at UTEP
Manuel Guerra talking to the students at noon
After the talk
Catalogs on the table at the talk
Manuel Guerra giving his printmaking class,
after the talk
Screen capture of the Rubin Center's Facebook page,
of posting about the talk
OUTLINE
The below is an outline, which was loosely followed during the talk at the Rubin Center.
WHAT
- PRINTS TRAVEL EASILY -- and therefore are a great way for an artist to break out of his local bubble. Too hard to move painting and sculpture.
- The Desert Triangle Print Carpeta (with a strong El Paso presence) is showing in Austin right now at Mexic-Arte -- breaking into Central Time!!!
- Next stop, the Desert Triangle shows in Riverside, California and Miami, breaking into 2 more time zones --Pacific and Eastern. It's happening!
HOW
- This started at Chalk the Block in 2013, showing prints from Tucson (and El Paso) -- as YayBig Southwest.
- Then that collection traveled through pop-up exhibitions in the Southwest (Albuquerque, Phoenix, Las Cruces, San Antonio), and snowballed, picking up more prints along the way.
- That momentum lead back to Chalk the Block in 2014, where the Horned Toad AND the YayBig print exchanges were framed and shown together.
- 2 venues at that Chalk the Block (2014) -- the Print Exchanges show and the Maintain Collective exhibition -- joined forces and conceived of the Desert Triangle Print Carpeta. That effort lead to an exhibition at the El Paso Museum of Art in 2016.
WHY
- Because El Paso has talent!
- Moreover, the talent in El Paso is not second to that in Austin, Dallas or Houston (in my opinion). However, because El Paso is so far removed from the rest of the state, they have to try a bit harder to get attention. Prints can lead as the van guard.
THE EL PASO ADVANTAGE
- Just hours away from Mexico City on a cheap flight. Most UTEP students speak Spanish, and can navigate that culture.
- 5/6 hours away from Tucson/Phoenix, Albuquerque/Santa Fe, and about 8 hours from Austin/San Antonio.
- El Paso is not close to anywhere, but with a little effort, there is a huge access to everywhere.
BREAKING BORDERS
- We have exhibited across borders as well as in different time zones
- The Desert Triangle has been shown in Oaxaca, Patzcuaro and Mexico City
- The Horned Toad and YayBig Print Exchanges have been shown in Juarez
- The Second Horned Toad Print Exchange has been shown in Oaxaca -- is now being shown in El Paso -- and will be shown in Monterrey, Mexico next month
- Before all of this, Manuel Guerra was rallying up El Paso artists to participate in an international print exchange between the US and Colombia -- Dialogos E Interpretaciones.
- Fantasy of showing prints in China, or Asia.
WHAT NEXT?
- Dry point face off with Oaxaca. 8 x 8 inch dry point works, to be shown in pop-up shows in both countries.
- Print Wars across time zones? Why not El Paso vs Austin printmakers? Exchange a few prints in the mail, and have pop-up shows in both cities. Post on Instagram. Make it a 3-way and include Albuquerque. El Paso has the muscle of Proper Print Shop behind them, having done a year's worth of Art en Vivo events.
- Why not show off at SGCI North Texas in 2019 (we had a great time at SGCI Portland in 2016)?
Prints might not be the only way for an artist to get seen outside of El Paso, but they might be the easiest way.
The next day, March 30th, Desert Triangle artist Francisco Delgado did a talk at Yale, about the mural he painted there 16 years ago.
Zeke Peña and Isabel Quintero gave a talk at the El Paso Museum of Art on April 5, 2018, about the graphic novel they did together -- Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide -- put out by Getty Publications.
OTHER TALKS
Francisco Delgado
Talk at Yale
Francisco's Yale talk
Francisco said that he left some Desert Triangle Print Carpeta catalogs at the Yale Latino library and at the Yale print shop.
Zeke Peña Talk
at the El Paso Museum of Art
Poster for the talk
at the El Paso Museum of Art
For sale in the bookstore
of the El Paso Museum of Art
Zeke Peña and Isabel Quintero
giving their talk
about their graphic novel collaboration
Faculty Art Exhibition at UTEP
Siqueiros-Pollock
Bi-National Painting Exhibition
In the stairwell was an exhibition from Projectos Impala of Alejandro Morales, of Juarez.
New Murals
Downtown El Paso
Downtown El Paso
Later that night (March 29th), during the Last Thursdays Gallery Crawl in downtown El Paso, Cimi Alvarado's Kalavera store celebrated their one year anniversary at the Roderick Artspace building. In the back of that building, Cimi painted a huge mural of Abraham Chavez, former conductor of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra.
Cimi's new mural
on the Roderick Artspace building in downtown El Paso
of former conductor Abraham Chavez
Los Dos painted a new mural on the side of Cinco Puntos Press (701 Texas Street) that was featured on the cover of the El Paso Times (March 24th -- see Instagram photo). El Paso Times article here.
The mural is of Oscar Acosta, friend of Hunter S Thompson. He is featured recently in a PBS program -- The Rise and the Fall of the Brown Buffalo.
Los Dos mural
on the side of Cinco Puntos Press
near downtown El Paso
Los Dos just finished a mural on the side of Mexic-Arte, in Austin Texas, earlier this year.
El Paso Museum of Art
Also, the El Paso Museum of Art is currently showing -- Papel Chicano Dos: Works on Paper from the Collection of Cheech Marin.
"Soy Chicana"
in the Cheech Marin show at the El Paso Museum of Art
Rio Sangre Print Collective
Las Cruces
Anne Quinones
of Rio Sangre
Also visited Rick Rotante at the Raven Art Studio, and Victor Whitmill of the Blue Ant Gallery during the Art Ramble.
