“Cholo”
I grew up in North East Los Angeles in a neighborhood called Atwater Village. There are two street gangs that operate within that neighborhood and the one on my side is called Toonerville (TVR x13). It was formed in the 1930s and got their name from a television show called the “Toonerville Trolley”, which was based on a trolley that traveled through the neighborhood. It was never really a dangerous place to live if youre not involved in gangs but the gang was definitely active in the time I was living there from the 80s to 00s. I was never cut out to be a gangster but I did spend a lot of time hanging out with them given this was my community I grew up with. It was a small neighborhood (Toonerville) within a neighborhood ( Atwater Village) primarily of a Mexican, working class demographic. My experience growing up there has molded me in many ways, from the good to the bad. Sometimes I get nostalgic and think about the “good ol days”.
In this image I depict a cholo standing in front of a Cactus plant both iconic representations of Chicano culture. His hair is slicked back most likely with 3 Flowers pomade and only having the top button connected. This style was more common during the 80s - 90s.
Artwork available for sale as an NFT on opensea.io.
