Born and raised in the rural town of Lockhart, Texas, Fidencio Duran grew up surrounded by cattle ranches and farms. After graduating high school, he briefly attended the University of Texas at El Paso before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in studio art. Inspired by his family and the Latino communities of Texas, Duran creates narrative visual art that honors his heritage. He is best known today for his public and private murals. In his community murals, according to Dr. Ricardo Romo, Duran “traces the historical path of Tejanos and Indigenous people over the last three centuries” and provides a “visual historical narrative of Texas-Mexicans or Tejanos.”

For Duran, color and form are means to an end. Duran is storyteller who employs paint instead of words. His visual vocabulary is limited and his scenes are easily intelligible. Like Steinbeck and Hemingway, Duran is able to communicate a rich, compelling story simply, efficiently, and effectively. Unpretentious, honorific, and imbued with love, Duran’s stories are drawn from the ordinary. According to the artist, “My work transforms personal and community memories into celebrations of culture, history, and the beauty in our everyday lives.” Instead of looking inward, creating art guided by philosophical ideas and imaginative theories, Duran looks outward. He looks to his environment for inspiration. Much like an anthropologist, Duran produces thoughtful meditations on culture, heritage, and identity. Duran seeks to honor the history of his family and community in visual stories.

Duran’s Al Norte is a story about age, maturity, generational ties, and life’s cyclical nature. Two men stand in the foreground. They are deep in serious conversation. The man in khaki stands with arms crossed. The man in blue gestures, arms outstretched, palms facing up. Below his left hand, near the vehicles in the background, two women stand. On the right side of the composition, a group of children play basketball. Chickens swarm the scene. The work’s title and the automobiles in the background signal change and movement. Perhaps these people are traveling north, as the title suggest. Their poses and positions indicate a sense of uncertainty, separation, and isolation. The women are distant from the children and the two men. Likewise, the two men are separated from the other figures in the scene.