Past Exhibitations
EXHIBITIONS
October 13- January 8
The exhibit provides the viewer with an opportunity to experience one of the most important and unique cultures in Mexico today.
Detached and elusive, the Huichol people have managed to preserve their way of life and maintain a spiritual relationship with the universe through complex ceremonies.
Living in accordance with their original instructions, in a world where colorful visions and conversations with nature conjoin to create a resplendent aesthetic, Wixaritari:HUichol Art of Mexico speaks a contemporary tongue.
The Wixaritari, or Huichol, an Aztec people of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains, have always been independent. They were never defeated by the Spanish, and to this day maintain and transmit their culture in the western Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango. The Wixaritari people trace their roots back to San Luis Potosi, and make a yearly pilgrimage to their homeland to gather the peyote which grows there. Peyote, a cactus which has hallucinogenic properties, is used by the Wixaritari to communicate with their ancestors. Although they are strongly resistant to Western influence, the Wixaritari's oral literature relates a period of enforced labor by the Spaniards in the mines, and recently they labored at the farms which utilized heavy pesticides, illegal in many countries. However, the world has come to recognize the unique artistry of their traditions, and the Wixariitari are able to sell their crafts to tourists in the coastal areas below their mountains. Their art reflects their unbroken spiritual beliefs: the Wixaritari were never converted to Christianity, and their handiwork is rich with meaning. Ojos de dios, or God's eyes, now internationally recognized and converted as indigenous craft, are but one example of an ancient Wixaritari spiritual custom carried through into the 21st century, five hundred years after European arrival. An ojo de dios is woven at a child's birth or placed at a sacred place for protection, clarity, and so that the gods may see one. In the late twentieth century, some Wixaritari migrated to Guadalajara and Mexico City; there they continued to make their art, especially ojos de dios, and their work gained in popularity. After centuries of carefully preserving their traditions from outside influence, the Wixaritari have now influenced others. Children from other cultures learn to make God's eyes, and Wixaritari art crosses borders to be exhibited in museums. Many of the pieces in this exhibit are on loan from Museo de Arte Popular, in Mexico City. The Museo de Arte Popular aims to preserve and promote Mexican craft and folk art. Housed in an historic firehouse, the museum has a research center with a library and holds weekly workshops to teach children traditional crafts. Its permanent collection includes crafts from all ares of Mexico.
Overview: The exhibition addresses three themes: One, the sacred places and religious objects of the Wixaritari culture; two, the close relationship of the Wixaritari with nature; and three, the Huichol artist as contemporary creators.
CONTACTO 12
June 23, 2011- September 18, 2011
Contacto 12 examines how the descendants of native cultures interpret and deconstruct European images of conquest to reflect their own identity. This process is often identified as indigenous appropriation but actually demonstrates a paradigm shift igniting new artistic visions that are oddly modern. The artists participating in this exhibit are the post-modern conquest generation. Their aesthetic replaces colloquial references with images inspired by ancestral memories and imagination...why 12? Because the experience is 24/7/12. Participating artists: Quintin Gonzalez, David Ocelotl, Tony Ortega, Omar Rodriguez, Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Jerry Vigil.
BIENNIAL DE LAS AMERICAS LIBERADORES PROJECT CURATED BY MARUCA SALAZAR
June 24, 2010 - September 26, 2010
A common link for all the Americas is the legacy of Liberadores / Liberators, visionaries who dared challenge Old World paradigms in pursuit of a New World. Museo de las Americas Liberadores / Liberators Project brings together artists, historians, activists and diplomats to honor and celebrate the legacy of liberation as part of Denver's inaugural Biennial of the Americas. The Liberadores / Liberators Project showcases artists interpretations of the liberation narrative as it impacts their lives, countries and communities from throughout the Americas, North and South.
We honor the unifying but often neglected role of Liberadores / Liberators of the Americas by summoning the courage to confront today's challenges and envision a just, equitable and sustainable future.
Featuring Xavier Cortada, Miami, Cuba; Ana Maria Hernando, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cliff Fragua, Jemez Pueblo, USA; Liliana Folta, Argentina; Oscar Muñoz, Popayán, Colombia; Daniel Salazar, Denver, USA; Fernando Sanchez, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Paula Winograd, Bogotá, Colombia; Seth Wulsin, New York, USA/Argentina.
LA MALAGUA CURATED BY MARUCA SALAZAR
February 4, 2010 - May 31, 2010
THE POWER OF THEN CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
September 10, 2009 - January 11, 2010
ARTISTS
David Almaguer
David Almaguer, born in 1976, is a native of San Antonio and a member of the Texas Canons of Proportion. He has briefly studied art at the University of Texas in San Antonio and Our Lady of the Lake University. Over the last decade, Almaguer has exhibited his work in different venues in and around the San Antonio area. Using hand-cut stencils and aerosol paint, he has developed an ability to use iconic images to represent various memories from his childhood.
