Oral history interview with Jesús Moroles
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 6 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 10 digital wav files. Duration is 6 hrs., 13 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Moroles, Jesús Bautista, 1950-2015
label: Interviewer
content: Cordova, Cary
label: Creator
content: Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas
label: Names
content: Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas
label: Names
content: Baca, Judith Francisca
label: Names
content: Jimenez, Luis, 1940-2006
label: Names
content: Legorreta Vilchis, Ricardo
label: Names
content: Noguchi, Isamu, 1904-1988
label: Names
content: Pfeiffer, Eckhardt.
label: Names
content: Ribelin, Frank
label: Names
content: Rückriem, Ulrich.
label: Names
content: Saarinen, Eero, 1910-1961
label: Names
content: Shrader, David
topic: label: Topic
content: Sculptors -- Texas -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Art -- Economic aspects
label: Topic
content: Hispanic American artists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Moroles, Jesús Bautista, 1950-2015
label: Interviewer
content: Cordova, Cary
label: Creator
content: Recuerdos Orales: Interviews of the Latino Art Community in Texas
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Jesús Moroles (1950- ) is a sculptor in Rockport, Tex. Cary Cordova (1970- ) is an art historian in Austin, Tex.
function: label: Function
content: Art commissions
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 102 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2004 July 19-20
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.morole04
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Jesús Moroles conducted 2004 July 19-20, by Cary Cordova, for the Archives of American Art, in Rockport, Tex.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Moroles speaks of his parents' poor background and young courtship; his parents' strong work ethic, and his inheritance of this work ethic; earning money through art commissions at a young age; being a young entrepreneur; joining the Air Force and avoiding combat in Southeast Asia by working with electronics; doing photography while stationed in Thailand; choosing stone as medium; numerous injuries he has received during stonecutting; working in Pietra Santa, Italy; meeting and working under Luis Jimenez; working in segregated Waxahachie, Tex.; differences between his figurative and abstract works; why he curates all his shows; and the reasons behind his unconventional stone-sawing methods. Moroles also discusses how he names his works and series; moving his studio to Rockport; his fears of being typecast as a specific type of artist (i.e., "fountain" or "Chicano"); incredulity and disdain towards art journalism and scholarship; his commission for the CBS building; his good relationships with his dealers; his new book of artwork; his desire to slow down his production; his unconventional Baptist/Latino upbringing and his present lack of religion; the Houston Police Memorial; the pyramid motif in his work; his visits to China; moving to Rockport; the tactile nature of his works; his belief in the musicality of granite; his megalomaniacal disposition towards his works; the drowning victims in the Forth Worth Water Gardens; his desire to create sacred places, and the meaning of that phrase; the process of "granite weaving"; his new metal pieces; the lack of political meanings in his art; his "Moonscapes"; and his affections for his daughter. Moroles also recalls Eckhard Pfeiffer, Isamu Noguchi, Ulrich Ruckriem, Eero Saarinen, David Shrader, Frank Ribelin, Ricardo Legoretta, Judy Baca, and others.