A “show within a show” brings together major works by California Locos, Bojórquez, Tourjé, Van Hamersveld, Wisdom, and Wong.
PAMONA, CA, UNITED STATES, April 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — California Locos will present LOCOS Origins as part of Play Pavilion, opening April 30 at the Millard Sheets Art Center in Pomona. Play Pavilion is a regional group show featuring 50 artists, curated by Keith Ballard, Rebecca Ustrell, and Vince Skelly, and sponsored by the Claremont Lewis Museum of Art.
Conceived as a show within a show, LOCOS Origins will occupy 75 feet of wall space within the larger exhibition and bring together major works from 2001 to the present by Chaz Bojórquez, Dave Tourjé, John Van Hamersveld, Norton Wisdom, and Gary Wong. It is the first time these works have been publicly displayed together in this way, offering a rare and concentrated view of the collective’s origins, evolution, and enduring cultural force as California Locos celebrates its 15th year.
For 15 years, California Locos has stood as one of Southern California’s most distinctive artistic collectives, merging fine art with the visual and lived languages of Los Angeles and the wider West Coast. Their work exists at the intersection of graffiti, surf, skate, punk, tattoo, Chicano culture, design, and contemporary art, collapsing the traditional divide between the street and the institution, the vernacular and the canonical.
LOCOS Origins is both historical and immediate. By bringing together foundational works from across the collective’s history, the exhibition reveals how each artist’s distinct voice contributes to a larger cultural conversation about place, identity, rebellion, craftsmanship, and California visual culture. Seen together, these works trace not only the development of the collective itself, but the emergence of a distinctly Californian aesthetic shaped by multiple subcultures and generations.
In addition to the artwork, the exhibition will also include the California Locos hat collection, extending the collective’s visual language into fashion and object design. The hats feature leather bills, wool fronts, denim backs, high-resolution embroidery, and solid silver buttons and clasps, underscoring the group’s ongoing expansion across mediums while reinforcing the exhibition’s broader themes of identity, materiality, and cultural expression.
Set within the historic Millard Sheets Art Center, LOCOS Origins places California Locos within a broader institutional and regional dialogue around art, community, and creative legacy. For audiences familiar with the group, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to encounter major works in one setting. For new viewers, it serves as an essential introduction to a collective whose impact continues to resonate far beyond the gallery wall.
LOCOS Origins is part of Play Pavilion at the Millard Sheets Art Center, opening April 30 in Pomona.
About California Locos
California Locos is a Southern California art collective comprised of Chaz Bojórquez, Dave Tourjé, John Van Hamersveld, Norton Wisdom, and Gary Wong. Together, their work reflects the layered visual culture of California, drawing from graffiti, surf, skate, punk, tattoo, design, and fine art to create a body of work that is both deeply rooted and continuously evolving.
Mike Falkow
Meritus Media
email us here
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability
for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this
article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
Media gallery
