures being "elevated" by the power of words. Paco executed the concept.
12.20.2004
HE DOES IT AGAIN
Paco has done another album design for the inimitable Faris Nourallah. Look for "King of Sweden" at your favorite music store in the late spring of 2005. He's one of the hardest working men in show biz. Paco's cover art for "Problematico," Faris' earlier release (see below) was included in numerous reviews around the world, including the November 2003 issue of Mojo -- one of England's largest music and entertainment publications.
7.20.2004
T E L E V I S I O N L A N D !
Paco is featured in yet another TV profile -- this time a really cool segment produced by the Telemundo Spanish-language network that aired throughout Texas. Many thanks to Paul "Beans" Garcia, an unparalleled photographer, editor, and producer. This was a really fun project.
Note: You will need Microsoft Media Player and a fast speed connection to view this MPG.
Click here to see video.
5.11.2004
The Dallas Morning News:
Paco's Perspective
By day, Paco Felici links Texas government and the Hispanic community.
By night, he's a rising folk artist.
By LINDA LEAVELL / The Dallas Morning News
LOCKHART, Texas – Working in the evenings from his cramped garage, using leftover, mismatched latex paint from home improvement stores, Paco Felici creates his artwork quickly, often spending no more than 90 minutes on the more elaborate pieces.
He uses color liberally but not literally, with familiar elements such as egg-shaped eyes, exaggerated noses and full lips.
Erich Schlegel / DMNPaco Felici works on a painting in his garage in Lockhart, Texas.He paints cultural icons (Dolly Parton, Elvis, Shaquille O'Neal) and recognizable symbols (the McDonald's french fries box and Aunt Jemima). That pop influence may be why some fans liken him to Andy Warhol.
"I would say Warhol with that happy Mexican influence of the colors of Mexico," says Kathy Johnson, owner of Pieces of the Past, an Austin gallery that sells his work. "Out there and big and right in your face."Mr. Felici's art has been featured on the cover of a humor anthology and on a Dallas musician's CD.
This artist, however, hasn't quit his day job.
Far from Austin's funky folk art scene, Mr. Felici is the deputy director for communications in the Texas attorney general's office, where he advises on issues that affect Hispanics and oversees Spanish-language communication with the media.
The 34-year-old artist-public servant says he doesn't know where his career is headed.
"I certainly never pictured myself in this kind of situation that I would be doing art to begin with, that I would be involved in politics at a fairly substantial level, that I would be a father, even," he says. "I think I feel very comfortable in every one of those roles."
Brazil to Plano
Born in Brazil to a pair of Italian electronic engineers, Paco Felici had lived in Mexico, Africa and Canada by the age of 14. His family then settled in Plano, where he attended Plano Senior High.
A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with an English degree, he was accepted into UT's comparative literature program. But after son Rio was born in 1994, he forfeited the fellowship to become a full-time wage earner in the attorney general's office.
Under Democrat Dan Morales, Mr. Felici became a specialist on the Texas-Mexico border and other issues that affect immigrants. He helped start what became the International Prosecutions Unit and served as the agency's Spanish translator.
Although most newly elected politicians clean house, Republican John Cornyn surprised Mr. Felici and asked him to stay.
Erich Schlegel / DMN
Artist Paco Felici displays several of his works of art in front of his Lockhart home.
After Mr. Cornyn was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, Mr. Felici remained to work for Greg Abbott, another Republican.
Mr. Felici has been helping hammer out Mr. Abbott's policy initiatives on immigrant fraud, consumer issues and colonias, and helping Spanish-speaking residents understand Texas law on child support and other concerns.
"Paco is a part of a very large organization that touches all aspects of the state. But the key point here is that he has been the leader in the office at helping the agency ... in its efforts to reach out to the Spanish-speaking community and its efforts to protect the immigrant community," Mr. Abbott says.
In 2000, Mr. Felici came across a book about self-taught contemporary American artists. Always exposed to art through his travels, and a prodigious collector of pottery, he felt an immediate connection to the artists, whom he believed had developed their work "from a place completely devoid of pretension."
The moment marked a reawakening of "whatever had been ingrained in me living in these quirky places."
So he decided to try his hand at painting, although he knew nothing about being an artist.
"Frankly, I just wanted to decorate some wall space in my own house, was what propelled me initially," he says.
A pile of potential
A friend saw some potential and took a stack of the large plywood pieces to Yard Dog Folk Art in Austin. They began selling almost immediately.
"What I liked about them was that they were fun and unpretentious and really well-done within the scope of his ambition," gallery owner Randy Franklin says. "They're generally what people call folky. ... It's the kind of thing people recognize it when they see it. Unmixed colors, a lot of primary colors, simple imagery."
Early on, Mr. Felici (pronounced fell-EE-chee) figured he should capitalize on his name and began producing sombrero-wearing men, women with maracas and Mexican heroes such as Pancho Villa. But he soon decided that style was dishonest and contrived.
"I think that that's one of the things, perhaps, that has attracted people to the art is that there is this multicultural influence to it, but it's not, I think, what you might expect if you hear that there's a guy near San Antonio named Paco who paints," he says.
Not that his childhood experiences in Mexico don't shape his choices. One of his favorite pieces is the Mexican ice cream man. And one of his most famous and repeated ones is Libertad, a take on the Statue of Liberty.
An appearance of Libertad on the cover of the Texas Observer drew the attention of expatriate Texans at the University of Iowa Press in Iowa City, who commissioned him about two years ago for a book cover.
