MCC students learn lessons in Aztec art, graffiti. Oct. 7th

i forgot to post this news article, but i was glad to make it out to MCC…it was a great experience and i would do it again…thanx MCC…

By BRETT ROWLAND - browland@nwherald.com

Artist Nino Rodriguez works on a piece with an Aztec style Wednesday during a Hispanic Heritage Month event at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake. (Travis Haughton - thaughton@nwherald.com)

CRYSTAL LAKE – A Chicago artist reviving Aztec art and symbols shared his craft with McHenry County College students Wednesday.

The presentation was part of the college’s ongoing celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Nino Rodriguez, 36-year-old multimedia artist from Chicago, gave a lecture on modern Aztec art and symbolism and another on Chicago graffiti art and history. He also demonstrated his work for students at the college.

“I’m here to show some of my art and educate people about graffiti and Aztec art,” he said.

Rodriguez, also known by the street artist handle “Tsel,” grew up in a tough neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side. When he was 11, his older brother introduced him to tagging. He soon developed his own unique style and took spray paint to buses, trains, walls and other public places.

“I started in alleys and graduated, if you want to use that word, to buses and walls,” he said. “It’s an illegal form of art, perhaps the only illegal art form in the world.”

Rodriguez has been doing graffiti for more than 20 years and is unapologetic about the art.

“I’ll continue doing this for as long as I can,” he said. “I’ll be doing this when I’m 80.”

He wasn’t advocating vandalism, but explaining his style, development and work.

More recently, Rodriguez has brought his Aztec art to different mediums, including a half-dozen paper bags from stores such as Starbucks and Macy’s decorated with serpents, eagles, gods, warriors and Aztec-style suns. Others had cosmic scenes.

“People are doing a lot of cultural art, but not Aztec art,” he said. “The Aztecs used pictographs to communicate, and that’s what I’m trying to do here.”

The Aztec people ruled much of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.

Although he keeps his Aztec art separate from his graffiti work, the two styles are not mutually exclusive and sometimes overlap.

Rodriguez’s presentation was just part of the college’s Hispanic Heritage Month series. The next event features Michael Maddox, chef of Le Titi de Paris in Arlington Heights. He will demonstrate how to cook Peruvian foods and hold a tasting for students at the college from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.