Michael Cacoyannis, Cypriot filmmaker (Zorba the Greek) died he was , 89.

Michalis Kakogiannis or Michael Cacoyannis (Greek: Μιχάλης Κακογιάννηςwas a prominent Greek filmmaker from Cyprus, best known for his 1964 film Zorba the Greek died he was , 89.. He directed the 1983 Broadway revival of the musical based on the film. Much of his work was rooted in classical texts, especially those of the Greek tragedian Euripides. He was nominated for an Academy Award five times, a record for any Greek Cypriot film artist. He received Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film nominations for Zorba the Greek, and two nominations in the Foreign Language Film category for Electra and Iphigenia.


(June 11, 1922 – July 25, 2011)

Life

Cacoyannis was born on June 11, 1922 in Limassol, Cyprus under the name Μιχάλης Κακογιάννης (Mikhalis Kakogiannis). In 1939, he was sent by his father, Sir Panayotis Loizou Cacoyannis, to London to become a lawyer. However, after producing Greek-language programs for the BBC World Service during World War II,^[2] Kakogiannis found an interest in film instead. He ended up at the Old Vic school, and enjoyed a brief stage career there under the name "Michael Yannis" before he began working on films. After having trouble finding a directing job in the British film industry, Cacoyannis returned to Greece, and in 1953 he made his first film, Windfall in Athens.^[2] He was offered the chance to direct Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando in the film Reflections in a Golden Eye, but declined.
Cacoyannis had worked on many occasions with the Greek actress Irene Papas and especially Elli Lambeti with whom he was in love. In 1971, he teamed up once more with Papas for the film The Trojan Women, starring Hollywood legend Katharine Hepburn. He was a close friend of Darryl F. Zanuck and George Cukor.
Cacoyannis died on July 25, 2011 in Athens, Greece.

Filmography

• The Cherry Orchard (1999): director, screenwriter, producer
• Pano kato ke plagios (Up, Down and Sideways) (1993): director, screenwriter, producer
• Glykeia patrida (Sweet Country) (1986): director, screenwriter, producer
• Iphigenia (1977): director, screenwriter
• Attilas '74 (1975): director, producer
• The Trojan Women (1971): director, screenwriter, producer
• Otan ta psaria vgikan sti steria (The Day the Fish Came Out) (1967): director, screenwriter, producer
• Alexis Zorbas (Zorba the Greek) (1964): director, screenwriter, producer
• Electra (1962): director, screenwriter, producer
• Il Relitto (The Wastrel) (1961): director, screenwriter
• Eroica (Our Last Spring) (1960): director, screenwriter, producer
• To telefteo psemma (A Matter of Dignity) (1957): director, screenwriter, producer
• To koritsi me ta mavra (The Girl in Black) (1956): director, screenwriter
• Stella (1955): director, screenwriter, producer
• Kyriakatiko xypnima (Windfall in Athens) (1954): director, screenwriter

Awards and nominations

Cannes Film Festival

• 1954 : Golden Palm for "Windfall in Athens" — nominated
• 1955 : Golden Palm for "Stella" — nominated
• 1956 : Golden Palm for "A Girl in Black" — nominated
• 1957 : Golden Palm for "A Matter of Dignity" — nominated
• 1961 : Golden Palm for "The Wastrel" — nominated
• 1962 : Golden Palm for "Elektra" — nominated
• 1962 : Grand Jury Prize for "Elektra" — won
• 1962 : Technical Award for "Elektra" — won
• 1977 : Golden Palm for "Iphigenia" — nominated

Berlin International Film Festival

• 1960 : Golden Bear for "Our Last Spring" — nominated^[3]
• 1963 : David O. Selznick Award for "Elektra" — won

Academy Award (Oscar)

• 1963 : Best Foreign Language Film for "Elektra" — nominated
• 1964 : Best Picture for "Zorba the Greek" — nominated
• 1964 : Best Director for "Zorba the Greek" — nominated
• 1964 : Best Adapted Screenplay for "Zorba the Greek" — nominated
• 1977 : Best Foreign Language Film for "Iphigenia" — nominated

