Zender One

JohnZender.com

Brief biography

Born East Los Angeles and raised in South Central LA, John Zender Estrada experienced a rich and diverse cultural environment drawing from the strong personalities of the Chicano youth around him. At fifteen he lived in Mexico City where he gained a love and respect for Los Tres Grandes, the famous Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros.

While still in High School, he won several competitions under his signature name Zender, including an internship to California State University, Los Angeles (Ceramics) and at the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design (fine art and life drawing). John continued his fine arts studies with the Otis Art Institute majoring in Fine Art and Illustration. While attending Otis, John was influenced by the New York art scene, primarily the abstract-graffiti-pop expressionists. Actively involved in establishing the Los Angeles style of graffiti art, John had his first one- man show at Otis titled “Zender–Neo Expression” in 1988.

Deeply committed to making art accessible, like his art heroes of his youth, Zender produced more than 500 public art murals throughout the United States. He has devoted many hours nurturing young artists and making a difference in many communities.

Zender’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zero-1 Gallery, La Luz Gallery, and many others. His easel paintings have evolved from series to series. Most of his works reside in private collections, including a large painting permanently displayed on the campus of California State University Los Angeles. In 1995 his work arrived at a spiritual turning point and began incorporating more intimate and personal ideas concerning spirituality into his artwork. Influenced by Kandinsky, Matta, Gorky and Basquiat he began calling his painting theory: Process of Change. “My work is influenced by the spiritual. I want to bring eternal concepts to the canvas and give them life and existence. When I see a vision or a spiritual truth it holds so much mystery that using mere recognizable imagery can’t reach the soul of the viewer.”

Currently he is working on what he calls his final series “Triunity” a hybrid of all his past styles and influences. The completion of humanity, the unification of the body, soul and the spirit.