Illustrator Victor Manuel Mendoza Jr. exemplifies the power the arts have to help a community transcend some of its more pressing issues. Mendoza is a full-time student, the father of four, a data mapping coordinator for the City of Laredo planning department, and a member of the local video collective, Sledge TV. He also owns and operates The 1979 Shop, an online t-shirt store where he sells his artwork.
He said his adult life has centered around forging his creativity into a reflection of his upbringing in a culture rooted in Mexico but lived out on the northern bank of the Río Grande. His art merges the assets of living in that cultural duality.
“I have been drawing since I have been able to write,” Mendoza said, adding that “his illustrations allow him to leave a legacy of what he’s created.”
In early 2011, when Mendoza was playing with the musical group The Jolly Ranchers, he noticed the band’s promotional flyers weren’t meeting the aesthetic standards he wanted. He offered to draft new flyers and got a positive public reaction to his work. Without the intention of ever profiting from his artwork, Mendoza kept drawing and making sketches, immersing himself in Laredo’s art and music scene.
His artistic passions developed into a marketable brand and gave birth to the 1979 Shop, which allowed him to share his work with the community. The project started out in his garage. He ordered shirts in bulk, worked and cleaned each design, and spent hours silk-screening – a process that was quite lengthy. At times it would take a full day to complete an order of shirts.
He began to share his work with Cleveland-based company, Woodshed Stage Art, which helped him gain a following for his illustrations.
According to Mendoza, he faced the challenge many artists do to set a value to their work. He said it was Woodshed’s owner Dominic Trancedi who taught him how to do this. Woodshed promoted his work to a larger market, and since then, he has created illustrations for Chris Perez, former guitarist for Selena y los Dinos and husband of the late Tejana songstress Selena, among other musicians and brands who seek his work. He has created designs for rapper-turned-comedian Chingo Bling, designed the logo of Houston-based production company Filmatic, designed drumheads for Jason Aldean’s drummer, Rich Redman, and even had his t-shirts modeled by Bruno Mars’ brother, Eric Hernandez.
He has hosted live spray-painting sessions at Bolillo’s Restaurant at which Laredoans were able to experience and purchase his work. Of the reception to his work, he said, “It really is unpredictable, nunca sabes cuando a alguien le va a gustar tu trabajo.”
Mendoza’s path to his art did not always seem so clear. He was raised in a low-income family in the barrios of Laredo. He said it was easy to get involved in gangs and drugs as a youngster. “I’m thankful to have met my wife and to learn to get out of a world that was not going to leave me any good,” he said. “The only other place I could focus my energy when going through rough times was music and art, so in a way the arts saved me.”
Mendoza talked about growing up in the barrio with much affection and love. He said his work pays homage to the hood and to raza culture. “I come from a background where there’s a rooted respect in the way you talk to others, even if you don’t know them. Nowadays everyone is so grueso,” he said, referring to the rigidness and disdain people may have when interacting with strangers. “I try to make art that reflects simpler times,” he continued. Mendoza said he finds inspiration at the intersection of rock and roll and Tejano.
He said the love of his roots gave him an opportunity to highlight the assets of his community, rather than dwell on its challenges. “If you want to change the world, those are small ways to do it,” he said.
These days Mendoza keeps promoting his work while balancing other creative activities, like being the creator and illustrator of the digital animated series Whatever World on Instagram and selling his work via Shopify. He continues growing his brand and his shop, sharing his work with others, and making his art accessible. His work can be found at the1979shop.com.