Golden Globe

• 1956 : Best Foreign Language Film for "Stella" — won
• 1957 : Best Foreign Language Film for "A Girl in Black" — won
• 1965 : Best Director for "Zorba the Greek — nominated

British Academy Award (BAFTA)

• 1966 : Best Film for "Zorba the Greek" — nominated
• 1966 : UN Award for "Zorba the Greek" — nominated

New York Film Critics

• 1964 : Best Film for "Zorba the Greek" — nominated
• 1964 : Best Director for "Zorba the Greek" — nominated
• 1964 : Best Screenplay for "Zorba the Greek" — nominated

David di Donatello Award

• 1964 : Special Plaque for "Zorba the Greek" — won

Thessaloniki Film Festival

• 1960 : Special Contribution Award — won
• 1961 : Best Director for "Our Last Spring" — won
• 1962 : Best Film for "Elektra" — won
• 1962 : Best Director for "Elektra" — won
• 1977 : Best Film for "Iphigenia" — won
• 1999 : Union of Film and Television Technicians Award for "The Cherry Orchard" — won

Moscow Film Festival

• 1956 : Silver Medal for "A Girl in Black" — Won

Edinburgh Film Festival

• 1954 : Diploma of Merit for "Windfall in Athens" — won
• 1962 : Diploma of Merit for "Elektra" — won

Montreal World Film Festival

• 1999 : Special Contribution Award — won

Jerusalem Film Festival

• 1999 : Lifetime Achievement Award — won

Cairo International Film Festival

• 2001 : Lifetime Achievement Award — won

 

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Mahmoud Mabsout, Lebanese actor, died from a heart attack he was , 69.

Mahmoud Mabsout (Arabic: محمود مبسوط‎), Also Known as Fehmen (Arabic: فهمان‎) was a Lebanese actor  died from a heart attack he was , 69..

(1941 – 25 July 2011)

Biography

Mahmoud was born in 1941 in Tripoli, North Lebanon. He was not studious at school, as he said in an interview, he has failed the first primary grade six time, and when Mahmoud was 12 years old, the principal told his father "your son is not good for school" . Meanwhile, Mahmoud spent his time acting sketches that he invented with his friends.
Mahmoud formed with his friend the "drabzin agha" band, and made some sketches that his band seemed hot to make it become the band that used by the «Ecole des Freres» in Tripoli during the festivals. His father didn't want him to act, he even has hit Mahmoud the day he knew, in order to let him stop acting. Mahmoud's father used to imprison his son to prohibit him from going out because acting was a «forbidden art» in his point of view. Thus Mahmoud was left but to flee by using a rope tied to the balcony.
When he completed sixteen, his father sent him to Africa, where his brothers worked in the sewing. Working with them during the day, but at night during the sessions of the game «Tarneeb» which it excels, won the support of "Asamrani", «head» of the Arab community in Ghana. "Asmarani" supported him after forming a band with a group amateurs which he meat in nightclubs, so they presented plays at homes of some Lebanese. Mahmoud returned to receive his share of beatings, this time from his two brothers. they imprison him at home, but the «leader» intervene and asked them, under threat, not to object the rising artist's carrier. So his brothers decided to return him to Lebanon, so they can restore their peace of mind.^[2]
He joined "Abou Salim",Salah Tizani, who is also from Tripoli, and worked altogether in "Channel 7" performing "live" sketches, after only few months from its opening, marking the golden era of Tele-Liban. In 1962, they created the "Abou Salim el tabel" band, Mahmoud played the role of Fehmen.

Filmography

Beside his work in Tele-Liban, Mahmoud Starred in around 25 plays and 33 Films. He worked with many directors such as Muhammad Salman, Samir El Ghosayni, Ziad Doueiry, Atef Al Tayeb, Hani Tamba, Philip Aractanji, Samir Habchi, Borhane Alaouié.

