Born and raised in East Los Angeles, Juan Daniel Estrada experienced a rich and diverse cultural environment drawing from the strong personalities of the Chicano youth around him. At fifteen he lived in Mexico City where he gained a love and respect for Los Tres Grandes, the famous Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. While still in High School Juan won several competitions including an internship at California State University, Los Angeles (Ceramics), and at the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design (fine art and life drawing). Upon graduation from Verdugo Hills High School, John continued his fine arts studies with the Otis Art Institute majoring in Fine Art and Illustration. While attending Otis, John was influenced by the New York art scene, primarily the abstract-graffiti-pop expressionists.
Actively involved in establishing the Los Angeles graffiti art style, Juan was one of the many early pioneers who created the graffiti movement in the early eighties. Juan recreated himself as Zender (the rising mountain) and had his first one-man show at Otis titled "Zender-Neo Expression" in 1987. Deeply committed to making public art Juan aka John Zender produced over 300 murals in Los Angeles and throughout the United States. As founder of Creative Art Solutions ( a mural company), Juan has devoted many hours to nurturing young artists and making a difference in many communities.
Juan has separated his public art from his paintings, his work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zero-1 Gallery, Pueblo Gallery, CSDI, ICU Gallery, and many others. He has had several one-man shows and many group shows, exhibiting with Chicano artists, Graffiti artists. His easel paintings have evolved from series to series. Most of his works from his earlier series now reside in private collections. In 1995 his work arrived at a spiritual turning point and began incorporating more intimate and personal ideas concerning spirituality into his artwork. Influenced by Roberto Matta, Kandinsky, Gorky, Lam, Basquiat, and the Bible he began calling his painting theory The Process of Change. Most recently he has re-invented himself by using his real name and created a new body of work called "Triunity" a fusion of all his past influences to represent the Soul, Body and Spirit.
Actively involved in establishing the Los Angeles graffiti art style, Juan was one of the many early pioneers who created the graffiti movement in the early eighties. Juan recreated himself as Zender (the rising mountain) and had his first one-man show at Otis titled "Zender-Neo Expression" in 1987. Deeply committed to making public art Juan aka John Zender produced over 300 murals in Los Angeles and throughout the United States. As founder of Creative Art Solutions ( a mural company), Juan has devoted many hours to nurturing young artists and making a difference in many communities.
Juan has separated his public art from his paintings, his work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zero-1 Gallery, Pueblo Gallery, CSDI, ICU Gallery, and many others. He has had several one-man shows and many group shows, exhibiting with Chicano artists, Graffiti artists. His easel paintings have evolved from series to series. Most of his works from his earlier series now reside in private collections. In 1995 his work arrived at a spiritual turning point and began incorporating more intimate and personal ideas concerning spirituality into his artwork. Influenced by Roberto Matta, Kandinsky, Gorky, Lam, Basquiat, and the Bible he began calling his painting theory The Process of Change. Most recently he has re-invented himself by using his real name and created a new body of work called "Triunity" a fusion of all his past influences to represent the Soul, Body and Spirit.