Fortuna Sea Products Factory
625 W Anaheim Street, Long Beach, CA 90805
The Fortuna Sea Products factory is located in an industrial neighborhood just to the east of the Los Angeles River. Founded in 1994, the company imports and distributes seafood across the United States. Despite the proximity of the factory to the Pacific Ocean, most of Fortuna Sea Products’s seafood comes from sources in Asia, South America, and other overseas sources. Like the mural “Parachutes” against the plain gray background of the building, the international connections of Fortuna Sea Products reveal a much more complex neighborhood.
Nearby businesses include auto repair and body shops, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, and a furniture store. The area also has iron and lumber yards. Across W Anaheim Street is a thrift store operated by the Long Beach Rescue Mission. Proceeds from the thrift store go to funding the Mission, which is located nearby. Since 1972, the organization has sheltered men, women, and children, helping them transition out of homelessness since 1972.
Written by Amelia Nixon
Sources: https://www.fortunasea.com/, http://lbrm.org/
2018
Parachutes
Two blocks from Seaside Park, the mural “Parachutes” rises along the side of a factory building. Commissioned by POW! WOW! Long Beach for its 2018 summer festival, the mural stands at sixty feet high and its predominantly red, orange, and blue colors vibrantly contrast the industrial gray of the surrounding area. “Parachutes,” created by the artist self-named Joon the Goon (Juan [Joon] Alvarado), depicts a chaotic scene of five people parachuting amid orange and yellow smoke bubbles, while a blue monster tries to grab them with its tentacles.
Alvarado’s work is regarded as highly symbolic. Many of his murals include figures with an exposed midsection, or in “Parachutes” an open rib-cage, to represent how we all are slowly dying. This seems like a sad message, but the figures parachuting in the mural are smiling. Alvarado explains the story behind his mural saying,
“My mural has a lot of parachuters that are on the verge of dying. They are all about to fall to their deaths, some have holes in their parachutes and some don’t even have parachutes. But they are happy and living their lives. We are all dying, every day we are getting closer to our last days. So why not try and live it as best as we can.”
Deciding what Alvarado wanted to say was the starting point for “Parachutes.” He then sketched a picture of what he wanted the mural to look like, making changes until he was happy. After sketching his mural on the wall, Alvarado says he “slowly chipped at it” until he felt he was done. According to Alvarado, creating “Parachutes” for POW! WOW! Long Beach was his dream, and he encourages others to “chip” at their goals to make their dreams come true.
Written by Amelia Nixon
Sources: https://lbpost.com/life/arts-culture/your-complete-guide-to-pow-wow-long-beach-2018/, http://artslb.org/meet-the-pow-wow-long-beach-2018-mural-artists/
1 Related Artists
