Represented on the big screen
El Paso mural artist tapped to bring the city to life in ‘The Forever Purge’
Jesus “Cimi” Alvarado creates works of art with a message. Growing up in Segundo Barrio in El Paso, his life experiences influence his work as it honors the Chicanx experience, all while paying tribute to his Mexican ancestors.
The El Paso-based artist has nearly two dozen murals in his hometown of El Paso.
He’s taking the next step as some of his work will be seen in the film, “The Forever Purge,” which is the fifth installment of the “The Purge” franchise, and in theaters. The franchise tells the story of where the country is a dystopia which celebrates an annual national holiday known as the Purge, a day in which all crime, including murder, becomes legal for a 12-hour period.
Alvarado says he was honored when director Everardo Gout reached out to him.
“I did the murals in my studio and they were shipped over to the studio,” he says. “They inserted them into the film with special effects. I’m excited to see how it all turned out.”
El Paso is featured in “The Forever Purge” and it was important to Gout that it was represented in a manner which is authentic and true to the city.
This is where Gout enlisted the help of Alvarado.
“Cimi’s participation was crucial to this project to lend authenticity to the idea that the art and poetry that Latinos in the United States create can be utilized as a type of code of communication which hides in plain sight,” Gout says. “Cimi’s art takes into account the Mexican American bipolarity that exists in Texas and in El Paso, which is exactly what we needed for this project.”
Alvarado was excited that Gout was looking to properly represent the El Paso community in the film.
“We need guys like him keeping the representation going,” Alvarado says. “(Everardo) is giving people of color and myself, a Mexican American, an opportunity to get into the film industry.”
In the film, the series of murals that Alvarado created serve as code for those trying to escape the purge.
Alvarado is known for choosing themes and iconography for murals that resonate with Latinos.
“For this film, I wanted to create imagery that I knew would be representative of El Paso and that people from my community would find relatable,” Alvarado says. “Work that they can say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s El Paso.’”
The film was slated to be released in 2020, but the pandemic forced the date to move. It hit theaters on Friday, July 2.
Alvarado hopes that the international exposure will help raise his profile in the film and TV industry.
El Paso’s film industry is starting to make waves and he knows that New Mexico is next door and hopes to get exposure there.
“Netflix is making waves up there,” he says. “My parents live in Albuquerque and it would be awesome to get up there and work on some art for film or around the area.”