The Date Farmers, Carlos Ramirez and Armando Lerma of Coachella Valley often collaborate in their art, collage, drawings, and words on discarded signs. Reminiscent of Mexican Revolutionary posters, Ramirez and Lerma explore the essential reality of the roots of California past and present culture. Their art depicts Mexican American religious icons and their style resembles prison art – their lettering strong in a low rider tradition of bold sign painting.

"These folkloric elements go through the centuries from ancient indigenous peoples to current California," Lerma explains. "Using stuff that was thrown away is Mexican ingenuity. People's idea of art is that it's really expensive and [made of] nice materials, but found objects are so abundant; they're much easier and freeing for us."

Their art has all the psychotropic genius, working-class vigor and native guile of a lowrider customized by a shaman. Their work is broadly expressive of their home-as-diaspora sensibility: raucous colors, tattooed cholos, scavenged traditions and Dumpster-diving detritus, moving from Oaxacan sign painting and zocalo street life to comics and graffiti.

Text courtesy of the leonard Street Gallery (www.tlsg.co.uk)