Painting by Fred Bustinza Emerges

Having finally forced myself to sit down to update the blog and catch up on the local blog scene, I was pleased to see many more Brownsville-themed blogs on the internet. I will need to provide a list with links soon, but for now I was pleasantly surprised to see that the topic of art is not limited to this blog.

What I happened to come upon was on a post on the blog "Blogging All Things Brownsville" about a painting by local and deceased artist Fred Bustinza. The news of his death was a shocking blow to those who knew and loved him and to our community and the original August 25th, 2005 Art of Brownsville post has been turned in a memorial of sorts where his friends and family leave comments from time to time.

The above painting (photograph by Melissa Zamora of "Blogging All Things Brownsville") is characteristic of Bustinza's abstract expressionist style and is signed and dated by the artist in 2004. While the post goes on to another post with speculations on the motivations behind his death, I was really fascinated to see more art by this artist whom unfortunately we lost and whom local artists may have been able to learn much from because of his experience in the field as a successful professional.

I never met Fred Bustinza and do not wish to disrespect his memory, family and friends by bringing up the topic of his death. More, my intention is to share more of his art, so that we can honor is life by appreciating his art, basically the legacy any artist leaves behind. I know a mural by him is at the local Good Neighbor Settlement House so please, if anyone has more pictures of his art please send them to artofbrownsville@gmail.com and I will glady post them. Thank you.

Review of "Orro Taparrabos"

Review of "Orro Taparrabos"
By Gabriel Treviño

Local artist Mauricio Saenz’s new art exhibit of painting, instillation and video at the Galeria Albertina is in my opinion one of the most well if not cleverly thought out exhibitions yet to hit the local art scene.

As you walk into the gallery, a golden dress installation appears to rush across the room as almost to greet you through a hovering empty frame. The dress is long and hides underneath a tragic display in its shadow. As you walk around the long golden dress you are able to see that the dress is rushing away from two child mannequins, a roasted pig head on a plate and a television tuned to static. Perhaps by the time the dilemma sinks into your thoughts you have witnessed or somehow been part of an act.

A series of oil paintings and fabric collage works hang throughout the walls of the gallery. The works are not only united by the same media but by its strong subject matter and social message. In my opinion viewing the series of paintings is almost like reading a book and every painting is a different page. Most of the paintings depict nude bodies and pig faces slightly and comfortably covered by luxurious fabrics. One of the paintings displays a pig face painter and a chanting message that reads out, “I am Gabriel Orozco, I am Basquiat, I am Eduardo Ibarra, I am...”, as if that painter is pretending to be under the influence of gold represented by the fabric that surrounds him thus enabling him to hide his true identity.

Saenz’s video presentation is not a traditional movie but simple footage of a woman in a Victorian dress and white wig in conflict with a mannequin over the attention of a television that is tuned to static. Overlapping her act is the image and sounds of Hitler during a speech. In my opinion the footage is almost a message of how people are easily distracted and brainwashed to listen, a message to the viewer of how he or she is ironically watching a dummy watching static.

In my opinion Mauricio Saenz has truly brought forth a new level of art exhibition to our local art scene perhaps one of the only exhibits that breaks away from the standard practice of easel painting. His innovative way of thinking of what art is and how it can be displayed may truly liberate us more.

I encourage everyone to visit the Galeria Albertina in Matamoros to view this innovative exhibit by Mauricio Saenz

"ORO TAPARRABOS"

ORO TAPARRABOS / LOINCLOTH GOLD

Mauricio Saenz will present his first solo exhibit 'ORO TAPARRABOS', a collection of 20 new paintings, installation, and video this Friday, March 28 at Galería Albertina (7th st. and Morelos) in Matamoros, Mexico @ 8:00 pm (US time).