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Remarks
1967	Safarbarlek		Film	Rahbani Brothers
1971	Bint el Hareth		Film	Rahbani Brothers
1972	Min yawm la yawm		Television Series	Rahbani Brothers
1995	West Beirut	Baker	Film
2005	After Shave	Abou Milad	Short Film
2005	Bosta	Bus Driver	Film
2007	Khalass	Bus Driver	Film

 

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Arthur W. Murray, American test pilot, died from Alzheimer's disease he was , 92

Arthur Warren "Kit" Murray was a United States test pilot died from Alzheimer's disease he was , 92. He flew test flights on the Bell X-1 and the Bell X-5 aircraft.

(December 26, 1918 – July 25, 2011)

Early life

Arthur Warren Murray was born to Charles C. "Chester" and Elsie Murray in the small town of Cresson nestled in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania on December 26, 1918.

Military career

With World War II already underway in Europe, he joined the United States Army in 1939, and served in the Cavalry. Kit volunteered for pilot training the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and by 1943 was flying the P-40 as a fighter pilot in Africa. His unit worked its way across the continent from Casablanca to Tunisia, escorting B-25, B-26 and A-20 bombers as well as performing dive bombing and strafing missions. His unit was proud to never have lost a bomber to enemy fighters while under their escort.

Test Piloting

After a year tour in Africa, Kit returned to the United States. as a P-47 instructor at Bradley Field near Hartford, Connecticut. He was then assigned as a maintenance flight test pilot and sent to Maintenance Engineering School at Chanute Air Force Base. After completion of that school his commander found out about the Flight Test School at Wright Field and decided to send him there. Here was where Kit got his big break as he quickly found out this school was not for functional test flights, but for experimental test programs. He kept his mouth shut and stuck with the program, and soon was offered the opportunity to be the first permanent test pilot to be assigned to Muroc Airfield (later Edwards Air Force Base) in the California desert. Until then, pilots were based at the Wright Field Test Center and assigned TDY as needed to Muroc. Chuck Yeager was making such trips out there from the Test Center while he was flying the Bell X-1 on the first supersonic test flights. In early tests Kit was able to fly some of America’s earliest jet aircraft including the Bell XP-59 and the P-80. He also flew the P-51, P-82, F-84, B-25, B-43, B-45 and many other fighter and bomber aircraft.
Kit flight tested the X-1A and X-1B, the X-4, the X-5,^[2] and also flew the XF-92A.^[3] In the X-1A, Kit set altitude records of over 90,000 feet^[4] and was considered at the time, 1954, America’s first space pilot. He was the first to see the curvature of the earth and the sky dark at mid-day.^[5] The X-1A was powered by four rocket motors using liquid oxygen and alcohol as fuel. Looking rather exotic even in photos today, the X-1 used nitrogen tanks to pressurize many of the systems including the fuel tanks, cockpit and the landing gear system. However, the flight controls were completely conventional with strictly mechanical linkage and no hydraulic boost.
The X-1A was launched from the belly of a B-29 and later a B-50, and the flight profile had him using a 45 degree pitch attitude with airspeeds reaching about Mach 2. On his first couple of high altitude flights, Kit said his plane would snap into a spin when the motors burned out while approaching his peak altitude. He finally figured that the rocket motors were installed very slightly offset which, to keep it going straight, was causing him to have to cross control the plane increasingly as it accelerated. When the engines shut off, the cross-control condition, which was keeping the airplane from yawing, now became the perfect spin entry input.
After two flights involving supersonic spin recovery, Kit was quick to neutralize the controls immediately upon motor shutdown in later flights. He had taped a string in front of the windshield to determine his rudder trim input. Kit was the first pilot to fly the X1-B aircraft in powered flight, and he said it was a much straighter flying rocket ship than the X-1A. The X-4 he flew was basically a flying wing type aircraft (no horizontal tail) and the X-5 was a variable sweep test platform.
Kit was a test pilot at Muroc/Edwards from 1949 to 1955, an unusually long time for that assignment. Kit’s next Air Force assignment was in Paris, France.^[5] He was in charge of technology integration for the U.S. Regional Organization there and was privileged to fly some of Europe’s top airplanes at the time, including the Italian Fiat G-91, the French Mystere, and the British Javelin. After that one year assignment he went to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as head of new developments at the Systems Project Office.
During his time there, 1958–1960, he was Air Force manager for the X-15 program,^[5] which attained record altitudes of 354,000 feet and a speed record of 4,534 m.p.h. (Mach 6.7). The X-15 program contributed enormously to the space program and high speed aircraft research, and was acclaimed as the most successful test program of its type. Kit held the rank of Major at the time, but this was considered a Colonel’s job. He was approached by Boeing in 1960. He retired with over 20 years of military service and became Boeing's “company astronaut” managing crew integration for the space program.^[5] In that capacity he massaged the gap between engineers and scientists who just wanted astronauts to ride in a sealed capsule, and pilots who wanted to be able to see what was going on during flights. Kit worked for Boeing on many space program projects from 1960 to 1969, from the X-20 (a single place space shuttle) to the Apollo program. He was Technical Integration Manager for Boeing at Cape Canaveral.^[5]

