Paintings of the signature skeletons recognizable from several murals in downtown Phoenix filled up the wall space. Tubes of paint lay across the floor as artist Lalo Cota stood and critiqued his own work.
“Hope you don’t mind if I smoke?” asked the 36-year-old, mild-mannered artist, who then stepped next to the closed screen door.
Cota doesn’t come across as a typical graffiti artist. His work is often laced with political undertones and social messages: Art is Cota’s way of sharing his opinions.
“I’m not very much of a spokesperson,” he said. “I don’t really go out and make speeches or anything like that, but when I paint art, I think I do.”
Cota recently participated in several group shows at the 5 and 6 Gallery in Scottsdale. After some major contributions, he finally had the financial backing he needed to open a gallery called Por Vida with longtime friends.
After he added some finishing touches to his artwork, he pulled out a flyer for Por Vida’s grand opening.
“I wanted to have a place where I can have artists have their own show,” he explained.
Attorney Richard Gaxiola described Cota as a very talented and humble individual. He became a fan of Cota’s artwork after meeting him through a mutual friend three years ago. He was impressed with Cota’s twist on the traditional Dia de los Muertos style and commissioned Cota to paint a mural in his backyard.
“His work definitely brings humor to uncomfortable issues,” said Gaxiola in reference to his mural of Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio. “Certainly a lot of his work addresses recent vibes.”
Cota, originally from Sinaloa, Mexico, came to Arizona in 1984. Inspiration hit after he had his first encounter with a low-rider car.
“That’s what kind of sparked my interest in art,” he said. “I saw the car, the way it was painted, the fact that the car was animated, you know?”
As a teenager, he attended Tempe High School and would walk home by the train tracks. It was there that he first began to notice street art in his neighborhood. Amid the boxcars scrawled with graffiti, there was a piece painted by the San Francisco-based artist CrayOne. It was the first large graffiti piece that influenced him.
Over the years, Cota made a name for himself in the graffiti scene with a group of his closest friends. They called themselves the Nitty Gritty crew, also known as N.G., and made a mark in the metropolitan Phoenix area throughout the ’90s. As the group progressed, they began to hold annual shows and exhibitions where local artists had the opportunity to show off their skills.
Their annual shows were the transition for Cota and his friends, helping them expand beyond the realm of street art. Cota always considered himself an artist, and he took the elements of style he learned through graffiti to pave a new way for his line of work.
After being showcased in the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, the Mesa Arts Center and the Phoenix Art Museum, Cota’s work became a commodity among the avid art collectors of Phoenix.
“Since I’ve met him, he’s painted at my shop at least five large-scale murals,” said Derrick Pacheco, a local bicycle retailer and entrepreneur at HoodRide in Phoenix. “I think it brings recognition and excitement.”
Por Vida’s grand-opening reception is today from 7-10 p.m. and is located at 2800 N. 16th St. in Phoenix next to the Barrio Café.
Contact the reporter at jalvira@asu.edu
