Arte en la calle: Cambian los colores de Juárez

Un grupo de jóvenes juarenses se ha dado a la tarea de apoderarse de la ciudad y llenarla de un arte nuevo con el que esperan cambiar la imagen negativa que Juárez carga desde aquella época violenta vivida a partir del 2006. Lo intentarán llenado de color las grandes paredes y muros de la ciudad y especialmente en las colonias abandonadas que sufrieron el éxodo de sus habitantes. Estos grupos de artistas están conformados tanto por estudiantes de la carrera de Diseño Gráfico y Artes Visuales de la Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (UACJ)  como por los llamados “prácticos”, que son aquellos que aprendieron la técnica directamente en la calle, plasmando su experiencia en las bardas de sus colonias, en parques e incluso en las universidades, especialmente en el Instituto de Arquitectura, Diseño y Arte (IADA). Entre los años más violentos de la ciudad (2006-2010), el muralismo fue un modo de expresión y de escape para estos jóvenes que desde entonces buscan darle al mundo una nueva percepción de esta frontera. Reunidos en grupos, mejor conocidos como colectivos, salen a las calles a trabajar, algunos con éxito y un reconocimiento cada vez mayor del público.

Artist Rigoberto A. Gonzalez paints Mexico drug violence baroque-style

El Paso — Dark colors and shadows transform the canvas into excruciatingly vivid scenes – a severed head laying on the ground, soldiers restraining an angry man in front of a crowd – of the bloody drug war raging along the U.S.-Mexico border, illustrating every disturbing emotion on the faces of the subjects while employing the classic beauty of 17th century Baroque-style paintings. Rigoberto A. Gonzalez (http://rigobertogonzalezalonso.com/home) 37, the artist of these deeply disturbing and meticulously painted images, is bringing his exhibition, titled Baroque on the Border/Barocco en la Frontera, to The University of Texas at El Paso at the Stanlee & Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Art of from May 26 to September 24, 2011. He was born in Reynosa, in the border state of Tamaulipas, Mexico and moved with his family to the border city of San Juan, TX when he was 9 years old. As a child, his mother and older brother inspired him to become an artist. This inspiration led him to obtain a bachelor’s degree in art from The University of Texas-Pan American in 1999 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the New York Academy of Art in 2004.

The Virgin of Guadalupe

EL PASO, Texas — Ever since 1531 when the image of the Virgin Mary appeared miraculously on the cloth worn by Juan Diego, a humble peasant in Tepeyac, Mexico, the Virgin of Guadalupe has been a sacred symbol of Mexican faith. Today the image of the Virgin can be found almost everywhere on the Borderland, from churches to sidewalks, from candles to tattoos. The photography class at the University of Texas at El Paso was given the assignment to photograph the Virgin wherever she appeared. (Click on the pictures to enlarge.)

Roses and Thorns — Painter Gaspar Enriquez’ Students Are His Inspiration

EL PASO, Texas — Seeing no future in art, legendary El Paso artist Gaspar Enriquez abandoned the idea of pursuing an artistic career during his high school years. Little did he know where the potential of his talent would take him. “I liked art since I was a kid, but knew there was little or no pay in the field,” said Enriquez. Having grown up in the poverty-stricken neighborhoods of Segundo Barrio, Enriquez found himself growing up at a faster rate than most teenage kids. Moving to East Los Angeles right after graduating from Bowie High School, Enriquez began working as a dishwasher, then at a defense plant lab, and eventually as a machinist as he continued working his way up until he graduated in 1970 from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) with a degree in Art Education.

Juárez Terror Etched in La Loteria de la Muerte

EL PASO, Texas — Student artist Yvianna Hernandez uses cards from a popular borderland bingo game known as “La Loteria” to depict the tragedy of a drug war that has claimed some 5,000 lives in Ciudad Juárez in the last two-and-a-half years. The popular Mexican game of chance has long been a staple in the border sister cities of El Paso and Juárez. Now Hernandez, a senior drawing major at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is calling attention to the violence by using the traditional folk-art icons as backgrounds for her drawings. “It was actually a silly idea to me that I really didn’t want to do because ‘La Loteria’ has been overdone so many times,” said Hernandez. “You even see loteria art on the walls of Wal-Mart bathrooms, so I really wasn’t too inclined to do it.”

Having started with the idea of “La Llorona,” based on the Mexican folklore of the weeping woman, Hernandez decided to depict a portrait of a woman crying over her dead son, killed in the Juárez bloodshed.

El cáncer violento de Ciudad Juárez transforma su misión artística

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, México — Los lienzos y el pincel de Cecilia Briones “La Catrina” surgen como alivio ante el panorama de violencia e inseguridad que se vive en la ciudad, en donde la artista lucha por rescatar su arte. “Es difícil, todos estamos muy asustados, sobretodo afecta el proceso creativo, te quedas impactado de tanta sangre”, dijo Briones, quien descubrió su amor por la pintura a los 17 años. Y es este cáncer violento, como ella lo nombra, el responsable de la actual transformación por la que pasa su obra. Su próxima colección a presentar tendrá por nombre Infierno Postmoderno como signo del sentimiento del cual la artista dijo necesitar liberarse. “No lo quiero tomar como bandera, pero ya es mucho y lo tengo que escupir de alguna forma”, dijo Briones,.

Entre lo abstracto y lo figurativo deambula el ser humano

EL PASO — Los sueños, los miedos y algunas miserias humanas reencarnan en los cuadros de dos creadores contemporáneos de las Artes Plásticas que exponen, Entre lo abstracto y lo figurativo, perspectivas muy personales. Son ellos, el estadounidense Ricardo Guevara, natural de los Ángeles, California (1975) y Leo Albizo, oriundo de la ciudad mexicana de Guadalajara, en Jalisco (1975). Las obras de estos jóvenes confluyen en la galería del Consulado General de México en El Paso, en una muestra que permanecerá abierta al público hasta el 22 de febrero de 2010. Albizo discursa sobre los sueños con pigmentos emanadores de caprichosas formas. De esta manera crea “personajes ausentes en situaciones cotidianas”, según él mismo reconoció.

“Obscured Eye” Art Show Opening

The opening featured four artists —Alexandra Balestrieri, Jennifer Cuellar, Elizabeth Lopez, and curator Kyle Herrera— in an exhibit that comprehensively explores, “perception, cognition, and the obstacles imposed on them,” through the mediums of photography, painting, drawing, and interactive mixed media.

La Internacional, a universal street modeled after El Paso

“The idea (of the video) is basically a narration of the song, a mythical street that could exist anywhere in the world where workers and immigrant communities gather. The video is basically different stories of exploitation, as well as triumph and resistance,” said Kiko Rodríguez, leader of Fuga.