The women in David de Lara’s artwork are all glamourous. They have curves, an air of mystery and are undeniably sexy.

“Years ago, someone once said that I create dolls,” de Lara said.

And it’s an accurate description. These doll-like women are the central theme in much of his work, including his latest exhibit, "Tender Dissonance," which will be on display at the nonprofit art gallery La Peña through Aug. 28.

De Lara’s artistic background started at a young age when he began drawing and illustrating. He eventually received his B.F.A. from Texas A&M - Kingsville in 2003 and moved to Austin soon after.

“When I was younger, there were always comic books, animation and, later on as a teenager, photography, fashion, glamour type photography—you can see the merging of that,” de Lara says about his work now.

"Tender Dissonance" is a collection of these media that de Lara created over the years. His most recent work using photography, painting and digital manipulation have provided a new artistic outlet.

“I’m always wanting to challenge myself and try new things out,” he said.

As for his interest in using the female figure as the subject of work, he said it is something he gathered from classical influences, as women have always been a popular theme.

“It’s something that has always appealed to me and I just developed a style throughout the years from a variety of influences,” he said. “Luckily, I’ve been able to create a style of work that people recognize immediately, just the way I create the figures and the faces.”

De Lara describes his work as having gothic undertones. He says it’s never been intentional, but is a style that evolved as he continued to create art.

“I mostly use blacks, whites, reds and blues. The reds and blues make purples and pinks,” he said. “Very rarely will you see oranges or yellows.”

While de Lara has a distinct and focused style, he says there are little subtleties and symbolism throughout his work. However, he likes his dolls to keep their mystery when it comes to how they are perceived by the public.

“I never blatantly say what each piece is about. I like to leave it up to the viewer.”

See more of David de Lara’s work or purchase prints at www.lostdreams.org. For more on La Peña, visit them online at www.lapena-austin.org.

The Mexic-Arte Museum is celebrating the quince años of an annual exhibition that has helped many young Latinos display their talents for the first time.

The "15th Young Latino Artists: Consensus of Taste" exhibit features the works of 15 artists who have matriculated through the Young Latino Artists exhibition, which started in 1996. Sylvia Orozco, the co-founder and executive director of the museum, based the exhibit on Mexico’s El Encuentro Nacional de Arte Joven, a program that features work by artists under the age of 30. The exhibit runs through Aug. 30.

Claudia Zapata, curator of the exhibit and former intern at Mexic-Arte, said the premise of this exhibit was decided last year.

“I went through the work produced in the past 14 years by these artists and selected them based on how they were doing in their careers, their general notoriety and availability, of course,” she said.

The exhibit features work from 15 artists including Jesus Benavente, Candace Briceño, Margarita Cabrera, Bobby Dixon, Santiago Forero, Eduardo Xavier Garcia, Ivete Lucas, Randy Muniz, Cruz Ortiz, Matthew Rodriguez, Carlos Rosales-Silva, Abel Saucedo, Vargas-Suarez Universal, David “Shek” Vega and Jason Villegas.

“We have artists from the first group and some from last year. It varies, but it is a sporadic representation,” Zapata said, noting that though they didn't get someone from each of the 14 YLA exhibits, the selection of artists turned out for the best.

“It turned out to be a really good mix of media. We have a video installation, street graffiti, sculpture installations – it touches on all bases,” she said. “You can see why the artists have been successful. They shine individually and as a group.”

Randy Muniz, who participated in last year's YLA exhibit, had a mural titled “Won't Let You Win” on display. The work was like an oversized charcoal drawing, which was created directly on the museum wall.

“I focus a lot of street art and graffiti,” he said. “It's young and reckless. You see what you can get away with.”

Muniz said Troy Brauntuch, a fellow artist and University of Texas professor, was an important mentor and one of his most significant influences.

“I'd say he is one of the artists that had a major impact on me,” Muniz said. “He's the only teacher that made me give a damn.”

The YLA exhibits have given Muniz a chance to show off his development as an artist.

“Art is one of the only things I'm really good at and I want to see where it takes me.”

Austin photographer Diego Huerta first heard of the Huichol, an indigenous Mexican tribe that lives in the Jalisco mountains, when he discovered that their ancient ceremonial grounds had been destroyed.

