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October 2016
Review Galería Senita, Tucson Lotería de Tucson Reviewed by C.J. Shane |
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Tucson’s cultural debt to Mexico appears again and again in our arts. The most recent manifestation of that cultural debt can be enjoyed in the current exhibit, a celebration of Mexican lotería, at Galería Senita in Tucson.
Lotería de Tucson is an exhibit made up of fifty-four artists’ interpretations of Mexican lotería cards. Most of the artists in the exhibit are from Arizona although there are three international artists represented. All the artists’ lotería cards are in an 11” x 14” format which makes it possible to see the entire deck of cards displayed on two walls of the gallery. Galería Senita is located inside Arte de la Vida on Tucson Boulevard just north of Broadway.
The Mexican lottery game, lotería, originated in Italy in the 1400s, then made its way to Spain and eventually to the New World. Although originally enjoyed by the upper classes in Mexico, the game was eventually adopted by Mexicans at every level of society. Lotería is similar to the North American game of bingo, but lotería uses numbered cards with images on them rather than bingo cards with chips.
Lotería de Tucson is an exhibit made up of fifty-four artists’ interpretations of Mexican lotería cards. Most of the artists in the exhibit are from Arizona although there are three international artists represented. All the artists’ lotería cards are in an 11” x 14” format which makes it possible to see the entire deck of cards displayed on two walls of the gallery. Galería Senita is located inside Arte de la Vida on Tucson Boulevard just north of Broadway.
The Mexican lottery game, lotería, originated in Italy in the 1400s, then made its way to Spain and eventually to the New World. Although originally enjoyed by the upper classes in Mexico, the game was eventually adopted by Mexicans at every level of society. Lotería is similar to the North American game of bingo, but lotería uses numbered cards with images on them rather than bingo cards with chips.
Sherrie Posternak
Perhaps what is especially interesting about the exhibit is to see how artists interpreted events in their own lives and yet also in the context of Mexican history and culture. Take, for example, Sherrie Posternak’s Fishes. The card she interprets is number 50, El Pescado (The Fish) Posternak lives in Tucson, but spends lengthy periods of time in Mexico on the Pacific Coast. She has a strong affinity for the natural world, environmental preservation, and preservation of traditional Mexican culture.
A few years ago, Posternak created an installation with multiple pieces to draw attention to the destruction of a small fishing village, El Tomate, near San Carlos, Sonora. The village land had been purchased by a developer, and the fishermen and their families’ homes were bulldozed to make room for condos and hotels. Posternak’s art installation revealed that that this tourist-industry construction not only posed a threat to the fishermen and their families, but also a threat to nearby tidal pools teeming with sea life. So it is not surprising that for her lotería card, she would capture 50 fish forever in bee’s wax – Posternak is an encaustic artist – to remind us that living creatures were once here.
A few years ago, Posternak created an installation with multiple pieces to draw attention to the destruction of a small fishing village, El Tomate, near San Carlos, Sonora. The village land had been purchased by a developer, and the fishermen and their families’ homes were bulldozed to make room for condos and hotels. Posternak’s art installation revealed that that this tourist-industry construction not only posed a threat to the fishermen and their families, but also a threat to nearby tidal pools teeming with sea life. So it is not surprising that for her lotería card, she would capture 50 fish forever in bee’s wax – Posternak is an encaustic artist – to remind us that living creatures were once here.
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Carolyn King
Another work showing both personal and cultural connections to Mexico is Carolyn King’s card number 7 La Escalera ("The Ladder"). King spent many years living and working in Mexico, and has a deep emotional connection to Mexican people and culture. Her lotería card is really more of a retablo which is a type of devotional folk art painting. Retablos illustrate vows of thanks for a miracle granted or a plea answered. In this case, King gives thanks for the safe, though illegal, passage of two dear friends across the border. A close look at the earth’s surface in this painting reveals line drawings of vegetables, reminding us of the need for migrant Mexican labor to bring in North American crops. The ladder, of course, has deep political meaning these days as we confront the surrealistic reality of a Berlin-style wall that marks an invisible line between two nations.
Kat Engstrom
Several of the pieces in the exhibition call on Mexican culture and history. Number 25 El Borracho ("The Drunkard") by Mark Molina isn’t just any guzzler of cerveza; he’s a skeletal figure ready for the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos. Number 42 La Calavera ("The Skull") by Jennie Norris continues with an interpretation of the Mexican cultural approach to the inevitability of death. Of course number 34, El Soldado ("The Soldier") by Alex Roman is where we find folk hero of the Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa.
A handful of the artists pushed the two-dimensional approach in their artwork into three dimensions. Kathleen Koopman’s number 22, La Bota ("The Boot") includes an actual boot. Kat Engstrom includes a female figure in her number 18 El Violoncello ("The Cello") that reminds us of the New Mexican legend, La Llorona, with its beautiful but slightly creepy female figure. One of the most interesting pieces is Star Torano’s number 5 El Paraguas (“The Umbrella”). At first glance, this work has moody, French film noir feel in the black/white photo. Yet, the work transforms into something entirely different when a switch is flipped.
Lotería de Tucson will be available for viewing through November 30 at Galería Senita inside Arte de La Vida. More information at: http://www.artedelavidatucson.com/
A handful of the artists pushed the two-dimensional approach in their artwork into three dimensions. Kathleen Koopman’s number 22, La Bota ("The Boot") includes an actual boot. Kat Engstrom includes a female figure in her number 18 El Violoncello ("The Cello") that reminds us of the New Mexican legend, La Llorona, with its beautiful but slightly creepy female figure. One of the most interesting pieces is Star Torano’s number 5 El Paraguas (“The Umbrella”). At first glance, this work has moody, French film noir feel in the black/white photo. Yet, the work transforms into something entirely different when a switch is flipped.
Lotería de Tucson will be available for viewing through November 30 at Galería Senita inside Arte de La Vida. More information at: http://www.artedelavidatucson.com/
