Domingo en Mi Barrio

Artist Sandow Birk (born 1962)

Date1994

MediumAcrylic on canvas

Dimensions25 x 36 1/2 in. (63.5 x 92.7 cm)

ClassificationsPainting

Credit LineGift of the Hilbert Collection

Object number2018.045

DescriptionOne of the most important living Los Angeles artists, Sandow Birk is well known for his works exploring contemporary American culture. His frequent themes have included life in the inner city, various political and social issues, travel, prisons, surfing and skateboarding. Many of his urban/inner city works are inspired by everyday life in his own neighborhood in the Crenshaw district.

"Domingo en Mi Barrio" ("Sunday in my Barrio") was one of a series painted in the early '90s by Birk showing life in that neighborhood, which has a large Latino population. Some of those paintings referenced the gang-related violence that plagued the area, but others, like this one, were more lighthearted while still referencing the toughness and resilience of the residents.

In this work a group of young men are out in the yard on a Sunday afternoon, apparently gathering to work on a car (referencing L.A.'s Latino car culture) but probably really to drink beer (note the open Bud box and the beer cans littered around) and talk amongst themselves in the way young guys do. They spot an attractive woman crossing the street to the Lucky supermarket, and begin catcalling her. She responds with a rude gesture, not even bothering to turn around. She has better things to do.

So the painting is of a certain type of obnoxious machismo culture, but also of the spirited riposte made by the woman, who's having none of it and (hopefully) is not letting it bother her a bit (because she's probably, alas, used to it). In other words, it's a snapshot of a telling moment between humans in the course of everyday L.A. life, and as such, a worthy example of California Scene painting, a genre that always tells a story. The story of us: Californians, amazing and fallible, on our bad days and our good ones.

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