"As an American artist with an Hispanic background, my art is about the personal relationships and events that dominate my two-culture environment. My most recent work with airbrush painting and the depiction of 'cholos,' deals directly with my daily experience with the people I know: individuals who remind me of friends and people I grew up with. This body of work is a record of experiences, ideas and feelings about a subculture that has endured in the Mexican-American life since the World War II, a lifestyle that has been passed from generation to generation, survived wars, prisons and other elements: los pachucos (1940s and '50s)' los tirilones ('50s and '60s); los cholos ('70s and 80s); and los gangsters ('90s up to now).

The work is not a crusade to change lives nor is it an effort to pass judgement. It is up to the viewer to judge and interpet. These images invite the viewer to come into contact with some of those who populate the Chicano world.

As long as there is poverty en el bario (in the neighborhood) This life style will endure both my generation and generations to come. An identity is important to all of us. This life style reflects the avenue some individuals take, searching for an identity and self esteem."

     Gaspar Enriques