Luis Jimenez was raised by art and architecture. His father, Luis Sr., illegally crossed the border from Mexico to El Paso, Texas in 1924. Soon he became an employee at a sign shop and eventually, he owned the store himself. Always an artist, he created unique neon signs that hung in windows all over town. Expecting true architectural artistry from his children, he forced his son to begin working at a very early age. By age six, Luis became an apprentice and was already adding concrete to a grand polar bear statue. He was not only frightened by his father, but El Paso also made him feel uneasy. The only rewarding aspects of working with his father were admiring the loud and vibrant artwork when they made trips to Mexico. The art in Mexico was so unlike the boring courthouse murals in El Paso. Therefore, Jimenez took advantage of the opportunity to travel to Austin, Texas where he attended college. He switched his major from art to architecture and this, of course, infuriated his father. It also disappointed his mother; she always believed that he would follow in his father's footsteps in the sign business. However, she was proud of him and kept his early pieces in her house for many years. After college, Luis moved to New York City and went from being Chicano to Latino. During the sixties, his artworks hinted at society's corruption. Americans were becoming reliant on machinery and luxury. This is portrayed in his sculpture Barfly; made in 1969. It depicts an alcoholic Statue of Liberty. Moreover, Jiminez used fiberglass for almost all of his sculptures; he liked that it wasn't traditional "high art" material. He also used bold colors to suit his own personal tastes. These included bright blues, reds, and yellows. Jiminez wanted all of his pieces to tell a story and to have depth- similar to reading a book. His first official solo art show was in 1969 while he was still in New York. Much to the directors' surprise, his works received a lot of attention and a lot of them were bought by Alfonso Ossorio; both a patron and an artist. Soon after, in 1972, Jiminez felt his time in New York had expired, so he moved to