Engineering

In 1969 Kit moved to the Ft. Worth area to become Air Force Requirements Engineer for Bell Helicopter in the tilt rotor program.^[5] He worked for them until 1971, then gradually slowed down in retirement, but still doing many things interesting to him. He managed a hunting club, flew some charter work for Mustang Aviation in Dallas then did some courtroom reporting for the Bosque County newspaper. Kit also was project manager for the restoration of the Bosque County Courthouse, taking it back to its 1886 splendor.

Personal life

Arthur Murray married Elizabeth Ann (Betty Anne) Strelic in 1943. They had six children, Michael, John, Christopher, Catherine, Patrick, Peter. The family fostered a seventh child, Elizabeth Anne(Betsy) from the time of her birth in 1963 until the couple separated in 1966. Arthur remarried in 1970 to Dallas Interior Designer Ann Humphreys . Ann now lives in Central Texas on a small horse farm. They combined their efforts and expertise in renovating the Bosque County Court House and charter members of TETRA, an equine trail riding Organization.
Kit Murray died on July 25, 2011 at a nursing home in the town of West, Texas at the age of 92.^[6]

Honors

Murray was awarded the following decorations for his military service: Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters.^[5] He is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and recipient of the French Medal of the City of Paris.^[5] In 1996, Murray was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor in Lancaster, California that honors test pilots who have contributed to aviation and space research and development.^[5]

 

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Jeret Peterson, American free style skier, 2010 Winter Olympics silver medalist, died when he committed suicide by gunshot he was , 29.

Jeret "Speedy" was an American World Cup aerial skier from Boise, Idaho, skiing out of Bogus Basin died when he committed suicide by gunshot he was , 29.. A three-time Olympian, he won the silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Peterson was found dead in Lambs Canyon, Utah on July 25, 2011. The cause of death was determined to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Peterson (December 12, 1981 – July 25, 2011)

Athletic career

Through the 2006 season, Peterson had won four World Cup events in aerials, and a total of nine World Cup podiums. His best season was 2005, with three World Cup wins and three seconds. With the help of these six strong placings, he took the 2005 World Cup season title in aerials. He finished in sixth place for the 2006 season.
A member of three Olympic teams, he participated in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake (placing 9th) and the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy. In the finals of the 2006 aerial competitions, Peterson was in third place after the first round, but fell to seventh place after the second jump, when he failed to solidly land the difficult "Hurricane" maneuver, which involves five spins and three somersaults.
The following day February 24, 2006, he was dispatched from the Games after a drunken altercation during a post-competition celebration. U.S. Olympic official Jim McCarthy said, "This type of conduct is irresponsible and will not be tolerated. Like every athlete, Jeret had an opportunity to represent himself, his sport, and his country in a positive manner. He chose to do otherwise, and because of his unacceptable actions, his Olympic experience is ending early."^[2]
A month after the Olympics in Italy, Peterson won the 2006 U.S. National Championships at Killington, Vermont.
He was an alumnus of Timberline High School in Boise, and was one of the six athletes featured on the Week 6 episode of The Biggest Loser: Couples 3.
After a tumultuous four years on and off the snow following the 2006 Olympics, Peterson made a career comeback and in January 2010 was named to the U.S. Olympic freestyle team for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Entering the Olympic finals in fifth place, he successfully landed his signature "Hurricane" maneuver (5 twists, 3 flips) to win the silver medal.^[3][4]

