Holy Craft!

© Brandon Queen, 2014

One of the most disjunctive aspects of life in the Americas is the strange concept of time that comes from the combination of cultural and artistic currents from the Old World and the New. At least this was the epiphany I had visiting the exhibit Miniatures and Saints :A Selection of Works from the Teodoro Vidal Collection at the Ramón Power y Giralt House in Old San Juan. On show until 29 June, this small exhibition of miniatures (most portraits, some icons) and votive statues is the perfect introduction to Puerto Rico's traditional crafts.

Where the historical currents cross is in the iconography chosen as the vehicle of expression for these statues and statuettes. In addition to representations of the Three Wise Men (traditionally very important in Puerto Rican culture) and various saints, there were many madonnas, the most ubiquitous being Our Lady of Monserrat. A cult that originated in Alicante, Spain, the most important site for its devotees in Puerto Rico is theVatican-deisgnated Basilica Our Lady of Monserrat in Hormigueros that was constructed over the course of a year in 1775-1776. Deovtion to this manifestation of the Virgin Mary took hold on the island at the end of the 16th century, when a farmer named Gerardo González was injured by a bull and called on her to heal him. Indeed, this madonna makes up the bulk of statues in the exhibit and although each one is distinct, they are all informed by medieval Catholic iconography.

The seated Virgin holding the Christ-child is a sculptural genre known as the throne of wisdom. Of possibly very ancient roots in Mediterranean paganism, the Catholic version really took root in the Romanesque Period, just at the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The iconography is meant to recall Mary's role as Queen of Heaven and teacher of Christ and these statues were ritually consecrated to imbue them with mystical power; thus it's no surprise that in colonial Puerto Rico it was a popular choice for domestic shrines.

Another connection to medieval iconography are the many black madonnas in the exhibit. Like the one pictured above, they are throne of wisdom madonnas whose skin has been darkened. The reasons and meanings for this tradition of black madonnas remain unsettled, and many of the proposed theories rely on apocryphal information. Possibilities range from a simple case of statues darkened by the smoke and ash of incense and candles to connections with pagan African religions. Whatever the case, it appears that it was a popular choice for portrayals of Our Lady of Monserrat in Puerto Rico.

The craft of devotional statues was one bound to family heritage and many of the artisans were trained by the previous generation. In this exhibition alone there are three different families highlighted, one of which are the Riveras. Responsible for the statue pictured above, the family tradition is practiced to this day by their descendants. The whole thing started with a man called Pancho el Santero (Pancho the Saint-Maker) in the 19th century and the rest is history, as it were.

Along with the miniatures by José Campeche, this collection of scultpures provides great insight into a traditional art form that flourished in Puerto Rico and shows how this particular aspect of craft connects centuries of Western art history in one manifestation.

The Ramón Power y Giralt House is at 155 Calle Tetuán, Old San Juan.

Feliz Navidad

© Brandon Queen, 2013

A combination of the holidays, a never-ending analysis of Puerto Rican Spiritist literature and a part-time gig in a sexy boutique have prevented me from updating with some of the many art happenings that have taken place in San Juan since November. Some of those include a few interesting shows at Galeria Espacio 304 and yet another obscenely amazing international street art festival called Los Muros Hablan (The Walls Are Talking).

But I don't want to leave anyone empty-handed at the holidays, so rather than the gift of another review I thought I'd leave you with a stocking-stuffer run-down of what's been covered here over the past year.

Appropriately enough, this blog began with an entry about the Puerta al paisaje exhibit, where I couldn't say enough good things about painter Carmelo Sobrino. Then came my grudging acknowledgment of performance art followed by a foray into gossip and architectural history. The frivolity continued with a note about eighteenth-century European artist Luis Parét y Alcázar. 

We shot back to the modern world with a trip to a comic-inspired exhibit organised by Pernicious Press. Gritty modernity kept its hold in a brief mention of the other urban art festival, Santurce es ley. That entry was followed by a quick summary of Puerto Rico's other major artistic strength, poster art, and one of the genre's elder statesmen, Antonio Martorell. The national theme continued with a review of the National Expo 2013, where the best of the best were showcased. When spring term finals cut time short, I decided to highlight another one of San Juan's Art Deco treasures, the Arriví Theatre in Santurce.

The summer highlight was the second half of the Puerta al paisaje exhibit, Entremundanos, at the Puerto Rican Museum of Contemporary Art. As I'm a fan of extreme time travel, that review was followed by a note on the pre-columbian art of the Tainos and archaeology in Puerto Rico.

