Bravo rides in the 2020 Rose Parade as a Cancer Survivor
Joe rode on the City of Hope float as a cancer survivor in the Pasadena Rose Parade on January 1, 2020. Bravo was interviewed by KNBC Channel 4 before he rode with nine other cancer survivors down Colorado Boulevard. The theme of the parade was "The Power of Hope".
Tortilla Painting workshop at the annual Gustavo Arrellano's KCRW Tortilla Tournament
On Sunday, September 8, 2019, at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes in downtown Los Angeles, Joe hosted a Tortilla Painting workshop at the annual Gustavo Arrellano's KCRW Tortilla Tournament. It was a tremendous success with hundreds of kids and their parents painting on Tortillas."
Later that evening at the same venue, La Plaza de Cultura y Artes hosted a viewing party for Joe's TV appearance on ABC's "To Tell The Truth". The program's premise is that celebrity guest judges have to guess who is telling the truth among three contestants. None of the judges guessed that Joe was the true Tortilla Artist. At the end of the program, Joe presented host Anthony Anderson's mother with a Tortilla Portrait of her.
Tortilla Art
Joe’s unique Tortilla artwork has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Salt Lake City Tribune, Fresno Bee and several “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” books as well as being showcased in Italian, German, Asian and other newspapers and magazines all over the world.
Other Artwork
Joe's goal is to leave this world a better place then he found it. That is why he is committed to using his God-given artistic gifts to raise our understanding and consciousness of one another. To empower and inspire everyone to lift up their earth neighbor to that higher level that our creator always intended us to aspire to.
Joe's Journey
Joe has always been drawn to unorthodox media in his art. Born in San Jose, California, he spent much of his childhood in the border town of Calexico. It was there that his art career began: using mud to make figurines, scrap wood to carve into toy swords, and other pieces created from objects he found, since he had very few store-bought toys to play with. “Necessity fuels creativity,” he said.
Since 1993
Joe Bravo is known primarily for his Tortilla Artwork which has been exhibited and published worldwide in such diverse places as the United States, Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
The internet has been a great catalyst for Joe to reach others with his unique interpretation of Latino Art. Honed in the Mexican-American social unrest of the Chicano Movement during the 1960s and 70s, Bravo’s art has evolved and keeps evolving as a testament and documentation of the political, racial, and cultural challenges he has experienced throughout his life living in Southern California.
Although he still paints on Tortillas and teaches painting workshops, Joe is currently focused on producing socially relevant artwork that creates and encourages dialogue amongst different viewpoints.
Bravo likes to share his knowledge and experience with students from various backgrounds because he feels educating others about the arts is just as meaningful a legacy to leave the world as producing great art.