Linda Arreola
Arreola is a Los Angeles based artist with a background in sculpture and architecture. She received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in sculpture from California State University Los Angeles and received a Master of Architecture from UCLA. Early in her career she created sculptural works of simple geometries constructed of wood and steel cable. Following her studies in architecture, she went on to explore painting, installation and printmaking. She is one of the featured artists in the book, "Contemporary Chicana/Chicano Artists". She recently completed a Public Art Commission for the East Los Angeles Civic main plaza in May 2008.
Rolando Briseno
Rolando Briseno's work is included in many museum collections such as the Brooklyn Museum, the Museo del Barrio in NYC, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC, the San Antonio Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Juan, PR, Mexic-Arte Museum, and the Jack S. Blanton Museum in Austin. Some of the universities that hold Rolando\'s work are the University of Texas in Austin and San Antonio, Arizona State and the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. He has public art works at Houston\'s Inter-Continental Airport, Trinity University (San Antonio), Austin Convention Center, Cypress Hills Library in Brooklyn, and the North White Plains RR station also in New York. Rolando lives and works all over the planet.
Alex Hernandez
Alex Hernandez is a native of Oaxaca, Mexico but grew up in the U.S. He received a full scholarship to the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design for his BFA in painting and has recently began working with embroidery and fiber art. Alex has exhibited localy in galleries and museums including Museo de las Americas.
Franco Mondini-Ruiz
Franco Mondini-Ruiz was raised in Texas. Drawing from personal experience, his art pieces are often assembled from found objects that have a direct correlation to his life. Following a tradition of postmodernism, he integrates a variety of imagery and iconography into his art. His irreverent paintings and objects create humorous paradoxes between kitsch and sophisticated, or feminine and masculine identity. Identifying with his Mexican background Mondini-Ruiz also cleverly explores the similarities and disparities between Chicano and Western art traditions.
Chuck Ramirez
Born in 1962, Chuck Ramirez lives and works as an artist and graphic designer in San Antonio, TX. Primarily working in large-scale photography, Ramirez\'s oeuvre includes prints and sculptural installations. His work investigates the rituals and forms of everyday life and is charged with metaphors of ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religion.
Frank Zamora
Frank Zamora was born in Denver Colorado in 1958. He received his BA from Escuela Nacional de Pintura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" in Mexico, D.F. in 1994 and has since been exhibiting in the U.S. and Mexico. Zamora fuses contemporary art with traditional New Mexican folk art using materials, methods and iconography that are over 200 years old.
FINE LINE CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ ARTISTS: CARLOS CAPELÃN | MÃXIMO GONZALEZ | MAURO ARIEL KOLIVA | LUCAS MONACO | RICARDO RENDON
October 2, 2008- August 21, 2009
The horizon line, separating the earth from the sky, is rendered many times as a simple stroke but, in fact, is the observation of deep continuous space. Conceptually similar to a repeating decimal, which endlessly moves to infinity, this popular edge is also seen as an emotional trigger for the future and times past. Artists for centuries have interpreted this phenomenon balancing both the conceptual and emotional implications for the viewer to add on their own personal reading. Fine Line investigates this power of line and its multitude of symbolic, illusionary and physical qualities. Additionally, this exhibition goes a step further and asks three well-known artists from three distinct areas of the Americas to demonstrate their personal perception of the horizon, the ultimate fine line. Each artist will respond to a horizon line that has been drawn literally across the Museo walls. The line will be the constant for all three, yet the results will be unique revealing each artist's point of view, history, and visual vocabulary.
INSIDE/ OUTSIDE/ NORTH&SOUTH CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
August 21, 2008- September 14, 2009
Our Founding Fathers envisioned a country that would guarantee basic freedoms to all its citizens and in 1776 declared equality to all people. Yet, constantly, lines are drawn between "us" and "them" out of fear and suspicion. Today, as our demographics change and with global commerce, it is becoming more challenging to remain open to the integration of diverse peoples at work, in our schools and neighborhoods. The Museo de las Americas with a vision to build understanding and acceptance to the diverse cultures around us, joined the El Museo Nacional de Etnografia y Folklore in La Paz, Bolivia and the Univiersidad de las Americas in Puebla, Mexico in assembling a trans-American group of teens from various backgrounds to investigate present day stereotyping in these three areas in hopes of initiating discourse regarding this worldwide issue.
SPACE INVADERS CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
Space Invaders explored the space we live in and how it has changed both physically and culturally. Artists, as space creators/ invaders, have pushed their boundaries to include public environments as potential canvases. The artists in this exhibition were a sampling of a new breed of artistry that have blended physical, aesthetic and social questions to create multidimensional results.
MUNIZ: REMASTERED CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
October 4, 2007- January 20, 2008
Muniz Remastered: Photographs From the West Collection, organized by Devon Dikeou in partnership with the West Collection. Muniz Remastered presented a selection of reinterpretations by Muniz of masters such as Corot, Durer, Aaron Siskind, Rembrandt, Waritor, and others in Muniz’s unique artistic style. These works were new approaches to infamous images and included in this exhibition were reinterpretations to well-known works such as Theodore Gricault’s Raft of the Medusa and Cezanne’s Still Life With Apples. These pieces as well as all of Muniz’s creations completed since the mid 1990’s were fabricated with unlikely mediums of chocolate, trash, sequins, thread, peanut butter and jelly, sugar, dirt, leaves, junk, and other materials. A final photograph is printed in each case to document his fragile inventions. Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1961, Muniz is now based in New York.
