Ricardo Acevedo - Visual Artist/Photographer / Writer / Avant Musician Born and raised in San Bernardino, California, spending much of his youth in LA and Hollywood in the New Wave and Art Punk scene of the 80s. His band Freaks Amor opened regularly for bands such as Wall of Voodoo and Suburban Lawns, while simultaneously doing a number of poetry readings at coffee houses and bookstores in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Venice Beach and San Francisco. Moving to San Francisco by late 1987 he began writing seriously while taking course work at the S.F. Art Institute in Performance Art, 3D Design and Video Art. He was involved in regular readings around SF thru 1991 with Bruce Isaacson, Julia Vinograd, the Zeitgeist Press and Cafe Babar scene. He was published in many local poetry/literary zines and performed with other authors such as Kathy Acker at SF’s annual Poetry on the Water event. He returned to Southern California in 91 and released the poetry chapbook “Any” and became a regular reader at Beyond Baroque in Venice Beach, Café Iguana in Hollywood and various venues throughout Southern California. He also collaborated with Techno-Ambient artist Keith McGrew on the sonic-art project, Second Culture’s album “It…the Other One”. Ricardo moved to Flagstaff AZ in 1993 and became the co-creator of the “Difference Machine” art space. He studied under and collaborated with experimental filmmaker/photographer Larry Holloway and James Tyrell-educated artist Craig “Vern Bob Wire” Baumhoffer. He started and ran a yearly poetry slam that lead to organizing and facilitating the tours of numerous national poets. He wrote and directed a multimedia performance piece/film, “6, 16, 29” that was performed at the Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff and participated in the Southwest leg of the Lollapalooza Poetry Slam in Phoenix, AZ in 1995. He wrote and directed a multimedia piece, “Masculism”, with Ballet Aztlan choreographer David Ramos at Planet Earth Theatre in Phoenix, and created a neo-surreal/sensualist film “Come Home” for Alwun House’s “Exotic” show in 1996. In 1997 his film, photography, and performance art retrospective was shown at Peter Reagan’s Metropophobobia Art Space in Phoenix, AZ Moving to Austin, TX in early of 1998, he immediately set about incorporating more technology into the artistic vision that had been defined while in Arizona via the scanning and manipulating of photo negatives to create painterly photo-graphic art and the use of digital video in the creation of linear & non filmic art. He participated in numerous group shows around Austin. ProJex’s Nude Work 2000 & 2001 and Gallery Lombardy’s Erotica 2001 as well as having individual shows at F8 Gallery, DiverseArts Gallery and Debbie Peacock Gallery. Ricardo really broke out with “GET” show at Wet Salon & Studios in which he sold numerous works causing Austin art critic Michael Barns to the Austin American Statesman to say “Acevedo is the best of Austin’s sensually charged artists" Not to be limited to one-dimensional art, he spread my wings by creating visuals behind such provocative musical artists as Laura Scarborough, Woodwork & Art-Metal savant Titsworth and his band Pail. The direction and camera work, respectively, of the latter’s music videos "Birth”, “Mindscar”, “Youth” and “Space Monkey”, which were embraced by the Austin Musical Network as one of the best local producer/directors of 00-2006. Gaining notoriety as a visualist director. Also in the early '00’s he pioneered the process/concept of photographic painting, described here by Stacee Millangue of Austin’s “Idea Gallery” as “…Ricardo’s, work like "Through Her” …defines the possibilities of modern photography. His image of a female nude also contains several layers, looking similar to a ghostly colored x-ray. After taking several photos of his subject, he printed the film, purposefully over-exposing some parts, lightening and darkening others. He then digitally created a collage and added organic layer of wax and pigment.“ Or as England based creative director Ali Hobb’s is quoted as saying, "Ricardo is a sensory genius" Musically in 2003 he did guest vocals & lyrics for the Flat Hand 5 project formed by Seattle based musician & underground personality D.A. Sabastian of gokustom.com. That fall Ricardo produced the soundtrack to the film "Whole” featuring Austin based artists Govinda, Laura Scarborough, Michaelanglo and Kan'nal to name a few. In 2004 he curated and contributed to the deconstructing of the nude with “Contour” featuring painting and mixed media works at WET Salon & Studios in March. Ricardo also had his second collection of prose released by DiverseArts Press entitled “Sonambulo” in June of 2004, he then collaborated with choreographer Ellen Bartel, composer Graham Reynolds and digital media artist Buck Wall on “Sonambulo” (the multi-media dance concert) based on his book performed at Austin’s Off Center in July of 2005. In 07 he was accepted in the prestigious Center for Fine Art Photography 2008 “International Artful Nude Competition" Out of hundreds of national and international entries, Ricardo’s “Working Woman” was accepted. The judge was none other than the son of America’s premiere fine-art nude photographer Edward Weston… Kim Weston. On the writing front, Ricardo had his poetry and essays regularly published in Harold McMillan’s Downtown Arts Magazine, and read regularly at Chicano poet Raúl R. Salinas’ Cafe Libro and performed improvisational poetry with Austin’s Word Jazz LowStars from 1999-2013. In 2011 Ricardo had a book of his photography and prose published by Polymarket Press entitled “Interloper” followed by “Night” in 2013, and was part of Christopher Carmona’s “Beats in Texas” project published by UT Press. Musically Lost Cat Magnet, his solo electronic music persona, raised its furry head first performing in Austin Texas at the Green House venue in 2013, Cheer Up Charlie’s, Elysium, Kenny Dorham’s Backyard, and numerous art venues. Lost Cat Magnet has released numerous albums on Heterodox Records and his collaboration with Charlie Russel and Tiago da Silva “My Exotic Self” was accepted into the Austin Public Libraries permanent collection in 2022. Now via UK based Incunabula Media, Ricardo has returned to lit and photography. He released MALO - Things You Can’t Ruin. A collection of prose, poetry and flash fiction and NIGHT (an extended version) his collection of photography shot entirely in the clubs and streets of Austin 1999 - 2010, combined with his photo-novella Immersion Series, and prose essay on the vagaries of that life in all its gritty dark realism and hallucinations. EYE STREET his latest from Incunabula, blends writings and poetry from his time in San Francisco and his skills as a graphic artist to and almost graphic novel style. Acevedo most recently participated in the international surrealist Minotaur Ball in Swansea, Wales with both his visual art and poetry to rave reviews. Selling a number of works, and copies of his books. “Some people see life more vividly than others do, and what’s exceedingly rare, always and forever. People who can transfer the stunning whole of their experience into an expression that can be shared by others. What’s never usual is someone who can capture the relentless kinetic miracle of existence in all its aspects ~ the urban and jagged, the natural and fabricated, the darling and delightful and debauched and destroyed ~ and bring those things to eyes formerly innocent of the glory and glamor, the triumphs and trash, that shine everywhere in this complex life. Ricardo Acevedo is one such artist, writer and photographer.” ~ Wayne Alan Brenner / Lead arts writer for the Austin Chronicle Complied by Harold McMillan 09/18/2024