Gamboa, Harry

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Harry Gamboa, Jr. (1951- ) is a painter, writer, photographer, and video artist from Los Angeles, Calif.

From the description of Oral history interview with Harry Gamboa, Jr., 1999 Apr. 1-16 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 82194672

Chicano artist, born in East Los Angeles in 1951. Primarily uses photography but also video, live performance and writing.

From the description of Photographs, 1972-1992. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122369479

Harry Gamboa Jr. (born 1951) is a Chicano essayist, photographer, director and performance artist. He is a founding member of the Chicano performance art collective, ASCO.

From the description of Harry Gamboa papers, 1968-2010. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 462019329

Biography

Harry Gamboa Jr. was born in 1951, the first of five children born to Harry T. Gamboa and Carmen Gamboa, a working class Mexican American couple. He grew up in East Los Angeles California, an urban area tormented by poverty, violence and racial conflict. Despite these surroundings, the inadequacy of the East L.A. public schools and his parents' lack of education, Gamboa was encouraged to value education and did fairly well in school. As a teenager he was active in community organizations and politics. As a student at High School (graduated 1969) Gamboa was active in student government and as an organizer of various student-initiated reforms, most significantly the 1968 "East L.A. Blowouts" -a series of protests against the inferior conditions of public schools in poor, non-white areas.

Gamboa's extra-curricular activities were not, however, limited to politics. Already a developing artist, it was at Garfield High that Gamboa met Gronk (Glugio Nicondra), Patssi (then Patsy) Valdez and Willie Herrón, three of his closest associates in his later career. After the "Blowouts," for his final year of high school, Gamboa dropped out of the political scene in order to dedicate himself to his education. Thanks to these efforts and with the help of the Equal Opportunities Program (EOP) for disadvantaged minority students, Gamboa was able to attend California State University at Los Angeles. From this point his career as an artist -both solo and with Gronk, Valdez and Herrón in the art collective ASCO (Spanish for nausea)-took off.

Gamboa's work as a writer, photographer, film-maker, performance artist and multi-media creator of "things" is diverse, but in all his efforts (including those as a member of ASCO) his focus has been to reveal the absurdity of urban life and to confront both the dominant white culture and various perspectives within Chicano culture, pointing to the pain and alienation caused by both. This is often achieved by altering the media of the art itself, as opposed to just the subject matter. Gamboa's most significant works include mail art of the 1970s, ASCO's "no movies," the "urban opera" Ignore the Dents and Jetter's Jinx.

Gamboa has one son, Diego, born c. 1980, a product of his first marriage. In 1993 Gamboa married his second wife, Chicano muralist Barbara Carrasco, after seven years of romantic and professional involvement. Their daughter, Barbara Gamboa, was born in 1994.

From the guide to the Harry Gamboa, Jr. Photographs, 1971-1995, (Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Treviño, Jesús Salvador. Jesús Salvador Treviño papers, 1969-2006. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Gamboa, Harry, Jr. Photographs, 1972-1992. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Gamboa, Harry, Jr. Photographs, 1971-1995. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Harry Gamboa, Jr. Photographs, 1971-1995 Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Willie Varela Papers, ca. 1960-1995 Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Barbara Carrasco papers, ca. 1971-1997 Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Self Help Graphics and Art Archives, Bulk, 1972-1992, 1960-2010 University of California, Santa Barbara, Davidson Library, Department of Special Collections, California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives
creatorOf Oral history interview with Harry Gamboa, Jr. Archives of American Art
creatorOf Gamboa, Harry. Harry Gamboa papers, 1968-2010. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Galería De La Raza Archives, 1969-2000 University of California, Santa Barbara, Davidson Library, Department of Special Collections, California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives
referencedIn Carrasco, Barbara. Barbara Carrasco papers, ca. 1971-1997. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Chicano Visual Arts Kit University of California, Santa Barbara, Davidson Library, Department of Special Collections, California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives
referencedIn Centro Cultural de la Raza Archives, 1970-1999 University of California, Santa Barbara, Davidson Library, Department of Special Collections, California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives
referencedIn Varela, Willie. Willie Varela papers, ca. 1960-1995. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Gamboa, Harry. Harry Gamboa papers, 1968-2010. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Oral history interview with Barbara Carrasco Archives of American Art
referencedIn Oral history interview with Patssi Valdez Archives of American Art
Relation Name
associatedWith Almaraz, Carlos. person
associatedWith Arteaga, Alfred. person
associatedWith Avalos, David. person
associatedWith Barnet, Holly. person
associatedWith Benavidez, Max. person
associatedWith Buitron, Robert. person
associatedWith Carrasco, Barbara person
associatedWith Carrasco, Barbara, 1955- person
associatedWith Carrillo, Sean. person
associatedWith Centro Cultural de la Raza corporateBody
associatedWith Cordova, Ralph. person
associatedWith Cristeto, Armando. person
associatedWith Cyclona. person
associatedWith España, Frances Salome. person
associatedWith Favela, Ramon. person
associatedWith Fusco, Coco. person
associatedWith Gamboa, Carmen. person
associatedWith Gamboa, Diane. person
associatedWith Gamboa, Diego. person
associatedWith Gamboa, Harry T. person
associatedWith Garcia, Willie. person
associatedWith Garza, Juan. person
associatedWith Goldman, Shifra. person
associatedWith Gonzalves, Ricardo. person
associatedWith Gronk. person
associatedWith Gronk, 1954- person
associatedWith Guglielmo, Rudy. person
associatedWith Herrera, Juan Felipe. person
associatedWith Lujan, Magu. person
associatedWith Marchand, Arthur. person
associatedWith Martinez, Daniel J. person
associatedWith Medina, Joe. person
associatedWith Montoya, Richard. person
associatedWith Olsen, Mark. person
associatedWith Rangel, Jeffrey J., person
associatedWith Rascon, Armando. person
associatedWith Rodriguez, Eloy. person
associatedWith Rosas, Alejandro. person
associatedWith Salazar, Rick. person
associatedWith Sanchez, Marcos. person
associatedWith Sandoval, Humberto. person
associatedWith Self Help Graphics and Art. corporateBody
associatedWith Trejo, Ruben. person
associatedWith Treviño, Jesús Salvador. person
associatedWith Valdez, Patssi, person
associatedWith Varela, Willie. person
associatedWith Varela, Willie. person
associatedWith Vargas, Zaragosa. person
associatedWith Velazquez, Gerardo. person
associatedWith Villa, Raul. person
associatedWith Viramontes, Helena Maria. person
associatedWith Westphal, Dirk. person
associatedWith Yañez, Rene. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
asco (group of artists)
Hispanic American artists
Mexican American art
Mexican American artists
Mexican Americans
Photography
Occupation
Photographers
Activity

Person

Birth 1951

Americans

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