Death

On July 25, 2011, Peterson was found dead in Lambs Canyon, Utah. The cause of death was determined to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.^[5] Three days previously, Peterson had been arrested for driving while intoxicated.^[6] He was still reeling from the suicide of a friend named Trevor Fernald, who had committed suicide in front of Peterson in 2005. Peterson also had problems with alcohol and depression and admitted he had his own thoughts of suicide--all stemming from a childhood in which he was sexually abused and at the age of 5-years-old he lost one of his older sisters to a drunk driver.^{[7] [8]}
A few days after Peterson's death, Utah law enforcement released a recording of the 911 call that Peterson made just before he committed suicide. In it Peterson told the dispatcher that he was going to kill himself and that he wanted the police to come and get his body.^[9]

Results

• 1999 U.S. Junior National Championships – Gold – Aerials
• 2000 World Junior Championships – Bronze – Aerials
• 2001 World Junior Championships – Bronze – Aerials
• 2001 Junior Freestyle Skier of the Year – by Ski Racing magazine
• 2002 Olympic Winter Games – 9th place – Aerials
• 2002 World Cup season – 22nd place – Aerials
• 2003 World Championships – 6th place – Aerials
• 2003 World Cup season – 8th place – Aerials
• 2004 World Cup season – 16th place – Aerials
• 2005 World Championships – 12th place – Aerials
• 2005 World Cup season – 1st place – Aerials
• 2006 Olympic Winter Games – 7th place – Aerials
• 2006 World Cup season – 6th place – Aerials
• 2006 U.S. National Championships – GOLD – Aerials
• 2010 Olympic Winter Games – SILVER – Aerials

 

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Ravichandran, Malaysian-born Indian actor, died from lung infection he was , 71.

Ravichandran was a Tamil film actor who played lead roles in Tamil movies of the 1960s and 1970s died from lung infection he was , 71.. He has also acted in supporting roles in some recent Tamil movies, and had also directed several films.

(1941 or 1942 – 25 July 2011)

