Art is a very important part of the culture in Baja. Ceramic art, fabric art, paintings, sculpture, murals, mosaic art can be found throughout the area at galleries, at San Jose Art Walk on Thursday, the Art Park in Cabo San Lucas on Fridays and in the street. The Ezra Katz Gallery located on the main street in Todos Santos (Benito Juarez) across from the street going to north Todos Santos and Las Tunas, the plein art of Ezra Katz celebrates the visits, culture and people of the Baja. Ezra was born in Texas but moved with his family to La Paz when he was only three months old. Destined to be an artist, from an early age, his parents brought art teachers from Mexico City to teach and challenge him every summer. Erza continued his study of art while attending university at the University of Texas in Austin and Corpus Christi with a focus on academic and commercial art. Katz became better known on the art scene with the attention and features in Southwestern Art in 2003, 2007 and 2013.
In early in his career in Los Cabos, his work was seen in large murals in Morgan’s Steakhouse in San Jose del Cabo (now a Japanese Restaurant and the murals are unfortunately gone) and artwork displayed at Tequila restaurant. These works are now in the home of Enrique Silva, the owner of Tequila and Los Tamarindos.
The Ezra Katz Gallery recently reopened for the 2023-2024 season in early November, having been delayed because of construction at Jazzmango Cafe in the courtyard behind the gallery. Prior to opening, I had been following the progression of several paintings on which Ezra was working. The gallery is full of paintings in his plein art style that cover a wide range of subjects and images of life ine Baja (see photos). I had the opportunity to speak with Ezra, who said that with the pandemic and work that he was doing to build a casita that he had not had the opportunity to travel in years – which provides inspiration for his art. As a result, at the end of this season, he plans to take a year off to travel. Ezra usually splits his time between Todos Santos (during the season) and with his family in northern California in the summer.
A visit to the gallery is well worthwhile and this might just be a great time to add to your art collection. Personally, I have purchased three of his paintings over the years.
For more information on Ezra Katz visit https://www.ezrakatz.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ezra.katz2