The ceremonial grounds were located in a canyon called Guitarritas, which is located in La Huasteca, a mountainous region in Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

“They consider this place to be the center of the universe—that this is the point of creation,” Huerta said. “Unfortunately, much of their ceremonial center was destroyed by landowners who simply didn't want them there.”

The plight of the Huichol intrigued Huerta, motivating him to learn more about the group and eventually make them the subject of his new photography exhibit, “El Pueblo de las Nubes” (“Town of Clouds”). It's being displayed for the first time in the Main Gallery at the Mexican American Cultural Center, or MACC. The exhibit, which opened June 19 and runs through August 14, features more than 30 photos of the Huichol tribe in their Jalisco village.

Huerta first began his career as a photographer working for Reforma, a major newspaper in Mexico City. From there, he began working with advertising agencies and eventually found his way to art photography. Though he still does commercial work, Huerta's art photography is a way for him to express and provoke emotion and meld what he knows about fine art.

“In photography, I found a way to synthesize everything and translate it into an image,” he said. “I think that's what photography is to me, more so than painting—to create something where everyday the whole world has the chance to see it, but you perceive it in a distinct way.”

And that's precisely what he set out to do in “Town of Clouds.” Huerta was able to find a young lawyer who was of Huichol ancestry and whose family was able to connect them to the group in Jalisco.

“They have a governor and elders whom we had to meet with to get permission to do this photo project with the intention of showing others who we are and where we came from,” he said.

Huerta said he believes that's where the project was born from. Mexico, though perceived as a diverse and accepting society to the outside world, according to Huerta, has prevalent classism and racism issues particularly with indigenous groups. He cites the Mexican rhetoric relating to anti-immigration laws in Arizona as an example.

“These cultures have survived for generations and this same society casts them aside,” he said. “I thought it was very contradictory when (Mexicans) talk about being the same and being less racist when we are racist with our own people.”

The 23-day project resulted in beautifully detailed color photos of members of the Huichol tribe in their native setting. The stately governor stands tall in a close-up portrait with his sombrero. The little girl washing clothing on the creek with a bright pink laundry soap bar in the corner appears unaware of the photographer before her.

Huerta (pictured right with his camera) and his producer, Dany Gutierrez, said every time they see the photos, they see a new detail. Ultimately, they hope the exhibit displays to those who are not Mexican the richness and depth of the Mexican culture.

“The Huichol culture is something that should fill us with pride, not just outside of Mexico, but inside the country as well,” he said.

In addition to “Town of Clouds,”  Huerta's photo exhibit "Fénix" is also on display at MACC in the Community Gallery. Fénix commemorates the 100th anniversary of firefighters in Nuevo León, Mexico.

For more info, visit www.ci.austin.tx.us/macc/.

For non-art aficionados, the paintings from local artist Miguel Angel Santana's collection "Dimensiones" look like random colors of paint splattered on a canvas. But, Santana says, there's more to these paintings after the first glance. The overlapping vibrant colors reveal an emotion on each piece such as nostalgia and revival.

"Those are stages. Those are emotions; that is how it's built or the way we are. Every single human," Santana said.

Santana, from Monterrey, Mexico, has been an artist since an early age. Since attending his first workshop when he was six years old, he's participated in local- and national-stage-level contests in Mexico. He has a bachelor's degree in advertising at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon. Professionally, Santana has worked in various endeavors as an illustrator and graphic designer.

His "Dimensiones" exhibit is currently up until July 2 at La Peña, a museum located on the downtown corner of 2nd Street and Congress Avenue in Austin. He currently teaches pastel drawing classes at La Peña on Saturdays.

As cliche as it sounds, life is never simple. There are many different layers within a person that the different experiences and perspectives that add to someone's life. "Dimensiones" is Santana's personal reflection of these layers or dimensions. The colors Santana has chosen correlate with the theme he's trying to convey. He sticks with an earthy palette in "Urbana." In "Renacer," bright yellow and white are dominant within the painting.

"To the different layers on my work, you can get through the layers, the different stages and that is, for me, meaning different dimensions in life," said Santana.

 

"Dimensiones" is on display until July 2 at La Peña, located at 227 Congress Ave.

The connection between Austin and the city of Saltillo in Coahuila, Mexico, has become more than just a diplomatic or cultural one with the latest exhibit on display at the Mexic-Arte Museum.

