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featured artists
Einar and Jamex De La Torre
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biography
(b. Guadalajara, Mexico, 1960 and 1963; live and work in Ensenada, Mexico, and San Diego, California).
Combining the ancient and sophisticated art of blown glass with disparate materials such as barbecue grills, metal racks, leather, and other found objects, the brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre create works that defy notions of high art and good taste. Using irony, double entendre, and embellished iconography, the artists invite viewers to reconsider their preconceptions of what supposedly constitutes "authentic" Mexican art and culture. For example, El clásico: Virgenes y cruces (The Source: Virgins and Crosses) (1999), consists of vaginas inscribed with female names and corresponding crosses with male names, paired together as couples. Whereas the female genitalia refer to dogma in the Catholic world, the crosses refer to the Passion of Christ and the martyrdom of contemporary youths who have died as the result of drugs, gang warfare, and social violence.Drawing from such varied sources as art history, religious iconography, contemporary popular culture, and even the display practices of swap meets and flea markets, the de la Torres’s work is driven by a logic of horror vacuii, in which every void must be filled, if not crammed, with texture, color, and symbol. The artists’ aesthetic directness provokes both humor and discomfort, engaging viewers by catching them off culturally off-guard. Courtesy: MCA San Diego
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