Eloy Torrez
{{short description|American painter}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Eloy Torrez
| birth_date = 1954
| birth_place = Albuquerque, New Mexico
| education = Otis College of Art and Design
| occupation = Artist
| years_active = 1983–present
}}
Eloy Torrez (born 1954) is an American artist best known as the creator of several murals in and around Los Angeles, California.
Early life and education
Eloy Torrez was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1954 and he and his family moved to California at age 13. He enrolled in community college in Barstow, where in his art classes he went on several field trips to the Norton Simon Museum and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.{{cite web |title=Life Model 101: Eloy Torrez |url=https://unframed.lacma.org/2019/07/08/life-model-101-eloy-torrez |publisher=Los Angeles County Museum of Art |date=July 8, 2019 |first=Paulina |last=Alvarez}} In 1973, he moved to Los Angeles to study at Otis College of Art and Design, and he earned his Bachelors of Fine Arts in 1977.{{cite web |title=Five Veteran’s Stories |url=https://art.metro.net/artworks/five-veterans-stories/ |publisher=Los Angeles Metro |accessdate=February 1, 2025}}{{cite web |title=Eloy Torrez |publisher=Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles |url=https://www.themcla.org/artist/eloy-torrez |access-date=February 1, 2025}}
Torrez credits Otis professor Charles White as his greatest influence.
Career
Torrez began his career restoring murals, then transitioned to creating murals of his own. Some of Torrez's murals include:
- Legends of Hollywood (1983), destroyed during the 1994 Northridge earthquake{{cite web |title=Eloy Torrez |publisher=Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles |url=https://www.themcla.org/artist/eloy-torrez |access-date=February 1, 2025}}
- The Pope of Broadway (1984), on the Victor Clothing Company Building in the Broadway Theater District in downtown Los Angeles{{cite web |title=Image / Victor Clothing Co. art murals, Downtown L.A |url=https://calisphere.org/item/332abeba52249043bfbec9d2895dd0bc/ |publisher=University of California - Calisphere |accessdate=February 1, 2025}}
- Aztec Princess (1990), in Vernon, California{{cite web |title=Image / "Aztec Princess" mural by Eloy Torrez, Vernon |url=https://calisphere.org/item/98d2b8ee6e5dba26954eccae95c39a3e/ |publisher=University of California - Calisphere |accessdate=February 1, 2025}}
- Entrada a un Nuevo Mundo (1991), in St. Denis, France, sponsored by the French Ministry of Culture
- Water, essence of life (1998), inside the Metropolitan Water District Building in downtown Los Angeles
- Portrait of Hollywood (2003), on the Hollywood High School auditorium in Hollywood, California
- The Steps We Take (2014), at Los Angeles Metro's El Monte station{{cite web |title=Murals at El Monte Station: Eloy Torrez |url=https://www.pbssocal.org/history-society/murals-at-el-monte-station-eloy-torrez |publisher=PBS SoCal |date=December 3, 2014 |first={{proper name|Car|ribean}} |last=Fragoza}}
- Five Veteran’s Stories (in progress), in Los Angeles Metro's Westwood/VA Hospital station
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Otis College of Art and Design alumni
Category:20th-century American painters
Category:20th-century American male artists
Category:21st-century American painters
Category:21st-century American male artists
Category:Painters from California
Category:Artists from Los Angeles