When visual artist and actor Herbert Siguenza takes the stage as the legendary namesake of his one-man show, “A Weekend With Pablo Picasso,” he is fulfilling a lifelong dream.
“It’s a role I’ve wanted to play since I was a kid,” he said. “I had to get old enough to do it first.”
Siguenza will be performing at the opening SOMArts Cultural Center, Oct. 7 at the opening reception for “Illuminations,” the Center’s 12th annual Day of the Dead exhibit. His show is also scheduled for a five-week run at the Center REP Theater inWalnut Creek, from Oct. 21 to Nov. 19.
Siguenza, best known for is role in the Bay Area Latino comedy group Culture Clash, discusses his roots with the group, his upcoming show and his fascination, since childhood, with the life and art of Pablo Picasso.
El Tecolote: Your artistic background is in painting and visual arts, not theater, what inspired you to start acting?
Herbert Siguenza: “It was more like a hobby…I was more like a weekend theater artist. But when we formed Culture Clash in 1984, that eventually became a career and I started doing it full time.”
How did Culture Clash get started?
“We were born in Galleria de la Raza. Rene Yañez, who was the curator, wanted to do a comedy night on Cinco de Mayo in 1984, and we just pulled together a bunch of different people and it was a huge success. We did it the following weekend and eventually we formed a group … over the years, we’ve written about 24 plays.”
What does the name “Culture Clash” mean?
“It’s exactly that — it’s a clash between the mainstream culture and Latinos, and also the culture clash between Latinos, for example, Mexicans
and Argentineans. We concentrate mainly on culture and race; that’s what our comedy is mainly about.”
What’s unique about your one-man show, “A Weekend With Pablo Picasso?”
“It’s a look a t Picasso and why he did what he did, why he produced art on a daily basis … It’s a show I’ve been wanting to do all my life, where I can combine my visual artistic skills with my acting.”
[Siquenza actually paints onstage during the performance, mimicking the style of Picasso, but creating original art with each performance.]
“Why Picasso?”
“I became aware of Picasso when I was a little boy, seven-years-old. I went into the dentist with my mom and saw a book of Picasso paintings, and I was amazed by this guy, this old man with no shirt, painting … I was just taken by this old man, and I asked my mom who it was, and she told me, ‘That’s Picasso. I chose Picasso because he’s a big figure in my mind and has always been a big influence on my art and my lifestyle … for him, being an artist is a full time job. It’s not even a job, it’s a lifestyle, and he believed in the work ethic of producing art everyday. If you’re going to be an artist then produce, produce everyday. Live, breathe art — he really did that.”
Does that philosophy inform your own personal and creative life?
“Oh yeah, that’s how I live my life as well — Culture Clash has been my life, acting has been my life and we’ve totally committed our lives to it. We didn’t do it for the money, we did it for the love, and thankfully people recognized and started paying us for it so we make a living … I think an artist cannot be successful unless they commit to it — there’s no such thing as a part-time artist.”
What do you want audeinces to get from your show?
“Basically, my goal in the play is I want the audience to feel like they spent a real weekend with Pablo Picasso, like they actually spent a weekend at the top of France with a master of art … my idea comes from that image of Picasso painting at home. That’s what I recreate in the play; I recreate that book I saw as a boy.”