Roberto de la Rocha

Roberto "Beto" de la Rocha was an American painter, graphic artist, and muralist. He was born in Wilmar, California [ [http://authorities.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?AuthRecID=2056067&v1=1&HC=1&SEQ=20070112001615&PID=14776 Library of Congress Subject Heading authority] ] to Mexican-American parents. However, according to Carlos Almaraz, he claimed to be a Hasidic Jew from a Spanish Jewish family. [http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/almara86.htm Carlos Almaraz Oral History] ] He earned his Master's of Fine Arts from California State University, Long Beach.

In 1973, he joined the influential Chicano art collective Los Four. The group, composed of Carlos Almaraz, Frank E. Romero, Gilbert "Magu" Luján, and de la Rocha, was responsible for numerous murals and public art installations in the Los Angeles area. The group was also one of the first to draw mainstream attention to Chicano art, exhibiting at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1974. [ [http://www.aaa.si.edu/index.cfm/fuseaction/Items.ViewItem/ItemID/5616/item_start_record/1/records_per_page/9/item_total_records/39/filter_type/Collection/filter_key/5563 Smithsonian Archives of American Art] ] After a few years with the group, he suffered a mental breakdown and destroyed his paintings. According to Almaraz, "he left the group under very, very terrible circumstances. He ended up going on 40-day fast and ended up at the psychiatric ward at the L.A. County Hospital, and came down with various illnesses dealing with the fast, and never really recovered. The last I had heard was that he was burning his work and basically denouncing art as being an act of the devil and not an act of God." [http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/almara86.htm Carlos Almaraz Oral History] ]

De la Rocha was also influential in reestablishing the traditional Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead, when he, along with Chicano artist Gronk and a fеw othеrs lеd a procession from Evergreen Cemetery up First Strееt in East Los Angeles. According to "The American Prospect", hе was also thе editor of thе United Farm Workers publication "Еl Malcriado". [cite web
last =Greif
first =Mark
authorlink =
coauthors =
title ="Revolution Number 9"
work =American Prospect
publisher =
date =2000-01-17
url =http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=4347
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-02-18 ]

Roberto de la Rocha is also well known as the father of Zack de la Rocha, the singer and lyricist in influential rap metal band Rage Against the Machine.

References