Artist Statement:

Life as a theatre play and everyday characters as actors within a farse, both in a theatrical way and a moral one on the other hand. In life, just as in a play, there are human beings that walk along a stage and base their lives on appearances that make us believe that their “acting” is real and honest. The similarities with a play coincides with the idea that we are all actors at some point and that we appear to be something we are really not. In desiring to cover up the dark side we do not want to show, we make use of a mask for our hypocrisy to be invisible, just as using gold to make us shine and cover a false personality. Therefore, gold transforms itself into a symbolic mask that hides the obscure side that gives us away, and into a loincloth as well.

www.myspace.com/mauricio_saenz

George Lorio Sculpture Exhibit

The Art Gallery in the Rusteberg Building is proud to present the sculpture work of George Lorio, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Brownsville .
Professor Lorio has been teaching at the University for 7 years and has held teaching positions at other colleges in North Carolina , Florida , and Michigan . Lorio has much experience exhibiting in various cities nationally in juried, solo, and group exhibitions. His work has been displayed in cities in New York , Virginia , Florida , Georgia , North Carolina , Louisiana , Texas , and other states. Lorio has been awarded several fellowships and grants, including the “Piedmont Hub Arts Council Grant.” “ North Carolina Individual Artist Fellowship,” and “National Endowment for the Arts/ Fine Arts Council of Florida , Individual Artists’ Fellowship.” Lorio’s work is best described in his own words. The following is taken from an older artist statement:

“I use wood as the medium for the works; the process of formation is slow and laborious. The carved surfaces are not renderings but fictions about water. The wood is warm to the touch and I cloth the surface with a skin of black. I am very aware of the grain of the wood like the current of water; the grain provides the strength of the structure. I wish this strength to be subtle, below the surface; hence, I paint them. In all these sculptures, I use a metaphor of natural forms to reflect on my life experiences. My constructed works become poetic allusions to the recognizable attributes of natural shapes. The imagery employs motifs derived from the surrounding landscape embracing myth and allegory. The botanical works allude to the rapid, fleshy growth of seasonal cycles, which have a sinuous organic line quickly formed and responding to the brief opportunity for life.”

The show will be opening on March 18, 2008 at 6:30 PM. The last day to view the show will be April 4, 2008. Admission will be free for everyone. Please contact us at (956) 882-7097 for more information or please e-mail us at gallery@utb.edu

Long time no blog

Hello TAOB Readers!

I hope this finds you all well. First of all, I want to give thanks to Gabriel Treviño whose loyalty and dedication to this blog has kept it alive! Gabriel believes in the Brownsville/Valley art community and his time spent is supporting and covering the local artist is inspiring. To me this is merit of recognition and much gratitude on my part.

As for me, I really need to apologize for my substantial absence from this blog, which I admit is not far from neglect. I have begun a teaching job this year and became active at church, which quite literally leave me drained of energy to give quality attention to the blog. I won't elaborate much on my teaching experience, but I can say that teaching has been by far the most challenging and engaging experience I have EVER been involved in. I am learning so much everyday and no matter how much I can teach them, I think I learn more from my students; more about life, more about myself and most importantly more about them, their needs and their wants. The more I learn, the more I believe education needs more support, development and involvement from all involved (teachers, parents, families, students, alumni, leaders, etc...). The arts and education can definitely be a vehicle for improving the quality of life in our community.

Besides all that, I know the blog is craving development and our local arts need continued support and coverage. But like all things that need nurturing, this cannot be done alone. The blog needs some TLC and if you are interested in helping please throw an email my way to artofbrownsville@gmail.com. Let me know how you think you can help. A meeting will be organized for sometime next week.

Thanks to all who keep coming back to the blog and whom support the local arts.

With much sincerity,

Mayra Cruz

Tribute to " Mario Escamilla "

Here is some old and new work at random to give "Mario Escamilla" the spotlight on his talent for critic. Go ahead Mario, and tell us what you think..

Many thanks T.A.O.B readers for your continuous support of this blog. This will be my last post on TAOB. I am not sure if Mayra Cruz will be returning to post, but send her a message of your strong support. Anyone interest in becoming a contributing writer to this post, please send your request to Mayra Cruz.