“Fire Breathing Drag Queen” by Enrique Lopez Is Selected for 2006 Rogue Performance Festival Muse

Iconic Symbol of Life, Passion and Artistic Identity to Be Unveiled at August 4th ArtHop at Ashtree Studios Music & Art Gallery at 1035 N. Fulton from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

July 29, 2005 — “Fire Breathing Drag Queen,” an oil painting by the late Fresno artist Enrique Lopez, has been selected to be the Rogue Muse of the 2006 Rogue Performance Festival, Festival organizers announced today. The Rogue Muse will be officially unveiled at ArtHop on Thursday, August 4, and can be seen at the Ashtree Studios Music & Art Gallery at 1035 N. Fulton from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday night.

The Rogue Muse, a graphic representation of the artist’s conception of inspiration, is the annually selected symbol of the Rogue Performance Festival, central California’s leading independent festival of the performing arts. Each year’s Rogue Performance Festival has its own unique Rogue Muse to symbolize that year’s unique diversity of performers and artists.

“Fire Breathing Drag Queen,” a large oil painting of a nightclub performer’s fire-breathing act, was selected to be the 2006 Rogue Muse from a field of 27 entries from local artists. “Fire Breathing Drag Queen” is one of the most famous works of late Fresno artist Enrique Lopez, who showed his artwork at the 2005 Rogue Performance Festival. All 27 entries will also be exhibited at this August ArtHop.

"From the moment I first saw Enrique's painting, I hoped it could be our Muse for 2006," said John Jordan, co-managing producer of the Rogue Performance Festival. "The image is vivid, dramatic, and audacious. It instantly evokes the carnival-like atmosphere of the Rogue and the festival's 'anything can happen' spirit," Jordan said.

“Enrique shows us that, whether it’s on canvas or on stage, art isn’t tame,” said Marcel Nunis, co-managing producer and founder of the Rogue Performance Festival. “Art is about surprising, challenging, and even confronting the audience. And that’s what the 2006 Rogue Festival will do – celebrate the bold and new.”

Enrique Lopez, artist and proprietor of the Art Box Gallery in Fresno’s Tower District, was a native of Delano and a graduate of CSU Fresno. His paintings reflected Lopez’s personal reflections on social and political issues, his Latino heritage, and his interest in magical realism. Lopez died earlier this year.

“Fire Breathing Drag Queen” can be seen on Lopez’s Web site .

The Rogue Muse provides a unified visual symbol for the Rogue Performance Festival, and will be featured on the 2006 Rogue Performance Festival poster, Rogue Map and T-shirts.

The 2006 Rogue Performance Festival will take place March 2-11, 2006, in multiple venues throughout Fresno. An 11-day celebration of the performing and visual arts, the Rogue Performance Festival is central California’s largest independent arts festival.

Previous Rogue Muses have been the works of Fresno artists are represented here from top to bottom: Vicente Aiello (2002), Daniel Ball (2003), Robert Weibel (2004) and Marcos Dorado (2005).