LA Metro Lotería by Jose Lozano

Lotería (translated as ‘lottery’ in English) is based on a card game with origins in Mexico. LA Metro Lotería plays with the station name “La Brea,” retaining the Spanish language prefixes “La,” “El,” or “Los,” and substituting “Brea” with passenger interactions commonly encountered while riding Metro. “El Luggage” shows a smiling man surrounded by overstuffed luggage. “La Prisa” (the hurry) has a mother and child walking quickly across a plaza, the mother focused on reaching her destination, the child sidetracked by other things in the plaza. Set against a blue mosaic background, the ‘Spanglish’ lotería cards will appear to have fallen from the sky and landed on art panels throughout the platform.

These images are composites of all of our experiences of traveling on the train. In each scene, Metro riders recognize the colorful characters they see every day, bustling about throughout the city.

Artist Statement

“LA Metro Lotería depicts scenes, people, objects and situations having to do with the Metro riding experience. The color and style of the cards are reminiscent of Mexican comic books from my youth and the Sunday comics. I want to create something visually interesting and poetic from what seems to be mundane and ordinary.”

About the Artist

JOSE LOZANO received his Master of Fine Arts from California State University, Fullerton. His drawings and paintings have been exhibited widely at venues that include the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, UCLA Armand Hammer Museum, Orange County Museum of Contemporary Art, Patricia Correia Gallery, Self Help Graphics, and Avenue 50 Studio. He has received many awards including a J. Paul Getty Mid-Career Grant in Painting and a California Arts Council Grant for Drawing and Painting.