Robert grew up in Orcasitas, a Latino neighborhood in North Hollywood. After high school he studied at Otis Art Institute and Chouinard, where he was classmates with Joe Goode and Ed Ruscha. Upon graduation he moved to New York, where he lived and worked as an artist for 25 years, exhibiting his work at Ericson gallery, among others. He traveled extensively throughout Europe, Mexico, Latin America and Asia, his travels reflected in his work. In the 1980s he moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, then San Diego, and returned to Los Angeles.

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Robert’s art was his life. He had careers both in commercial and fine art. His meticulous artwork and exhibitions were reviewed in many publications including The New York Times, Diario de Ibiza, The Christian Science Monitor, La Opinion and Artillery. His fine art was primarily in painting and mixed media. In his later years he combined decorative and figurative elements of textile design with fundamentals of fine art. He saw his final works as “illustrated folk art,” doing what he desired toward the end of his life; he stepped away from the highly competitive and monetized art world of today. The youngest of 10 children, Robert is survived by his sister, Stella Duarte, and brother, John Quijada, and many nephews, nieces and cousins. His family will forever remember “Uncle Bobby” for his incredible love of life, always dancing, laughing and creating.

 

Robert Quijada was 80 years old when he took his own life on June 29. He had sustained an injury and could no longer dance like he used to, a passion he enjoyed throughout his life. He also suffered from depression and from the privations of a low fixed income.

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Known around the Los Angeles art world as the guy who could out-dance anyone, regardless of age, Quijada frequented the runway in fine form at the annual fashion shows at the Tropico de Nopal near downtown Los Angeles. His love for detail-oriented art made his Day-of-the-Dead altars famous for their celebratory approach to the afterlife.

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