Luis A. Jimenez, Jr.
Historical Summary
Luis A. Jimenez, Jr., born in El Paso, Texas, on July 30, 1940, was a prominent sculptor and 2016 Hall of Honor inductee. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Art and Architecture from The University of Texas at Austin and also studied at Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City.
Jimenez became especially well known in El Paso for the “Plaza de los Lagartos” statue at San Jacinto Plaza. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he completed major large-scale commissions in cities including New York, Houston, Fargo, and Wichita, and participated in numerous individual and group exhibitions.
Among his most notable works was Man on Fire, held by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Art. The piece, identified by the New York Times as perhaps his best-known work, portrays a man in flames and draws on the death of the Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc at the hands of Spanish conquistadores.
His achievements were recognized with multiple honors, including awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the A.I.A. Environmental Improvement Award from VAQUERO in Houston, the Francis J. Greenburger Award in New York City, the Skowhegan Sculpture Award, the New Mexico Governor’s Award, and the Key to the City of El Paso. Critics and museum leaders credited him with pursuing boldly meaningful figurative art during the era of Minimalism and contributing to the rise of Pop Art.
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2016 Hall of Honor
Luis A. Jimenez, Jr.
2016 Hall of Honor Inductee
Luis A. Jimenez, Jr. was born in El Paso, Texas on July 30, 1940. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Art & Architecture. He also studied at Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City.
An avid sculptor, Mr. Jimenez is best known in El Paso for his “Plaza de los Lagartos” statue, which still stands at San Jacinto Plaza. Throughout the years, Mr. Jimenez received several large-scale commissions for artwork in Steuben Glass, New York; Houston, Texas; Fargo, North Dakota; and Wichita, Kansas, among many other cities. He held scores of individual and group exhibits over four decades.
Mr. Jimenez was a prolific artist, whose work “Man on Fire” can be found in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Art. As the New York Times noted, “The work, perhaps his best known, depicts a man in flames, and is based on the Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc, who was burned alive by Spanish conquistadores.”
He was bestowed with several awards by the National Endowment for the Arts; the A.I.A Environmental Improvement Award by VAQUERO in Houston, Texas; the Francis J. Greenburger Award in New York City, New York; the Skowhegan Sculpture Award; the New Mexico Governor’s Award; and the Key to the City of El Paso.
As cited by the New York Times, Jim Moore, the former director of the Albuquerque Museum, stated, “At the height of Minimalism in the 1960s, he chose to do something out of fashion.... His work contributed to the rise of Pop Art, but it was more a willingness to do something so overtly meaningful at first glance.”