The Rubén Herrera: Master Artist and Teacher 1888-1933 exhibit features 10 pieces of Herrera's work, which are on loan from the Museo Rubén Herrera in Saltillo. The exhibit, which debuted May 5 and runs through June 27, is part of the year-long commemoration of the centennial of the Mexican Revolution and bicentennial of Mexican Independence.

Herrera is credited with developing a new generation of artists in Northern Mexico thanks to his founding of the Painting Academy of Saltillo. He studied in Europe for 10 years at various art academies during the time of the Mexican Revolution, and while many in the Mexican art community moved away from classic styles of art, he maintained the style.

The exhibit initially began as a way to commemorate the arrival of delegates from the Mexican city, as Austin and Saltillo are sister cities in the Sister Cities International organization. Little did museum organizers know just how connected Herrera's work was to Austin. His oldest brother, Benjamin Herrera, emigrated to Austin during the time of the Mexican Revolution and worked as a tailor in the city. His earning helped support family in Mexico, including Rubén while he was studying in Europe. Some of Benjamín's family still lives in the city today.

Emily Guerra, Mexic-Arte's graduate research and education assistant, helped create a genealogy chart on the Herrera family, which was included in the exhibit. She said the family tree was developed largely through the help of Delia Sifuentes, an Austin resident who is the niece of Rubén Herrera.

“Someone close to one of our board members just happened to tell the director he was related to the artist, so he provided us with the name of Ms. Sifuentes,” Guerra said. “We got in contact with her and she was willing to help. It really was by chance that we found the connection.”

Guerra said she met with Sifuentes once a week for about five weeks and collected information on the family.

“Each time she brought us new information, new photographs and records she kept on her own time of her family,” Guerra said. “She also contacted other family members herself to get more information.”

After verifying information with other family members and doing some online research, Guerra said they were able to configure a family tree with more than 300 members spanning eight generations.

“The family had all this information, but they never really had a chance to visually organize it,” she said. “They were all very grateful.”

About 40 of Herrera's decendents attended the opening reception. According to Guerra, family members flew in from all over the country for the opening. Ultimately, Guerra said the exhibit and genealogy research showed a whole other side of connection between Austin and Mexico. 

“I think once we found out the family connection with the exhibit, the scope of it changed,” she said. “We wanted to play up how the revolution affected families and how it connected to Austin and spread its influence outside of the country.”

Rubén Herrera: Master Artist and Teacher 1888-1933 will be on display until June 27. The collection features paintings, drawings and other artifacts regarding the artist's life. Mexic-Arte is located at 419 Congress Ave. in Austin.

On Friday, May 28, the Mexican American Cultural Center will feature art pieces and performances by students who participated in LUPE Arte's Niños y Arte program this semester.

Niños y Arte (children and art) is in its 10th year of serving the underprivileged students of AISD through culturally relevant arts education. In the 2010 Spring Semester, the participating schools are Blanton Elementary, Odom Elementary, Oak Springs and St. Elmo Elementary. Come support the local arts and education.

The MACC is located at 600 River Street in Austin.

Echoing the ongoing "tortilla crisis" in Mexico, there comes a politically motivated exhibit that incites thought about the importance of this dietary staple and its derivative, maize.

A quick Google search of the keyword "maize" draws up hundreds of links discussing, reporting and critiquing its geopolitical, nutritional and historical importance. As was reported by various news media in 2007, dramatically rising international corn prices led to the doubling of tortilla prices.

Political, financial and dietary unrest ensued, as did artistic inspiration. 

El Maíz es Nuestra Vida / Maize is Our Life features the work of about 20 female artists, the large majority of whom are from Mexico. It delves into the political debate about the symbiosis of nature, the inflation of maize and the resulting conflict about human populations feeding off of genetically developed corn. The exhibit also harkens back to the cultural memory and relationship between Mexico and maize that stems from Mesoamerican myths and continues into today's Mexican and Mexican-American societies that can be expressed in one word: tortillas.

All-in-all, it's deep stuff, sprinkled with the mindset of the 1970s cult classic Soylent Green—only this is real. The exhibit is on display through early June at the Mexican American Cultural Center, or MACC.

The El Maíz es Nuestra Vida / Maize is Our Life exhibit and public awareness effort is spearheaded by Marietta Bernstorff, director of the MAMAZ Collective. The exhibit includes an educational workshop that discusses the history of the maize shortage and the cultural memory of maize. The same year as the "tortilla crisis," the exhibit debuted at Curtiduria in Oaxaca, Mexico, where Bernstorff was working.

