My work is an expression of my existential reality; it captures my surroundings and my relationships within. My creative need comes from a deep passion to communicate through forms and color; this allows me to venture into an expressionist character who gives line and shape to an idea or an emotion. Art can have many different functions but it is always transmitting a message, what is being said visually or how it is interpreted can vary for each person who experiences it, the mediums I use allow me to be figurative and obvious or convey an idea through a more abstract form, the plasticity in art is the plasticity of the human experience. I'm very interested in how my art can influence people and even the capacity for social change that exists through art. I try to work without reservations to what the audience might think, I have been painting now for 10 years and I feel that I better understand the elements my work should encompass. I believe the artist must venture deeper into his self and continue to push further any norms that society has imposed on him; he should follow his natural instincts into mystery and uncertainty.

Spartacous Cacao was born in San Francisco, California in 1978 to Salvadoran emigrants, when he was eight years old his family moved to the Mojave Desert, there he was impacted by the wide open spaces and the brilliant color and history of the south west, this is where he first began to develop his artistic creativity. In 1999 he began studying ceramics and printmaking along with painting and sculpture at Los Angeles Community College. Living in LA since then and experiencing the cultural richness which has created a new material and non material culture in this vast metropolis has inspired much of Cacao's work, however he also finds it necessary to stay in touch with his own identity and cultural roots through art and is committed to expressing his views on the social depravities which societies tolerate. His art often reflects contemporary politics because he makes the link that none of us is truly separate from each other; his work is a fusion of a local and globalized experience.

SPARTACOUS CACAO

Email: spartacous@gmail.com WEBSITE www.cacao.downtownartistproject.org/

SOLO SHOWS

02/08 - 03/08 The Substance of Dreams and Nightmares (automatism and the subconscious) Los Angeles Community Action Network @ LA Art Walk,

10/07-11/07 A Series of Paintings about Racial Antagonism and Displacement. Los Angeles Community Action Network @ the Los Angeles Art Walk,

06/07-12/07 (Online Gallery) May Day Mayhem/ Social and Public Arts Resource Center (May 1st 2007 McArthur park series) http://www.sparcmurals.org/ Curator: Judy Baca

GROUP SHOWS

09/08-10/09 Living in Los Angeles/ Rock Rose Gallery

08/08 Public art exhibition at MacArthur Park

08/08- 06/08 Under the Bridge/ Lamp Gallery, LA art walk

10/07-11/07 A Journey through Art/ Los Angeles City Hall, Bridge Gallery

03/07 El Muro (The Wall)/ Park Plaza, Macarthur Park, Los Angeles (GAS) Group of Salvadoran Artist,

06/05 Always Camilo/ Los Angeles Workers Center, homage to artist Camilo Minero, (GAS) Group of Salvadoran Artist

12/04 - Don’t support the fascists who stole Christmas! / 33 1/3 Gallery Collective

11/01 Eye Speak /Glendale College Art Gallery, Curator: Joseph Beckeles

SELECTED COMMISSIONS

09/08 Illustrated Voter Guide for Coalition LA 

10/07 Mural work together with artist Rafael Escamilla commissioned by the City of Los Angeles, through local neighborhood council /Friends of Atwater Village/ trompe l'oeil of historic site.

09/07-12/07 Several book illustrations; The Underbelly, By: Gary Phillips a mystery novel about homeless issues on skid row; www.fourstory.org

03/07 Painting of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Monsignor Oscar Romero for the South East Neighborhood Development Council, Unity Fair, bringing black and brown youth together in harmony and peace. Location: District 14, Los Angeles 8475 South Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, California 90044, Contact (323).753.0231 09/06

08/06 Mural/Paintings at Guatemalteca Bakery/Restaurant 4032 W. Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles,

01/06 - 06/06 Expressions of our Reality, developed a art project which tells the experiences of minority children who are at risk of gangs and drugs, capturing their stories and daily struggle with violence and inner city life, exhibited at Macarthur Park. Contact: Beth Peterson www.lacommons.org

12/05 Designed Logo’s for Just Garments (sweatshop free garments)

SELECTED PUBLIC/PRIVATE COLLECTION

· Stencil Art, Los Angeles Community Action Network

· Artist: John Sonsini / "Paletero #1" acrylic on paper

· Los Angeles City College, president’s purchase of painting

EDUCATION

Los Angeles City College

AWARDS

11/07 Certificate of Recognition City of Los Angeles for A Journey through Art

06/06 Certificate of Appreciation City of Los Angeles for "Expressions of Our Reality" work with at risk inner city youth, through LA Commons.

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