Life

Ravichandran was born P.S. Raman in Kuala Lumpur, capital of the Federated Malay States. He moved to Tiruchirappalli, India in 1951, and studied at St. Joseph's College. He was married twice: his first marriage was to Malayalam actress Sheela, and they had a son, George; he was later married to Vimala, with whom he had a daughter, Lavanya, and two sons, Balaji and Hamsavardhan. Hamsavardhan and George also took up acting as a career, with Hamsavardhan starring in the film Manthiran, directed by his father.
Ravichandran died aged 69 from multiple organ failure on 25 July 2011 at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai, after suffering from a lung infection and kidney disease.^[3]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language
1964	Kadalikka Neramillai		Tamil
	Nalvaravu		Tamil
1965	Idhaya Kamalam		Tamil
1966	Gauri Kalyanam		Tamil
	Kumarippen		Tamil
	Motor Sundaram Pillai		Tamil
	Madras to Pondicherry		Tamil
	Naam Moovar		Tamil
1967	Adhe Kangal		Tamil
	Maadi Veetu Mapillai		Tamil
	Magaraasi		Tamil
	Naan		Tamil
	Naan Yaar Theriyuma		Tamil
	Ninaivil Ninraval		Tamil
	Selva Magal		Tamil
	Sabhash Thambi		Tamil
	Thanga Thambi		Tamil
	Valibha Virundhu		Tamil
1968	Moonreluthu		Tamil
	Nimindhu Nil		Tamil
	Panakkara Pillai		Tamil
	Delhi Mapillai		Tamil
1969	Odum Nadhi		Tamil
	Sikharangal		Malayalam
	Singapore Seeman		Tamil
	Chella Penn		Tamil
	Subha Dhinam		Tamil
1970	Kadhal Jothi		Tamil
	Kaviya Thalaivi		Tamil
	Snegithi		Tamil
	Malathi		Tamil
1971	Paatondru Ketten		Tamil
	Sabhatham		Tamil
	Justice Vishwanathan		Tamil
	Meendum Vazhven		Tamil
	Utharavindri Ulle Vaa		Tamil
1972	Pugundha Veedu		Tamil
	Varaverpu		Tamil
1973	Engal Thaayi		Tamil
	Baghdad Perazhagi		Tamil
1974	Avalukku Nigar Avale		Tamil
	Doctoramma		Tamil
	Puthiya Manidhan		Tamil
	Sorgathil Thirumanam		Tamil
1975	Hotel Sorgam		Tamil
	Thai Veetu Seedhanam		Tamil
1979	Neeya		Tamil
1986	Oomai Vizhigal		Tamil
1997	Arunachalam		Tamil
2002	Pammal K Sambandam		Tamil
2003	Ramana		Tamil
2009	Kanden Kadhalai		Tamil
2011	Aadu Pulli		Tamil

 

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Tresa Hughes, American actress (Another World, Don Juan DeMarco, Fame) died she was , 81.

Tresa Hughes) was an American stage, film and television actress. Hughes was nominated for Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 1961 for her role in The Devil's Advocate died she was , 81. Her film and television credits included Don Juan DeMarco, Fame and Another World.

(September 17, 1929 - July 24, 2011

Hughes debuted on Broadway in the 1959 production of The Miracle Worker as actress Annie Sullivan's understudy.^[1] She received a Tony Award nomination during the next season in 1961 for The Devil's Advocate by Dore Schary, but lost to Colleen Dewhurst. Hughes enjoyed a Broadway career which spanned more than thirty years.^[1] Her Broadway credits included Dear Me, The Sky is Falling in 1963, The Advocate in 1963, The Last Analysis in 1964, Spofford in 1967, The Man in the Glass Booth in 1968, Beggar on Horseback in 1970, The Prisoner of Second Avenue in 1971, Golda in 1977, Tribute in 1978, The American Clock in 1980, Lolita in 1981, Woody Allen's The Floating Light Bulb in 1981 and Cafe Crown in 1989.^[1][2]
Hughes' movie credits included roles in Fame in 1980, Bad Medicine in 1985, Grandma DeMarco in the 1995 film, Don Juan DeMarco, starring Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando, and A Fish in the Bathtub in 1999.^[2] Her televisions roles included NYPD Blue, Wonderland, Ed and several castings on Law & Order.^[1][2]
Tresa Hughes died on July 21, 2011, at the age of 81. She was survived by her daughter, Rebecca, and grandson, William.^[1] Hughes was a resident of New York City.^[3]

 

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Gilbert Luján, American painter, died from prostate cancer he was , 70.

Gilbert "Magú" Luján was a well known and influential Chicano sculptor, muralist and painter died from prostate cancer he was , 70.. He founded the famous Chicano collective Los Four that consisted of artists Carlos Almaraz, Beto de la Rocha (Father of former Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha), Frank Romero and himself. In 1973, Judithe Hernández became the "fifth" and only female member of Los Four.

