Image of Diane Gamboafrom www.calfund.org

Diane Gamboa

Diane Gamboa was born in Los Angeles in 1957. She grew up in the Chicano culture in Los Angeles which became quite influential in her photography. Since the 1980s, she has been producing, exhibiting, and curating visual art in Southern California. She is a multi-media artist, and is also known for her photographs documenting punk rock music in the Hollywood-East LA scene. In addition, her “Hit and Run” site, contains paper fashion sculptures and disposable street wear she created. Gamboa was also associated with ASCO, a conceptual multi-media performance art group.  She attended Otis College of Art and Design from 1980 to 1984 but decided to leave for she felt as though she was giving into "institutional interruption" or white academia. During 1980 to 1983, she did the Unpopular Culture that had different bands more specifically the influence of the Chicana and Chicano in the East L.A. punk scene. She received a California Community Foundation Individual Artist Grant. In the 1990s, she created the Pin Up series as well as the Endangered Species series. Some of her solo exhibitions include: “Bruja-Ha” at Tropico de Nopal Gallery and “Chica Chic” at Patricia Correia Gallery in Santa Monica. In 2005, she created a commentary on her Unpopular Culture series called East L.A.Twist. Her latest work was in the exhibit Vexing: the Female Voices in East L.A. She is also involved with the art of tattooing which is greatly illustrated in her art work. Also she is involved in art education with after school programs and colleges as well as university teaching.