R E V I E W E D
Right:
C a n d i del S ur;
2008,
detail, mixed-media
installation, video and
music {h. 80 in, w. 24 in,
d. 20in}.
Below:
T iju a n a on a S ilve r
P la tte r
, 2005, blown
glass, mixed media
{h. i8Vi in, w. 27in,
d. 8 in}.
d e l a T o r r e
B r o t h e r s
a n d B o r d e r
B a r o q u e
M useum at the National H ispanic
Cultural Center
M eso-Am erichanics
(M aneuvering M estizaje)
Septem ber 12,2008 - A ugust 16,2009
Albuquerque, N ew M exico
nhccnm .org
S T O R Y BY
Gussie Fauntleroy
If ever there w ere a case w here materials
and their masterful use provide a perfect
match—and m etaphor—for an artist’s con-
cepts and themes, it’s in the art o f Jamex
and Einar de la Torre. H ow better to con-
vey the rich com plexity and alchemic inter-
mingling o f border cultures than through
mixed-media creations as m ultilayered,
thought-provoking and engaging as the cul-
tures them selves? “M eso-Am erichanics
(M aneuvering M estizaje): de la T orre
brothers and Border Baroque” brings such
w ork to the Museum at the National H is-
panic Cultural Center in an extensive exhi-
bition put together by the museum’s direc-
tor and ch ief curator, T e y M arianna Nunn.
Jam ex and Einar de la T orre w ere born
(i960 and 1963, respectively) in Guadala-
jara, M exico, finished high school in South-
ern California and studied sculpture and
glassblowing at California State U niversity
in Long Beach. T h ey currently divide their
tim e betw een Ensenada, M exico, and N a-
tional C ity, California, working w ith equal
creative fluency on both sides o f the border,
as w ell as pulling iconic im agery and ideas
from around the world.
Sim ilarly, in their art the brothers inten-
tionally disregard conventional borders
betw een dichotom ous pairs such as “high”
and “low ” art and sacred and profane, and
betw een deluxe objects and the detritus o f
everyday life. Virtually every assemblage
and installation incorporates blow n glass
or cast-resin elements in sumptuous colors
that shimmer, juxtaposed w ith an array o f
found objects, including plastic toys, snack
food w rappers and old tires.
M essages presented through this juxta-
position are absorbed on a visceral as w ell
as intellectual level. Just as an unfamiliar
culture may initially feel like an undifferenti-
ated sensory barrage o f sounds, colors,
textures and smells, these w orks take time
to reveal their multiple layers. Each piece
brim s, in truly baroque fashion, w ith his-
torical and cultural references, as w ell as
universal them es, unsettling nuances and
elements o f sheer beauty. Detailed descrip-
tions mounted beside each w ork and a cat-
alog provide w elcom e insight.
T he de la Torre brothers don’t consider
them selves glass artists per se. Instead, they
see glass as one com ponent o f a rich visual
language in w hich the qualities o f g la ss-
color, m alleability and light—interact w ith
a multitude o f found objects. T he brothers
034 american craft aug/sep09
