Chispa, Spanish for spark,
a term used for someone with an inner fire, a "fire-brand."
These three latino artists have ignited a fire that has
illuminated and had a profound effect socially and artistically
in their own immediate community and beyond. Two Mexican-Americans,
Alfred Quiroz of Tucson, Arizona, and Cesar
Martinez of
San Antonio, Texas, and one Mexican of American descent,
Antonio Turok, have each developed their highly personalized
vision working in relative isolation, working away from
the so-called "art centers" with their focus
on their immediate
"minority community." Quiroz and Martinez
have focused on the Mexican-American community in the United
States,
while Turok has focused on the indigenous community of
Chiapas, Mexico. All are dealing with a communities' attempt
to retain and evolve its culture in transition, and all
use cultural references and artistic elements of that community.
For example, Alfred Quiroz's painting No Soy
Chicano, Soy Aztlano and references in his work to
the treaty of Guadalupe
Hildgo, which in 1848 made Mexicans aliens in their own
land, are especially relevant with today's anti-immigrant
hysteria. In the case of Cesar Martinez, he
uses a south Texas icon, curandero Don Pedrito Jarmillo,
Mexican religious
icons (the Virgin of Guadalupe), votive candles as well
as the pre-Columbian references that Quiroz also
uses. In Antonio Turok's Fiesta de Santa Maria there
is a wonderful clash and assimilation of cultural symbols
visible in the
Maya men's "sticks of authority" and the
cans of coca-cola. The image is layered with ironies, since
the ingredients
for the product that is a symbol of U.S. imperialism are
indigenous ingredients with ritualistic uses since pre-Columbian
times. In Turok's case the community's issues go
beyond cultural identity to physical survival and revolution.
The three have very different approaches. Cesar Martinez
uses a synthesis of South Texas, Mexican, European and
American images to create images that are a hybrid of all.
His Scream in South Texas (La Llorona) combines Edvard
Munch's scream with the wailing Mexican folk legend
and the triptych format alludes to European religious works:
this effect is further reinforced by the votive candles. Conos
Christmas Buck (South Texas Lascaux) equates the
South Texas hunting tradition with the primal cave paintings
in Europe and is a testament to a friendship and a culture. Nike
and Venus de San Antonio brings the famous Greek images
to South Texas and appropriates them. In effect he says "we've
got our Venus too, but ours has arms and looks Mexican."
In Pajaros de Colmillio (Birds with Bite) his reference
is a pre-Columbian work, with its focus on the duality
of the Aztec world, a ying-yang world of opposites. I also
see in his use of carefully selected discarded material,
a kind of parallel with the Mexican-American culture in
Texas and the southwest. His use of this material that
has "a history" and incorporating it with oil
paint makes it, as well as the culture, "valuable" and
gives the work a timeless beauty.
Alfred Quiroz's
satirical-on-your-face-commentary on U.S. culture uses
a cartoonish approach with humor and
wit. In his Da Grate Kommie-Nuke-Ater (Reagan) and Ask
Not... (Kennedy) he lampoons two U.S. presidents that we
Americans idolize. "English Rule" refers to anglo
domination in the southwest, English only laws, and painful
personal
experiences. The self-portrait No Soy Chicano, Soy
Aztlano is specifically about identity and combines elements of
Mexican and American cultures. His use of what are thought
of as bright garish colors by U.S. standards reflect a
Mexican sensibility and his aggressive painting style and
forms reflect the energy and frenzy of life on the border.
Antonio Turok comes out of a strong tradition of Mexican
photography. His famous often reproduced image of a young
woman revolutionary in a ski mask, Mujer Zapatista, goes
beyond portraying the communities' strength and
determination. She becomes a symbol for a new Mexican feminism
and idealism.
His Refineria Cactus shows us what we all know about the
oil industry and indigenous communities, but prefer not
to see or think about. While in Ano Nuevo en San Cristobal
we have more reality than we want to know about the movement.
These are powerful images of a community in transition.
His quote "I longed to change things and at the same
time to stop the clock," reveals not only the complexity
of the social situation, but tells of his intentions.
I selected these artists because they are artists dealing with those
issues of identity that have preoccupied me. They are
artists who identify with and want to make a difference in
their community, and compadres who I have great respect for;
who strive for artistic excellence while being less concerned
with national and international trends and the McDonaldization
of the Contemporary Art World.
Luis Jimenez Hondo, NM ©1
February 2000 |