MENDOCINO, 6/27/24 — Larry Fuente, the Mendocino artist who put a million beads on his 1960 Cadillac, has died at 76.
His death was announced June 26 by his niece, Florida real estate agent Holly Fuente. In less than an hour, the news had made the rounds of social media with people expressing sorrow and offering remembrances.
“Mendocino icon Larry Fuente’s 2019 exhibition at the Mendocino Art Center was one of the most memorable and well attended exhibitions in MAC history,” shared MAC board president Debra Lennox.
After the devastating loss of much of his artwork in a tragic fire in 2020, MAC reached out to raise money to rebuild Fuente’s studio. “Mendocino has lost a vibrant, irreverent spirit in our community who is irreplaceable,” Lennox shared. “His laugh, his humor and his plastic beads will be with us forever.”
Fuente’s death struck many locals as particularly sad timing, as he was most beloved for his appearances at the sometimes wacky and racy, sometimes patriotic, sometimes just silly Mendocino Fourth of July parade. The parade is expected to once again pack the town full of locals and visitors next Thursday.
“Looking at Larry’s art car… the one he drove up Main Street at the end of every Fourth of July parade, registered or not—was like reading a Tom Robbins novel,” said Jennifer Kreger, a Fort Bragg physician. “When I’m shown a chain of Mardi Gras beads next to a Samurai sword and a glass slipper, I’m reminded… not all of life is tidily categorized, commercial or expectable.”
Anytime Fuente would appear driving “Mad Cad,” that extravagantly glam 1960 Cadillac, he was the star of the show. He almost never registered as a parade participant and often arrived after the parade was over. No matter. He always received a huge ovation. He and others from old Mendo coined the term “Mendo time” and resisted the structure that parade registration demanded. Even organizers admitted that nobody ever knew ahead of time what surprises the event might offer just made it more fun.
Fuente’s show at the Mendocino Art Center, “New World Hoarder,” opened in 2019. On July 3, 2020, as the world was locked down for the pandemic, Fuente’s shop burned down and much of his art was destroyed — but not the Mad Cad. Fuente escaped without serious injury, but a man who lived on Fuente’s property in Little River on the Comptche-Ukiah Road was treated for burns he suffered in the fire.
Later that summer, the Art Center held its fundraiser to help Fuente rebuild and replace some of the lost art.
Fuente’s only public black eye likely strengthened his credibility as an icon of the town of Mendocino. He was arrested in 1988 for marijuana, with a front page headline in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat blaring that Mendocino’s “junk artist” had been “nabbed.” He has been featured in shows big and small for decades, from New York’s Museum of Modern Art to “American Pickers.”
His Smithsonian online profile reveals Fuente was born in Chicago and studied at the Kansas City Art Institute from 1967 to 1968, after which he followed friends to California. “Since the late 1960s, Fuente has concentrated on producing a body of work that is marked by an obsessive interest in surface ornamentation. He delights in covering readily identifiable forms with beads, plastic baubles, buttons and mass-produced items of no intrinsic value, transforming the mundane into unique objects,” the profile states. “Size is no deterrent to Fuente, who once spent five years coating a 1960 Cadillac sedan with one million brightly colored beads, sequins, buttons, plastic lawn ornaments, and other items. Such works are related to a Latino popular-culture tradition in which automobiles and other objects are embellished with a profusion of brightly colored ornaments.”
Fuente’s art was featured in National Geographic in April 1983.
While his Facebook timeline shows Larry was born in September 1947, which would make him 76, this reporter was baffled, as the same timeline identified different dates the last time I looked at it for a story about the fire. Two different friends said that was just like Fuentes to play tricks like that.
Immigration status?
Larry was a year ahead of me at Highland Park High School I will be 76 next month! He was handsome , unconventional and well liked! He became a father rather early! He grew up with less money than the rest of us! His brother became president of Home Depot! Quite a contrast!
He Hung out with the James Dean crowd! Ironically the famous sculpture
Don Lipski was in the same class!
We age ourselves by when our heroes depart!
While we weren’t close friends he was the kind of guy who made us feel a bit more mortal!
He touched a lot of hearts!
Larry was one of a kind. His house was the most interesting place on earth. With so much to look at and take in. Incredibly hospitable, I could go there and get lost in making my own pieces of art and not see him for a few days and it was so much fun. His talent, I can’t think of a word that describes it correctly. Obviously incredibly talented. His imagination always at work. I could sit and listen to him talk for hours. And I did! I can’t believe this heartbreaking news. My favorite memories are in his house and the beach. I can’t believe this. After the devestation from the fire, I worried about his mental health. So so so sad. My heart is so heavy. There will never be another being like him ever! I hope he knew how loved he was. Dammit! Larry, you must have felt your time here on earth was over. On to the next journey. You will be so missed. Thank you for sharing yourself and all the wonderful art you made. I’ll treasure it forever. I hope you find peace and love in your next chapter…
Larrys art inspired my young mind in 1984 when I got a copy of his Nat Geo magazine! I have carried that inspiration and appreciation for discarded items ever since. I have had Found Item sculptures exhibited in my town, Ocala FL. I am sad to read that Larry has passed away. What is being done with his studio?!
Larry was my first cousin.The last time I had seen him was at our Grandmothers funeral. Prior to that it was in Florida at our Grandparent’s 50th anniversary in the mid 60’s. He almost got us thrown out of the hotel because he caught a stingray and put it in the hotel pool. The hotel staff was less than pleased. Oh well, he was just a mischievous teenager.
Jumping ahead 50 years, one late night I was watching American Pickers and saw some “unusual” art. Next thing I know Mike started to ask Larry a question. When I heard him say Larry, I said “holy shit, that’s my cousin”. This started my google search for my long lost cousin. So I tracked him down and found him in Mendacino. Since we were going to San Francisco for a wedding, I thought it would be a good opportunity to drop in. I called Larry and said , Hey, this is your cousin Dan, how about having lunch and catch up on the last 50 years? So we did, along with his sister Judy.
It was a pretty interesting visit to say the least but so enjoyable to be able to expose my wife to another side of our family.
RIP Larry……. Very happy that that reunion could happen.
Larry Fuente was easily Mendocino’s most famous artist, with his work featured in a cover story in National Geographic, and many of his works sold to collectors all over the U.S. and beyond. His “Mona Loosa” a female mannequin covered with extravagant beads, jewels, feathers, antlers and more, was included in his 2019 Mendocino Art Center show, and was priced at $1 million. It was destroyed in the fire that razed his large barnlike studio and residence on July 19, 2020, along with all of the objects shown in the art center show except for the Mad Cad, which Mendocino firefighters saved by burying it in fire-suppression foam.