"This exhibition uses maize as a symbol to guide the public through the history of the Americas, to demonstrate how it has become a source of food for numerous cultures, and question why this native seed is in danger of extinction," Bernstorff wrote in the exhibition's informational statement.

The all-woman collective is a nonprofit group based out of Oaxaca with the intense desire to raise awareness about the environs and the geopolitical importance of maize. Despite distance, MAMAZ membership includes women united by the same purpose spanning Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

"Through art and cultural workshops, we discuss the health hazards that we face as a global community overwhelmed by industrial food that is high in sugar and with very little nutritional value," she writes.

The exhibit, curated by Claudia Zapata, a 25-year-old art history dynamo, explains that the exhibit is important in its exploration of the political, historical and cultural symbolism of maize. Zapata, who specializes in pre-Columbian art, received her bachelor's and master's degrees in art history from the University of Texas at Austin. She earned her chops interning and curating at various nonprofits and museums around town, including Mexic-Arte Museum.

After attending conferences and giving lectures, Zapata said she was drawn to the curatorial, not professorial, aspect of art history because she is passionate about dispersing art and knowledge to the public, rather than just discussing didactics amongst other art history professionals.

"I am more of a social person; I can't just huddle in this room with a million books. I need to be moving and talking to real people," she said. "I don't really identify with the conference way of presenting artwork and talking about artwork because it doesn't feed into the general public and that's who needs to be talking about it."

Tickled by the all-woman lineup, Zapata admitted that this art show may be a bit more polarizing for that reason and because of the political subject matter.

Next on Zapata's plate? Curating Mexic-Arte Museum's 15th Young Latino Artists exhibit this July and MACC's Mexican Independence Exhibit in September.

El Maiz es Nuestra Vida/ Maize is Our Life: April 11 - June 5 at Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 River Street. Free Admisson (512.478.6222 or http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/macc/).

The mystique of lost cities, hidden gold that was pillaged and plundered by Spanish conquistadors, and the true history of the short-lived and majestic Incas of Peru is a tale that spellbound and inspired the students of Sanchez Elementary.

The school, in collaboration with La Peña in downtown Austin, will showcase the artwork of 70 students beginning Friday.

The exhibit, “Mascaras de los Incas,”  showcases Inca masks created by the students in art class. The resulting golden masks, created by elaborate art techniques, shed light on the impact of art education in the community and in developing the self-esteem of youngsters.

"We believe it’s important for them to see what they create outside of the classroom setting," said David Gutierrez, artistic director of La Peña.

Gutierrez said the collaboration between the school and the art organization is longstanding—La Peña has been touting the work of Sanchez students for two decades.

"It [the exhibit] raises the students' self-esteem," he said. "They can see their work hanging in an art gallery and can point to their name on the invitation for the show."

He hopes that as the students get older, their inclusion in exhibits such as this one will keep their artistic fires burning as young artists or in any other creative endeavors.

Susan Holland, teacher at Sanchez Elementary for the last three years, is one person spearheading the effort. Holland, worked alongside Sanchez Elementary art teacher Angelica Wilson and Monica Patterson, Holland's apprentice art teacher.

Utilizing creative pedagogies, the three women taught the fourth-graders about the importance gold played in the Inca societies. Integrating culture and history with art techniques, they made and embellished Inca masks out of gold tin and using a method called repoussé. Interestingly, this ancient metalworking technique was used by the goldsmiths of ancient Peru. The students also used collaging and printmaking techniques for gold collograph prints. 

Holland, who is grateful and enthusiastic about the affiliation with La Peña, cited the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Test, or TEKS, standards as one of the reasons exhibits of this sort are important to her. 

"The TEKS standards specifically call for students to 'interpret ideas and moods in original artworks, portfolios, and exhibitions by peers and others,'" she said. "La Peña provides my students with an exceptional opportunity to do this." 

She echoed Gutierrez by adding, "Having their artwork on display outside of the school connects the students to the larger community.  It’s so exciting for them to see their art in a public space framed or on pedestals and it validates their hard work and shows them that they’re capable of creating impressive art."  

Holland said that art history is a "strand" in the school's curriculum standards. She added that Sanchez Elementary has students from at least 15 different nationalities. She said her classes often investigate culture and art history from around the globe. When asked how the students reacted, Holland said the students had varying levels of success and frustration while learning the new processes but that they were itching to try the new art techniques. She said that art allows children to be creative, experiment and experience trial and error—all which she said would allow them to develop problem solving skills for real situations.   