Karen Copp, design and production manager, says university presses often publish serious subject matter whose authors give specific instructions about how the covers should be portrayed. But she knew she wanted something more playful for Humor Me: An Anthology of Humor by Writers of Color.
Mr. Felici illustrated the cover with three figures – one with purple lips, one with blue, another with green skin. "It had everything mixed up, and it was obviously not trying to portray something realistically," Ms. Copp says. "It was fanciful."
Ms. Copp then went on to commission Mr. Felici to paint a portrait of her boyfriend's idol, cyclist Lance Armstrong. And Ms. Copp's boss, Holly Carver, a Corpus Christi native, hired him for her wedding portrait.
The black-and-silver-haired lady says she came out as a blonde with a pink face, while her husband has a green face and brown hair. "I'm yours," the Spanish words in the portrait read.
"It kind of looks like us, but of course, we're much more boring," Ms. Carver says. "I laughed my head off. It's just what I wanted. To be totally transformed, especially by my favorite kind of art."
Album covers
Dallas musician Faris Nourallah asked Mr. Felici to illustrate the covers of his second solo album, Problematico, released on the small Western Vinyl label, and a yet-unreleased single. Mr. Felici's bold colors perfectly match his melodic pop, Mr. Nourallah says.
"I love the chunky, happy shapes. I like the fact that he's not trying to be a Dutch master, that he's comfortable in his own skin artistically," he says.
Mr. Felici hesitates to say that he'd want to become an artist full time, because he's intensely motivated to help protect Hispanics from abuses through his role at the attorney general's office.
"I feel really very good about the work that I've been allowed to do," the single dad says. "It helps make a real difference."
Mr. Abbott is more effusive about his employee's talents, saying "no one can put the package together" as well as Mr. Felici.
"You have to not only speak Spanish, you have to understand and have empathy with the people you are working to serve," Mr. Abbott says. "You have to combine that with a knowledge of our government and the way our system works. And, perhaps most importantly, that has to be driven by a commitment to serving the public."
With a foot in both the Hispanic and Anglo worlds, Mr. Felici says he likes being part of the "cultural conversation" taking place between both places. And he's candid enough to acknowledge that some people buy his art just because it's funny or it matches their décor – not because they've found some deeper meaning.
"The fact that people have had a positive reaction, sometimes profound ... that's been a validation to make me feel that I'm doing something hopefully of value."
E-mail lleavell@dallasnews.com
6.14.2003
NEW ALBUM COVERS
Paco has done the cover art for upcoming projects by musician Faris Nourallah - the album "Problematico" (Western Vinyl), featuring 15 new songs, and the single "Gone"
(Apartment Records). Both are scheduled for release in the Fall of 2003.
5.16.2002
THE SAN ANTONIO CURRENT
Cover Story: A deliberate liberation in latex paint
FELICI'S FACES
By John Ewing
'Outsider' is the current label for self-taught artists, but it's an odd fit for one as cosmopolitan as Paco Felici. Born in Brazil to Italian parents, the 32-year-old painter grew up in Mexico, Algeria, Canada, Egypt, and Texas. He brings this worldly point of view to the deceptively simple works now showing at W.D. Deli. Though self-taught, the artwork of Austin-based Felici is more populist than folk. His large, cartoon portraits ease the tensions of cultural difference with their bright colors and uniform style.
Felici's best-known work is the spiky-crowned Libertad. She is a young, hip Lady Liberty whose multi-culti familia includes Tio Sam. Gorbachev and El Rey (Elvis) could be kinfolk, as well, with their bulging eyes, full lips, and other distinctive features that make up Felici's graphic shorthand. Though repetitive, this flat-face formula is surprisingly expressive and thickly outlined with subversive humor. African American Gothic, for instance, recasts Grant Wood's classic painting with the contentious, black icons of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.
Three Figures - By Paco Felici
Though less familiar to viewers, Krispy Kreme also uses the portrait format to foreground an overlooked subject. In his uniform and cap, the young man is Felici's nod to the African Americans pictured in the kitchen backgrounds of old photographs that decorate the chain of donut shops. Again, the theme of liberty is a subtext that Felici addresses with the special insight of an immigrant. "Liberty for everyone in our society is messy and imperfect," notes the artist, "but it's something fundamental that we aspire to, overtly or not"
Made quickly with latex house paint on plywood, Felici's portraits embrace the materials of traditional folk art, but the more contemporary influences of pop art and global advertising shape their content. That may be the reason why populist phenoms like MTV and Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios have purchased Felici's art for their corporate collections.
Despite references to more mainstream figures like the late Tupac Shakur, Felici claims a reverence for true outsider artists like Mose Tolliver and Howard Finster. Straddling the mainstream and folk camps, the artist is comfortable selling his work in folk galleries such as Austin's Yard Dog as well as through his own web site (www.pacof.com). He describes the Internet as an important new element in outsider art, a place where the young and self-taught are setting up shop and interacting.
However, some folk traditions can't be beat, like taking the art right to the people. Felici's biggest score to date owes to one lucky afternoon showing his paintings in a friend's Blue Star parking space. A writer for the Texas Observer wandered past, and the photos she snapped of Felici and his work appeared with a cover story on San Antonio's art scene. That issue made its way to the University of Iowa Press, whose editors took the trouble to find Felici and commissioned him to illustrate Humor Me: An Anthology of Humor by Writers of Color. What's the lesson? If you are hung up on categories like insider and outsider, the joke is on you.
3.20.2002 "Humor Me" has arrived! Cover and illustrations by Paco; published by the University of Iowa Press. Click here to order online.
6.20.2001 Paco on cover of the June issue of The Texas Observer
