Justin Favela
Estardas, 2010
Cardboard, paint, glue
Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art Collection
Gift of the artist
2015.02.001

Favela’s background as a native Las Vegas artist of working class Mexican and Guatemalan heritage is asserted in this piece, which transforms the landmark sign of the city’s historic—now imploded—Stardust casino into an expression of vernacular pronunciation and thrifty materials. (DKS)

“I hope that when people see my work, they see themselves. I think it’s really funny, a lot of people don’t know I’m the artist sometimes and they’ll make a comment about my work when I’m in an installation, and they’ll say, like, wow this person had a lot of time on their hands. Or they’ll say stuff like this is just paper, I could do this, or my kids could do this. And I think that’s awesome! I’m like, yeah, you could do it. Thankfully I have the privilege of having enough time on my hands to do this, and so do you if you really wanted to. But I like this idea of people finding my work accessible, and that has a lot to do with the materials I use. It’s just cardboard and paper. Anybody has access to that, you know?”
Kaila Schedeen, ”Interview: Justin Favela and ¿Quihúbole?” (Fusebox Festival website, 2019)

“It’s a little nod to all the people who worked there. That’s the Stardust they knew – Estardas."
Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, “Piñata Pride,” American Craft Magazine, June/July 2018