Los Angeles River Series 60 (2021)

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The Rio Hondo is one of the larger tributaries to the Los Angeles River, its source being 16 miles to the northeast in the suburb of Irwindale. The name Rio Hondo means Deep River in Spanish; however, after the US Army Corps of Engineers channelized most local rivers and creaks in the 1940s, it seems difficult to imagine the “Deep River” ever being much more than a shallow trickle. 

In 2020 Frank Gehry, the architect famous for his innovative free-form building designs such as the Disney Center in downtown Los Angels, released a proposed river revitalization project that would cover this river confluence in a huge concrete platform for an entertainment complex. Many criticized the project asking how revitalizing a river could possibly mean covering it in more concrete and buildings void of any meaningful restoration of natural river functions.   

Painting 61 depicts this confluence of the Rio Hondo River and the Los Angeles River located approximately ¼ mile north of Hollydale Regional Park. In “Rio Hondo Confluence”, levy shadows and hazy morning light reflect blues, pink and Naples Yellow in shallow puddles after a light spring rain. Ever-present high-tension electrical towers along the riverbank march in tandem toward the San Gabriel Mountains, the source of the Rio Hondo. In the distance, a couple hikes the river bottoms, surveying light and the vast concrete canyons of the Engineered River. 


If you are interested in this painting, you may like others that are available in the Store. If you would like to learn more about the City of Los Angeles' River Project, explore the links below.

More on the Los Angeles Revitalization Project

City of Los Angeles River Revitalization Project