[Art_beyond_sight_theory_and_research] George Mendoza

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links
http://www.georgemendoza.com/visionofthesoul/
http://www.georgemendoza.com
exhibit
August 26 — October 15, 2006.
    Loveland Museum/Gallery, Loveland, CO

Las Cruces Sun-News, NM, USA
Sunday, July 30, 2006

Artist's blindness helps motivate his success

By S. Derrickson Moore 

CAPTION: Local artist George Mendoza, who is legally blind, uses his Jordy, a vision piece created by Enhanced Vision, which allows him to see what and where he is painting. Mendoza has a hereditary eye condition that caused him to become legally blind at age 15. (Sun-News photo by Shari Vialpando)    
 
LAS CRUCES - George Mendoza said things are really coming together for him this summer, but once again, there have been some challenges.

After a rare genetic condition left him legally blind during his teens, he has gone on to become an author, an athlete in international competitions and an artist who has exhibited at museums and galleries throughout the United States.

This August, he's celebrating the premiere of a new PBS documentary about his life, a national traveling exhibit of his art work and a new edition of a biography.

He's in his Las Cruces home this week recovering from a July 5 auto accident. He and his girlfriend Yolanda Ortiz both suffered concussions and whiplash after their car was struck from behind.

"Both cars were totaled. I've never had a concussion before. It does some interesting things to you," said Mendoza, who, as usual, is making the best of things.

"It's really affected my painting. I'm painting some strange stuff. I think my latest things are more like Picasso's," he said.

During recuperation, he has also curtailed his running regimen.

"I'm just swimming now for a while, until I'm a little better," he said.

But "persistence" is a one-word mantra that continues to guide Mendoza's extraordinary life, as he explains in "Vision of the Soul, The George Mendoza Story" which will air at 9 p.m. Aug. 14 on PBS station KRWG and is slated for national broadcast shortly thereafter.

The documentary was also a study in persistence. It has been in the works for more than a decade, Mendoza said. Jane Rosemont, a Santa Fe filmmaker, contributed some footage to the project, which was produced by award-winning playwright and filmmaker Mark Medoff and directed by another award-winning local filmmaker, Rajeev Nimalakhandan.

"I had no idea about George when I started this project. I just knew he had a visual handicap. Once I got involved, I experienced what he does and realized he really takes it up several notches and he's got a great sense of humor. He's not mourning his handicap. He's actually embraced it and tries to shine," Nimalakhandan said.

The film features interviews with friends, colleagues, art critics and Mendoza's mom, Cindy Huber, 78, also of Las Cruces.

"I think this is a very strong mother-son story, too," Mendoza said.

University of New Mexico Press has just released a new edition of "Running Toward the Light, The George Mendoza Story" by William J. Buchanan.

A traveling exhibition, "Vision of the Soul," opens Aug. 26 and runs through Oct. 15 at Colorado's Loveland Art Museum.

"The show is huge. It features 32 of my paintings and is scheduled to visit several U.S. cities. I understand it will go to Santa Fe, California, New York and Cleveland. A decade of hard work is all coming together for me this fall," Mendoza said.

As he recovers from his accident, he said he is "taking a little break. I'm painting and working on my books," including a volume in his "Spirit Man" trilogy, he said. He is also the author of "A Vision of Courage" (with James Nathan Post) and "The Cup of All Good Things" and is working on a biography, "The Mirrors of Truth."

He said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson helped inspire his latest round of achievements.

"I met with him and he is very supportive of my work."

Honors are nothing new for Mendoza. Last year, Richardson declared Aug. 4, 2005, George Mendoza Day in New Mexico, noting that Mendoza "continues to exemplify by his achievements" that "blindness is not the end of the world."

At age 15, Mendoza was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called fundus flavimaculatus. His central vision was totally obliterated, leaving him with narrow peripheral vision that is "about 20/400 at best" and is distorted with what he calls "kaleidoscope eyes."

But Mendoza went on to make international headlines as a runner, winning state and national titles in competitions for handicapped athletes. He even competed with sighted runners in grueling cross-county marathons over difficult terrain. He was selected by the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes to compete in the 1984 Olympics for the Physically Disabled.

His life was the focus of an ABC after-school special. He served as director of New Mexico State University Disabled Student Programs and is also a motivational speaker and teaches T'ai Chi.

He is currently working with Enhanced Vision, a company that makes devices to help the visually impaired, he said. The company's special digital camera helped him to get a clearer overview of his own paintings for the first time, he said.

To maximize his limited vision, he paints outdoors in the morning when the light is brightest. He has developed his own paint mixing techniques and creates strong compositions with bright colors, working on large canvases, a small patch at a time.

In the new documentary, Mendoza discusses inspirational turning points in his life, including a trip to New Mexico's legendary healing mecca Chimayó, and an encounter "with a little girl named Debbie who was born blind, who had never seen the color green or the shape of a tree...She asked me a question: Can you tell me, what color is the wind?' That question just blew my mind because I was just losing my sight then. She woke up my creative sense by asking me that question."

He said he has come to believe that "my blindness is actually a blessing. I've run in the Olympics and traveled the world, and it's because of my blindness that I publish the books, do lectures and make films. If I wasn't blind, I might be painting the stuff everyone else does."

For information about his work and art, visit 

www.georgemendoza.com


http://www.lcsun-news.com/sunlife/ci_4109950