As Los Angeles artist Joe Bravo recalls it, he was looking at a corn tortilla more than 30 years ago and, instead of seeing a future taco or enchilada, he “saw a canvas.” So began Bravo’s experiment in painting on humble tortillas. Only recently, however, has the greater world begun to take notice of his irresistible work. I caught an exhibition several months ago at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Los Angeles and, like everyone there, was taken with it. A Los Angeles Times profile back then celebrated Bravo and his tortilla art, noting its rise in hipster status. Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea—Pulga, en español—even bought one of Bravo’s tortillas. But that was just the beginning. Now, The Washington Post profiles Bravo, who is heading to Hong Kong this month for an exhibition of his work. And as Bravo notes on his Web site, he’ll be on “Good Morning America” Aug. 25.

The former art director for Low Rider magazine uses oversized flour tortillas made especially for him at Tumaro’s Gourmet Tortillas. He browns them on his stove and seals them with varnish, then eyeballs them.

Writes The Post’s William Booth:

“You see patterns,” he says, “like when you look up at the clouds. Here,” he points, “I’m seeing the fur of a jaguar.” The correspondent is seeing a No. 3 special with extra onions from Tito’s Tacos. “You’re working with the environment of the tortilla,” Bravo says. “It’s almost like a collaborator, the tortilla is.”

Like maybe how Michelangelo saw David trapped in the marble? “Yeah,” Bravo says, arching his eyebrows, “something like that. But don’t get too serious about it.” In his kitchen, there are four or five tortillas ready to paint. He’ll do some—like the pit bulls—in a hip-hoppy, lowrider style “for the young people.” For the traditionalists, it is portraits of the revolutionary Zapata or Mayan kings or Aztec princesses. For the Hong Kong show, he did some Chinese dragons and “Ethnic Elvis,” the King, but a pinch darker. The Tate Gallery in London included in a catalogue a Bravo tortilla called “Fridalupe,” which is Mexican artist icon Frida Kahlo as la Virgen de Guadalupe, the 16th-century Mexican icon of the Virgin Mary. Also, he’s done clown Ronald McDonald for the McDonald’s launch of its new “snack wrap.”

The large tortillas are selling for up to $3,200—yes, a bit more than a pack of Mission tortillas.

Related on World Hum:
* Touring Literary Los Angeles: City of Chandler, Bukowski and Fante
* Smackdown in Tijuana

Photo by Jim Benning.