Student work got a shout-out in this review of Omar Velázquez's exhibit Undo. Finally, in October, I reviewed another survey of national art that focused on the work of Elizam Escobar at the Puerto Rico Museum of Art.

And here we are, dear readers.

I hope this past year will have introduced some of you to some amazing new work and piqued your interest in Puerto Rico's art historical tradition. It's rich and varied and what has been covered here is not even close to scratching the surface. There are new exhibition spaces opening every month and the festivals, talks, and publications are multiplying exponentially.

For now, happy holidays and hasta 2014!

Arsenal

© Brandon Queen, 2013

The Muestra Nacional 2013 (National Expo 2013), organised by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, takes the country's artistic pulse with a multi-generational survey of artists working in Puerto Rico. The exhibit, held in what used to be the Spanish marine's armoury, combines work from well-established and emerging artists.

Although time was short and the exhibit closed before I could see the whole thing, I can say that the work is of a very high quality, particularly the paintings, which are the high points of this show. Some of the sculptures and video works are out of place in comparison to the more refined pieces, but overall this exhibition shows that artists in Puerto Rico are producing world-class art.

While the paintings in the show are reason enough to check out the exhibit, the skill displayed in the mixed-media installations is especially striking. In the two rooms I was able to visit there were three pieces that stood out for their plastic sophistication and visual composition, all three from established artists.

One of them, by Franklin Graulau, is a three-piece sculptural installation in ceramic, enamel, and fibers entitled Jardín de media noche. Calling to mind 3D Surrealist flowers with Freudian undertones, each component has rounded edges and is a soft greyish colour, thus heightening the sense of dream-like playfulness.

Next to Graulau's work is a large-scale installation by Daniel Lind Ramos, Guardacosta(s). I will unreservedly admit that this was my favourite piece in the entire show (at least what of it I saw). An assembly of painted wood panels, palm fronds, pots, pans, machetes, and hoes, it sweeps the viewer away with its game of visual seduction and then invites them to consider the significance of each of the components. Referencing the name of the work (which means "coast guard") are the palm fronds, a bag of sand laid at the foot of the piece, and a background painted to recall the sea's horizon, all of which bring Ramos' biography into play since he is from Loíza, one of the country's oldest towns and located on the northern coast.

In the same corner with Graulau and Ramos' works is a piece by Spanish artist Luis Ivorra, who has been in Puero Rico since the late seventies and studied at the prestigious Escuela de Artes Plásticas (School of Applied Arts) in San Juan. His mixed-media sculpture Tránsito combines metal work, wood work, and ceramics to produce an austere and surreal effect. The apparent minimalism of this sculpture belies the skill necessary to produce such a clean but large-scale work.

All three of these works hearken to the Arts and Crafts Movement and take as a given the place of craft in contemporary art. They demonstrate that traditional techniques such as ceramics and wood working can be used to achieve a contemporary artistic vision without wallowing in a more traditionalist past.

The exhibit runs at the Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina until 8 October 2013.

Comic del arte

© Brandon Queen, 2013

Complete with a quote from Buddha (Siddharta Gautama -the original) and a recreation of a Christian witchcraft altar (designated in this way to prevent religious mislabelling), this exhibit of Sergio Vázquez's work is a nice blend of pop culture, Freud, and Joseph Campbell. Entitled Santos, Deidades y Titanes (Saints, Gods, and Titans) the pieces do not create the kind of dark mood this combination could otherwise produce and end up being very light and funny, albeit in a very gothic way. Overall Vázquez demonstrates amazing technical skill, as these are paintings on wood panels that have been carefully pieced together and sanded down; they actually remind me of the wood panels depicting the Passion of Christ in many churches, which intensifies the mystical theme of the exhibit. It is refreshing to see this kind of style executed without recourse to digital techniques and goes a long way to complementing the primal nature of the subject matter.

The gallery hosting the show is Galería Candela, located in Old San Juan (110 Calle San Sebastián - blink and you miss it, so look carefully). The space is amazing; the exhibition space is on the second floor and spread across three rooms. While the exhibit is up you have the chance to buy the Vázquez's comic and some t-shirts that he designed. This art and design initiative is part of a series of exhibits of similar work from an independent publishing house called Pernicious Press, who also have a host of other creative projects going on.

Santos, Deidades y Titanes runs until April 11th - and I believe there is a closing party.