WATTS TOWERS ARTS CENTER CAMPUS

ALEJANDRO CAMPOS

Alejandro Campos is a Los Angeles based artist whose work primarily deals with installation in an urban environment while working through the manipulation of tile and carpentry. He studied visual art at the “Casa de Cultura” in his home country of El Salavador where he was introduced to his medium of expertise; tile.  He relocated to the US in the 1986 and studied carpentry under then Watts Towers Artist in Residence, Mauricio Vallejo. After 10 years of studying, Alejandro accompanied Mauricio to the towers in 1994 where he began experimenting with different materials like wood and plants. Now 22 years as a part of Watts Towers Arts Center family, he has honed his skills as a tiler, carpenter, and now educator through the Watts Towers Garden Studio teaching plant care and garden education to the children of the Watts community.

 

Alejandro is deeply inspired by Simon Rodia’s Nuestro Pueblo installation aka “The Watts Towers” and the process of crafting a rustic and an organic look from hard and often times, unfriendly materials. By exploring how the human touch affects and influences raw material, Alejandro has crafted work that decorates and celebrates the Watts Towers Campus in the Simon Rodia tradition, through handcrafted art.

 

During his tenure at the WTAC he’s collaborated with myriad artists creating and installing their work at the center for exhibits over the years. Currently, he continues his work as a resident artist at the WTAC and also freelances as a tile designer and exhibition installer around Los Angeles.