(October 16, 1940 – July 24, 2011)

Luján was born in French Camp, California, near Stockton, to parents of Mexican and indigenous ancestry from West Texas. Six months later, his family relocated to East Los Angeles, California, where he spent his childhood and adolescence, except for some time in Guadalajara in 1944 or 1945. As a young teenager, Luján was heavily influenced by the Afro-American music scene in Los Angeles, for instance listening to Johnny Ace, Spade Cooley, and Mary Wells. He went to El Monte High School, class of 1958.^[2]
After serving in the Air Force, Luján returned home from three years in England in 1962 and began to attend college, first at East Los Angeles College, then to California State University, Long Beach, where he earned his B.A. in Ceramic Sculpture in 1969 and then to University of California, Irvine, where he earned an M.F.A. in Sculpture in 1973. By this time East L.A. had become a hotbed of socio-political and cultural activity, as the Chicano Movement became a turbulent and exciting social force in the communities the U.S. Southwest. At this time Luján began to organize art exhibits and artists' conferences to establish Chicano Art as a valid form of artistic axpression. The first of these was held at Camp Hess-Kramer, which was, according to Luján, "a Jewish camp that allowed Mexican-Americans to meet there to talk about educational disparities that we had in East L.A."^[2] In 1969, Luján curated a Chicano art show at Cal State Long Beach, and during the show's run, met with various artists associated with East LA art journal Con Safos. Luján was invited to become art director of Con Safos, and through this work, he met with three other like-minded Chicano artists and formed Los Four in the Fall of 1973 at the University of California, Irvine.^[2] In 1973, Los Four had their premiere exhibition at UC Irvine. In 1974, Los Four exhibited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's first-ever Chicano Art show, appropriately called "Los Four." This was quickly followed by several other exhibitions on the west coast. Los Four did for Chicano visual art what ASCO had done for Chicano performance art; that is, it helped establish the themes, esthetic and vocabulary of the nascent movement. "Magú", the name by which Luján is most known says of that time:
From 1976-1980, Luján taught at the La Raza Studies Department at Fresno City College becoming department chair 1980. Since then, Luján has worked full-time on his artwork, devoted to developing his aesthetic. During the years of 1999-2007, Magú held his art studio operations at the Pomona Art Colony in downtown Pomona, CA, helping to garner appreciation and support of the arts in the city and surrounding communities. During 2005, he took on a position as art professor at Pomona College, one of the seven prestigious Claremont Colleges.
In 1990 Magú was commissioned as a design principal for the Hollywood & Vine station on the Metro Rail Red Line (Hollywood/Vine (LACMTA station)) in Los Angeles, California . By 1999 Magú completed a series of wall tiles and platform sculptural benches in the form of lowrider automobiles. He chose the theme song, "Hooray for Hollywood", as the signature tune for the Hollywood & Vine Metro station. A design rudder established was 'light,' which Lujan considered another central motif in Hollywood, from the light that passed through film projectors to the sunny streets of Southern California to the creation of celebrity "Stars." The Yellow Brick Road, which was built to run from the plaza (which is currently being demolished to build a high-rise with chain restaurants and businesses) to the train platform, is a prominent motif taken from the 1939 classic movie “The Wizard of Oz,“ a movie which was an inspiration to Luján's work.
Magú's artwork became famous in its own right throughout the 1980s and 1990s as it used colorful imagery, anthropomorphic animals, depictions of outrageously proportioned lowrider cars, festooned with indigenous/urban motifs juxtaposed , graffiti, Dia De Los Muertos installation altars and all sorts of borrowings from pop-culture. Magú states:

"My art intentions, over the years, have been to use Mesoamerican heritage as well as implementing current popular Art and cultural folk sources as the content substance to make Chicanarte."^[3]

Installations and exhibitions

• Hollywood/Vine (Los Angeles Metro station)
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• Corcoran Gallery of Art
• University of California, Irvine
• Brooklyn Museum
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
• Guadalupe Center for the Arts
• Centro de la Raza, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
• "Inaugural Museum Show" at the El Paso Art Museum, El Paso, Texas
• "Le Demon des Anges", a European Art Tour, with 16 Chicano Artists in Nante & Leon, France; Barcelona, Spain; and in Sweden
• "Caliente y Picante" an HBO Art Special

 

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