Eloy Torrez

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Eloy Torrez
Portrait of Hollywood
2002, 2007

Project Area: Hollywood
Project: Hollywood High School Auditorium Mural
Project Location: 1521 N. Highland Avenue
Project Type: CRA/LA Initiated

Description:

Framing the exterior of the Hollywood High School Auditorium is a large-scale mural 27' wide x 72' high acrylic paint mural. It provides a cultually diverse depiction of Hollywood celebrities, some of whom are Hollywood High School alumni. Celebrities represented include: Dorothy Dandridge, Dolores del Rio, Brandy, Selena, Lana Turner, Laurence Fishburne, Mario Moreno "Cantinflas," Carol Burnett, Cher, Ricky Nelson, Bruce Lee, Rudolph Valentino, and Judy Garland.

In 2007, on the auditorium wall facing Selma Avenue, Eloy Torrez completed an addition to his mural, a 31' wide x 50' high portrait of another Hollywood High School alumnus, actor John Ritter, who had once served as student body president. CRA/LA provided funding assistance to commission this artwork after the actor's unexpected death in 2003. The artist portrays John Ritter pulling back a stage curtain as if presenting to the public a diverse group of artists from past and present who have had successful careers on film, stage, television, and in music.

For additional information on the mural see www.eloytorrez.com.

For information on Hollywood High alumni, see www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Hollywood_HS/.

Portrait of Hollywood detail with John Ritter

Artist Profile

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Eloy Torrez is a muralist and art instructor. Influenced by realism, surrealism, psychology, symbolism, and the human figure, the artist’s murals range from realistic photomontages of the Hollywood elite to socio-political works depicting the Mexican-American history. Some of Torrez’s most recognizable works include The Pope of Broadway, Victor Clothing Company Building, Los Angeles; Portrait of Hollywood, Hollywood High School, CA; and Cultural Identity Indicating Time in Perpetual Movement, Los Angeles. In addition to his mural work, Torrez is also an art educator for at-risk youth at the Covenant House, Hollywood; the HeArt Project, Los Angeles; and the Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood. The artist lives and works in Los Angeles.