"Talking about art and backing up ideas with visual evidence sharpens students' language skills," she said. "When our student make and respond to art, they become better prepared for other subjects and for general life experiences."

La Peña, founded in 1981, has showcased the work of innumerable students and Chicano and Latino artists including, Santa Barraza, who was known for her empowering acrylic Guadalupanas, as well as Austin-based printmaker Sam Coronado and Austin painter Nivia Gonzalez. It is community-based and fervently dedicated to the education, empowerment, development, preservation and promotion of Latino expression in any and all forms.

"Mascaras de los Incas" will be on display at La Peña’s downtown gallery from April 9 to May 7, with an opening reception on Friday, April 9, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information on the exhibit, please visit www.lapena-austin.org.

La Peña's 18th annual art exhibit and silent auction fundraiser Toma Mi Corazon took place on Feb. 6, 2010. Every year, La Peña hands out wooden hearts to students, artists and anyone else who wants one. The hearts are theirs to decorate as they wish. When the hearts are returned, La Peña displays them and sells them in a silent auction. Proceeds go towards La Peña's arts and education programming. Austin Vida's Chantel Clopine was on hand to document this year's Toma Mi Corazon with her still photography skills.

For more on La Peña, visit www.lapena-austin.org

 

At the risk of recalling press releases for their traditionally blind enthusiasm towards recurring happenstances that are, truthfully, lacking in angle and scoop, I'll go there: Saturday's "Toma Mi Corazon" is a vital community staple, an admirable cause and should—you know—totally be checked out.

“Corazon” is an annual silent auction fundraiser held in La Peña's downtown Congress gallery space. This year's event takes place on Saturday, Feb. 6. We’re talking generous hosts, live music, refreshments and art. Now in its 18th year, the marquee gathering from the tax-exempt nonprofit is just as vibrant as always. It’s a noble endeavor; just ask La Peña's artistic director, David Gutierrez.

“La Peña is an interdisciplinary cultural and educational organization dedicated to the enhancement of art in all its forms,” Gutierrez said, “[We] support artistic development, provide exposure to emerging local visual artists, musicians, poets and other performing artists, and offer Austin residents the full spectrum of traditional and contemporary Latino art.”

But, as Vince Young would charmingly project in his Houston accent, Saturday is about the kids. In short, La Peña invites all comers (artists, children, patrons) to beautify wooden hearts; they’re auctioned off, and all proceeds filter back towards La Peña’s educational, arts-focused programming. The gallery itself is trendy, welcoming and familiar. In terms of hearts, artists collaborate, sure, but more satisfying are the groups of hearts from elementary schools done as class projects. And again, these gestures are paid forward.

“We often go into the community to give people who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to have their work displayed in a gallery setting. For example, every year we have an exhibit of children’s artwork from Sanchez Elementary,” Gutierrez said, “Also, this past December we exhibited the art of senior citizens from area nursing homes and senior activity centers. The children and seniors wouldn’t normally have opportunities like that and it often gives them the encouragement to continue doing art.”

If nothing else, attending "Corazon" will 100 percent get you out of seeing that insufferable coming attraction "Valentine's Day" that not only makes "Love Actually" seem like "Annie Hall" but is being marketed in homophobic fashion as Bradley Cooper's character is gay, yet he's shown in trailers flirting with stewardesses and lovingly gazing at Julia Roberts. On a generally related note, Valentine's Day (the holiday) is 100 percent a fabricated, corporate cash grab, but what's vastly more annoying are people that decry the day on that basis because—bottom line, bro—the holiday begets romance.

And more than a windfall for romance, "Toma Mi Corazon" is an invaluable, cheap date proposition perfectly timed to remove burden of Valentine's Day a week later, as thoughtful notion of engaging in this affair, just outta the blue, absolves duty of using the Hallmark holiday as a vehicle for projecting sweetness/thoughtfulness. The bubbling, pending pressure goes away and opens up next weekend for more straightforward, comfortable, direct pleasures.

The cause is righteous, the music joyfully ethnic, the art sincere and enduring, the timing seasonal and romantic. But remember, it's about the kids.

All photos taken by Mari Hernandez for Austin Vida at last year's "Toma Mi Corazon." This year's event takes place on Sat., Feb. 6.