When sicarios threatened to kill her, the muralist brought her art to El Paso

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EL PASO – Her art name means magician and just like a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat, muralist Margarita “Mago” Gandara pulls creativity and rebellion from deep within her soul to produce intricate murals, sculptures and bronze pieces that mirror the Mexican-American culture that she fell in love with as a young child. The lively 82 year-old artist spins her story of survival in Juárez like a skilled story teller. After living in Juárez for nearly 40 years, Gandara was threatened by “sicarios” or assassins, who targeted her after seeing her truck with Texas license plates outside of her adobe home studio in a southern Juárez colonia. Immediately after being threatened, Gandara, with the help of her son, fled from her home taking as many pieces of art as she could, while still leaving some behind. Many of the pieces, along with additional new works will be displayed at an exhibit she calls, “Peregrinas Immigrantes” at UTEP on October 13th.

La Revancha del Sicario

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Soy colombiano. Una nacionalidad que llama la atención de los guardias de seguridad en los aeropuertos del mundo, que despierta la envidia de los cocainómanos de todas partes. Crecí en medio de la violencia del narcotráfico. ¿Algunos recuerdos de mi niñez?: cadáveres destrozados por el bombazo del día; un avión de pasajeros incinerado como si fuera de papel; cuatro candidatos presidenciales eliminados uno tras otro, en un dominó que nadie sabía donde iba a acabar. En determinado momento decidieron ponerle precio a la cabeza de los policías: mil dólares por muerto.