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Figuras Y Alegoria: Glass Works by Jamex and Einar de la Torre
Jamex and Einar de la Torre are binational, bicultural and bilingual. They were born in Guadalajara and raised in Orange County, California, with regular trips to Mexico. They currently live and work both sides of the border in Ensenada, Baja California and Vista, California, U.S.A. Their art reflects a unique mixture of Mexican craft and American perspective, which results in fine art with context and content. Their aesthetics are Southern California Mexican rasquache with classical elegance and baroque overstatement. Their titles are in Spanish, English and Spanglish. They are both Mexican and American, and a mix of the two cultures is what their work is all about.
Figuras
Jamex de la Torre skillfully works glass using blown, frameworked and hot formed methods which result in fine articulation of the figure. He goes beyond simply rendering the figure with an ability to combine social commentary and personal viewpoint. His figures are both classically elegant and realistically voluptuous. He creates male and female figures that speak of stereotypes while quashing them. Diosa (Goddess) is a critique of the Western feminine aesthetic. Nacimiento de Venus (birth of Venus) venerates the female figure as it is commonly known. Bruto (Brute) succinctly portrays machismo. Anavid soccer fan, Jamex presents us with El Mal Perdedor (The Sore Loser), providing dark comic relief as a soccer player kicks his own cranium, while dodging his fallen heart and tripas (intestines).
Alegoria
Einar de la Torre adroitly employs symbols to celebrate life and comment on its various concerns: religion, recreation, tourism, entertainment, politics, life and death, heaven, and hell. Mexican influence is apparent in the fatalism, dark humor, political satire and popular culture visible in many of his works. He applies American influence in exercising his many options, with technological references and an anything goes attitude toward his craft and subject matter. His elaborate use of mixed media and found objects is very Mexican and American (Chicano). Humor and satire permeate his work. In Welcome to Tiajuana, Mai Fren he is both Mexican diplomat and American cultural critic. He addresses spiritually and religion in several works, El Cielo (El Infierno Va Implicado) or, Heaven (Hell is Implied), “Un Milargo A Tiempo, ( A Little Miracle In Time)” and El Papayon Pol I ( No Es Facista), (Pope Paul I (Not The Facist)
Mexico
The heart of both artist’s work is in Mexico. Ancient and indigenous Mexico is the point of departure for many works. Tradacion de Sacraficio (Tradition of Sacrafice) refers to the Mexican Temples of the Ancestors. Miss Pemex provides social commentary about Mexico’s national business. Their collaborative installation Resurreccion de Zapata (Resurrection of Zapata) is a tribute to the Zapatistas, and the conflict of the indigenous people in Chiapas. They successfully capture and relate the vitality, beauty, irony, history and struggles of their beloved tierra de su sangre (homeland) in a plethora of Mexican and American ways.
Liz Lerma
Exhibition Curator | |
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