Self-taught artist Jesse Aguirre brings subtle humor through relevant issues in his “Facing Faces” exhibit being showcased in Sacramento State’s University Union Gallery.

“Facing Faces” will be exhibited until Nov. 5 and its opening reception will be from 6 to 8 p.m. tomorrow in the University Union Gallery.

Aguirre said he likes to draw and paint his opinion and commentaries of what he sees in society, whether they’re issues everybody has to face personally or as a society. “Facing Faces” is an example of how Aguirre likes to simplify the images he sees in everyday life onto canvases.

Most of Aguirre’s artwork are commentaries about topics such as the current economic crisis.

Aguirre’s piece called “Up in Smoke” is a series of paintings that consist of three simple drawings of individual men smoking. While these men are all drawn the same, Aguirre differentiates their economic status by the color of each painting’s background: reddish-pink, blue, and a dark gray.

“I wanted to make a comment that it wasn’t affecting everyone the same, that it had different effects on different economic classes,” Aguirre said.

Brittany Rodriguez, freshman theater major, said she can see how Aguirre relates the issues he paints to society as a whole.

“(The exhibit) made me feel like there’s a lot to focus on in our society right now, and it gave me a deeper insight to all of it,” Rodriguez said. “I am now aware to how it can affect people and maybe in some way it could reunite us because we can all relate and maybe take actions toward fixing the issues.”

While most of Aguirre’s paintings are commentaries, some of them include a bit of humor. Aguirre said he tries to add a good amount of humor in all of his work as a way for people to be interested.

Aguirre caught 15 minutes of a comedy program on a small Mexican Network and decided to take the humor from the show and make it into a series of paintings entitled, “Mexican TV,” which are all painted in shades of red.

“I was doing quick sketches of what I was seeing on TV. It was hilarious and I was trying to capture the humor and hoping the humor would come across.”

Many of Aguirre’s art pieces deal with a wide range of issues. His most recent exhibit at La Raza Galleria Posada, located in Sacramento on 22nd Street, presents serious issues such as Mexican immigration.

“My artwork (at La Raza Galeria Posada) is all over the place, but mainly about (Mexican) immigration,” Aguirre said. “I kind of like to draw current topics like the economic crisis, immigration, and health care. They selected a lot of work focused on immigration debate.”

Aguirre said he likes to paint issues such as immigration because it is what he sees as an issue.

Some people might not understand Aguirre’s paintings or the statements in them because they’re simplified into easy drawings. One of Aguirre’s painting series being exhibited at the gallery, titled “Keep Laughing,” shows this type of simplicity.

Aguirre said that for his piece “Keep Laughing,” he painted three different drawings of men with huge smiles on their faces to express how people are expected to keep smiling while the government bails out businesses and tells everybody not to worry about it.

Joel Cuevas, sophomore speech pathology major, said he doesn’t understand Aguirre’s paintings.

“I think he’s trying to be inspirational with his symbols, but I just don’t get it,” Cuevas said. “He’s great, but he needs to be in here every day to explain it.”

Rodriguez, who analyzed Aguirre’s paintings, came up with her own conclusions about Aguirre’s pieces.

“(The exhibit) was very expressive because the pictures were so different, and they all had different meanings to what’s going on right now, whether it’s politically or economically,” Rodriguez said. “It made sense once you gave it some thought.”

Although students like Rodriguez may believe that Aguirre’s paintings are aimed to unite us, Aguirre said that is not his purpose. Aguirre said he wants people to have their own opinions and personal reactions toward his work.

“I’m really not trying to unite anyone to do anything. Art is a kind of individual thing and it’s more about putting something out there and hoping people like that,” Aguirre said. “Whatever you want to think it’s up to you.”

Aguirre’s “Facing Faces” exhibit will be open to the public in the University Union Gallery from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays, and from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Jennifer Siopongco can be reached at [email protected]