Joseph "Nuke" Montalvo / Nuke One
Cyberzapata 2010, 2011
Serigraph, Ed. 81
26”x20”

This retro, pop-art style comic book cover presents Mexican Revolution leader, Emiliano Zapata, brought back from the dead and reborn as a robot in the year 2010. Nuke states that “the rebirth of resistance lies in the realm of the imagination,” emphasizing the power of nonfictional stories or popular imagery to develop and propel movements. The print uses science fictional imagery to not only pay tribute to Zapata’s lasting influence and legacy almost a century after his death, but also to draw attention to the need for revolutionary leadership in the present. In the absence of a present-day revolutionary icon, the resurrected Zapata becomes a "cyber hero" for the new generation.

Nuke One, who grew up around the murals and images in 1970s Boyle Heights, began making art in the 1980s with graffiti crews that grew out of the blooming hip hop scene. In the 1990s, Nuke began painting murals in Los Angeles and abroad with other artists and youth in the group Earth Crew. Recently he has lead after-school workshops for youth in Boyle Heights, and has been involved in SPARC’s efforts to repair and conserve the mural history of Los Angeles. He has been in several group shows around Los Angeles, including at MOCA, Barsdale Park Art Gallery, Zero One, JANM, DADA Arts , Plaza de la Raza and Self Help Graphics & Art.