A professional photographer makes his living shooting as directed, but finds his life in the photographs taken “for himself.” From the beginning, Al Rendon has photographed what he sees around him – his family, his neighborhood, his city, his culture. As a result, he has accumulated a library of photographic arts that document a lifetime of rock & roll, angels, flowers and Mexican-American culture.
Al Rendon is constantly involved in exhibitions, conferences and discussions focused on Hispanic culture and photography. In October, 2005, Al presented an overview of his work in the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum’s Face of Texas gallery. Al’s work has been featured in several significant international exhibitions including:
A comprehensive list of exhibits outside the RPFA follows.
EXHIBITS
SOLO (not including RPFA exhibits)
GROUP
Nuestras Caras (Our Faces) • Centro Cultural Aztlan San Antonio, Texas March 2006
Inkstravaganza • Gemini Ink Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas September 2004
6 Communities • Alice Austen House Museum, New York September 2004
Transnational Lives • UTSA Downtown Campus Gallery, September 2003
Texas Photographers • Blue Star Art Space September 2002
SQUEEZEBOX: Accordion Communities In the United States • Texas Folklife Resources, Austin, Texas February 2003
SQUEEZEBOX: Accordion Communities In the United States • Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas September 2002
Texas Photographers – Fotoseptiembre @ Blue Star Art Space • San Antonio, Texas September 2002
xuai sk`atzauxt`am photographic myths from the south texas missions • International Center San Antonio, Texas September 2001
Spirituality And Creativity • Southwest School Of Art & Craft, San Antonio, Texas September 2001
Snapshot • Contemporary Museum, Baltimore Maryland, November 2000
Tejano Conjunto • Texas Folk Life Resources Austin, Texas March – April 1999
Images of Devotion, Icon of Identity: The Virgin Mary in Latin America • Smithsonian Institute/Centro Alameda, San Antonio Central Library, May 1998
Day of the Dead • Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Annex November 1997
La Tradición Tejana • Texas Folklife Resources traveling exhibit May 1997
Double Exposure 7x • San Antonio College 1994
Conjunto Music • Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center May 1991
Contempo Tejano • traveling exhibit, Texas and New Mexico 1990
La Virgen De Guadalupe • La Pena Arts Organization, Austin, Texas November 1989
Influences • San Antonio Museum of Art January 1988
Publications
Charreada, Mexican Rodeo in Texas • edited by Francis E. Abernethy University of North Texas Press 2002
Puro Conjunto • edited by Juan Tejeda & Avelardo Valdez CMAS Books & Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center 2001
Sights and Scenes of San Antonio • with text by gary s. whitford, Gulf Publishing 1995
A Century of Fiesta in San Antonio • by Jack Maguire, San Antonio Fiesta Commission, Eakin Press 1991
Fiesta from A-Z • by Linda Sulser and Jeanne Schaefer