NELAart News Arts and Culture in the Northeast of Los Angeles Section b Section B
Volume 3 No.9
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December 2015
HOMENAJE A LOS GRANDES
RAOUL DE LA SOTA AT MEXICAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE A bounty of new works by Highland Park artist Raoul De la Sota, reflecting the richness of his Mexican heritage through his contemporary eye, make up a new exhibit at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Downtown Los Angeles. “After having taught Mexican Art History at Los Angeles City College for 18 years, I felt I understood the concepts of some the best known Mexican artists of the 20th Century that created a true nationalistic art,” says De la Sota in his artist’s statement. “That sense of understanding pushed me enough to attempt to make homages to them and their creative ideas.” For the exhibit, De la Sota chose an iconic work from each selected artist. He then interpreted each work in three dimensions, in ways that would emphasize a given artist’s concepts and style. In several cases, when dealing with an artist who shattered the boundaries of Mexican art, De la Sota extends elements of his work beyond the normal picture plane to emphasize the subject matter. Also included in the exhibit are earlier De la Sota works that, according to the artist, “pay tribe to the ancient Mexican civilizations, its craftspeople that continually present the soul of the country and to Mother Earth.” The works in the show are at once cosmic and political. In his tribute to Rufino Tamoyo, based on the mural “El Dia y la Noche,” De la Sota has added more defined constellations described by ancient civilizations of Mexico and meaningful El Día y la Noche, from Rufino Tamayo (photo courtesy Mexican Mayan glyphs to Tamayo’s Jaguar. Meanwhile, his Diego Rivera piece, “Flower Day,” plays up Cultural Institute) elements such as the cross of the church weighing the man down while he not only carries the traditional lilies of the church but also the people of his country as symbolized by the lilies turning into sombreros. The show is also a personal one for De la Sota. His take on “Madre Campesina” by David Alfaro Siqueiros parallels the story of his grandmother escaping the horrors of the Mexican revolution in 1917, carrying her son across the border while pregnant with De la Sota’s mother. “My mother passed away late last year and for a few months I was totally dry in terms of energy and ideas for my next art projects,”says the artist. “Then sitting in a doctor’s office in February I noticed something in a magazine, I don’t even remember what exactly it was, but it clicked in my brain about doing something that I had never tried before. In the foreword for my upcoming catalogue, Kathy Gallegos of the Avenue 50 Gallery said that I was a ‘restless explorer, always going on new paths in art. Well, I started working on the pieces that are now at the MCI, dealing with layers of wood panels to create 3-dimensional interpretations of famed works by iconic Mexican artists. You shall be the judge of what I attempted.”
Madre Campesina, from David Alfaro Siquieros
Raoul De la Sota: Homenaje a los Grandes Mexican Cultural Institute, on the edge of Olvera Street in El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument Through January 24//Artist Talk: January 21.
SOUTHWEST MUSEUM:
“NATIONAL TREASURE” CONVERSATION MOVES FORWARD
The committee charged with creating a shared vision for the second century of the Southwest Museum, the oldest museum in Los Angeles, is about to begin its work. The process is being facilitated by The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which accepted the museum into its National Treasures program earlier this year. The Trust is working with the Autry Museum of the American West, with which the Southwest Museum merged in 2003; the City of Los Angeles; experts in the fields of historic preservation and museum management; and community stakeholders to craft a vision for the Mount Washington site that is faithful to its historic nature while being practical for the 21st century. The community representatives on the steering committee are: • Frank Parrello, an Eagle Rock resident and President of the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society, who has an extensive background in Planning in the Northeast area, and • Carol Teutsch, a Mount Washington resident and MD. The other steering committee members are: • Stacy Lieberman, Executive Vice President and Deputy Director, Autry Museum of the American West • Marshall McKay, Chair, Board of the Autry Museum of the American West, Tribal Chairman Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, and previous Chairman of the Board of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian • Jeremiah Axelrod, Adjunct Assistant Professor of History, Occidental College, and current leader of effort to establish an LA Institute of History and Culture at the Lummis Home • Ken Bernstein, Manager, Office of Historic Resources, City of Los Angeles • Arturo Chavez, Chief of Staff, Councilmember Gil Cedillo, Council District 1, and long-time Mt. Washington resident • Fernando Delgado, Field Deputy for Los Angeles Communities, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis • William Deverell, Professor and Chair of History at USC Dornsife, College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences, and Director of USC Huntington Institute on California and the West • Linda Dishman, Executive Director, Los Angeles Conservancy • Efrain Escobedo, Vice President of Civic Engagement and Public Policy, California Community Foundation continued on page 23
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