CON CONFECTION CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
July 12, 2007–September 9, 2007
Confection, usually defined as an elaborate creation or a sweet combination of materials, is the key to this grouping of artists that used embellishment and decoration in their work. From traditional embroidery to contemporary techniques, these artists embellished, decorated, and captured complex patterns as well as botanical and faunal imagery. Traditional artists relate nature’s intricacies and signal their communities, while contemporary artists embedded these designs with underlying implications.
ALTAR GIRLS CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
February 16, 2007–July 1, 2007
Altar Girls examined women’s complicated attributes of sanctity and strength viewed from historic legends and traditional media to post-modern insights and materials. The juxtaposition of women saints with contemporary views of coming-of-age girls conveyed the fundamental female aspects of purity and courage. Whether they are women of the heavens or the young women of this world that they inspire, the artists of Altar Girls offered stunning depictions of the miracle of the feminine.
MAPPING NATIVITY CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
October 27, 2006–December 31, 2006
Mapping Nativity presented over 100 dioramas of traditional and non-traditional nativities underscoring the diverse methods, materials and iconography practiced throughout Latin American countries and the American Southwest.
HEAVEN AND EARTH CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
June 16, 2006–September 8, 2006
The Museo de las Americas presented a contemporary look at centuries-old Spanish Colonial art through the architecturally-designed collaboration with the Agency for Architecture. The exhibit featured 40 artworks from the Jan and Frederick Mayer Collection of Spanish Colonial Art from the Denver Art Museum.
MAGIC DOCTORS: THE CURANDERA REVEALED CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
February 2, 2006–May 21, 2006
In partnership with Opera Colorado, the Museo presented an exhibition revealing the visions and rituals of the curandera past and present. A curandera is a female Hispanic folk healer that practices complementary/ traditional medicine. Healers, who can be male or female, young or old, are highly respected, and frequently called upon by their communities. Among the practices most common to curanderos include the biofield practitioner that works with corrientes electricas, the yerbero (herbalist), the partera (midwife) and the sobador (masseur). The curandera is skilled to treat a wide variety of illnesses. The combination of folk remedies, herbal medicine, and the art is still used widely today.
NEVER LEAVING AZTLAN CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
February 2, 2006–May 21, 2006
Never Leaving Aztlan addressed Latino artists that use conceptual strategies to create strong relationships between the rich heritage of their culture and contemporary artistic practice. In this new trans-cultural society, Latino artists have not left their past, their Aztlan. Quite the opposite, they are rooted in Aztlan and have created a new visual language colored with their past traditions and shaded with present day constructs forming works that are rich in texture, humor, and power.
PLANET COLOMBIA CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
October 14, 2005–January 22, 2006
Participating artists: Adolfo Cifuentes (Colombia), Randy Clark (United States), Rodrigo Facundo (Colombia)‚ Rafael Fajardo (United States), Ana Mercedes Hoyos (Colombia), Katie Knight (United States), Nadin Ospina (Colombia).Through a kaleidoscope of artistic viewpoints, Planet Colombia explored Colombia$rsquo;s rich culture, complicated civil war, and common stereotypes and prejudices. Through the power of image, humor and unexpected materials, Planet Colombia embraced the extraordinary beauty and ugly underbelly, funny peculiarities and sad truths, bringing to light the contrasting facets of this complex country.
NEHUEN: MAPUCHE POWER CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
June 9, 2005–September 25, 2005
Nehuen: Mapuche Power highlighted the superb traditional artistry of the Mapuche People alongside contemporary viewpoints by Chilean and Argentinean artists that addressed their indigenous past. "Nehuen", a Mapundungu (Mapuche language) word for "life force" and good "energy" exemplifies the power and strength of the Mapuche people to maintain their traditions in the face of numerous attempts by the Incas, the Spaniards and present day forces to let go of their cultural and environmental rights. This exhibition revealed, through exemplary objects from the David Irving Collection and works by contemporary artists today, the cultural thread that continues through time within the souls of the people of the southern region of South America, the Mapuche.
SIQUEIROS: SPIRIT OF A REVOLUTIONARY CURATED BY PATTY ORTIZ
February 10, 2004–May 28, 2005
Featuring 21 selected works created between 1918 and 1969, this exhibition highlighted Siqueiros’ visual depiction of Mexico’s past and present struggles and his vision of a promising future of freedom, justice, peace and prosperity for all of Latin America. Works completed during Siqueiros’ last period while in jail from 1960 to 1964, as well as preparatory studies, started in 1965, give form to his most ambitious mural project which occupied the rest of his life: The March of Humanity in Latin America towards the Cosmos. Misery and Science (1965-1971).