Internationally acclaimed artists bring bicultural art exhibit to El Paso

A bicultural art exhibit by two internationally acclaimed Mexican brothers is making a touring stop at the Rubin Center for the Visual Arts at UTEP.

“Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective” will open in El Paso on October 19.

The exhibition will feature a collection of mixed-media artworks by brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre, that will include blown-glass sculptures and installation art, plus some of the artists’ latest lenticulars with imagery that changes as the viewer moves from side to side.

The exhibition also launches the recently inaugurated Gaspar Enriquez Cultural Center in San Elizario, a legacy project of nationally renowned painter Gaspar Enriquez.

The de la Torre brothers will be in El Paso for the exhibition’s opening on Thursday, October 19 at the Rubin Center and Saturday, October 21 at Mi Casa Gallery in San Elizario.

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Below is a breakdown of the exhibition’s schedule:

  • Thursday, October 19 – Exhibition opening at the Rubin Center
    4:00 p.m. – Gallery walkthrough with the artists
    5:00 p.m. – Public opening reception
  • Friday, October 20 – Artist talk and documentary screening at the Rubin Center
    10:00 a.m.
  • Saturday, October 21 – Exhibition opening at Mi Casa Gallery in San Elizario
    11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. – Free and open to the public.
    7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. – private dinner with the de la Torre brothers and Gaspar Enriquez to celebrate Collidsocope and the founding of the Gaspar Enriquez Cultural Center.
  • Saturday, November 18 – Smithsonian family day at the Rubin Center
    11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
  • Sunday, November 19 – Smithsonian family day in San Elizario
    11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear the artists speak about the exhibition and their creative process.

Representatives from the Smithsonian will also be in attendance.

The Director of the Rubin Center Kerry Doyle said of the coming exhibition:

We are honored and excited to host the de la Torre brothers’ retrospective at the Rubin Center. Their work is a complex reflection of contemporary visual culture at the border, which manages to be both playful and sophisticated in equal measure. The exhibition is a great platform to engage visitors both at our campus location and in our new site in San Elizario at the Gaspar Enriquez Cultural Center. In particular, building upon our longstanding relationship with the Smithsonian, we are grateful to collaborate as they expand upon their work of connecting to communities across the country in advance of opening the National Museum of the American Latino.

About the de la Torre brothers:

Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, and now living both in San Diego and Baja California, Einar and Jamex de la Torre have navigated life on both sides of the border since their youth and have inherited their own unique vision of the Latinx experience and American culture. Their work is visually complex and infused with humorous elements exploring art, history, and material culture. Working with glass, resin, lenticular prints and found objects, the brothers create work inspired by Mexican folk art, popular culture, religious imagery, consumer culture, and mythology. Many elements of the exhibition, including the title and curatorial framework, try to echo the creative process of the artists, serving as an allegory of their intellectual pursuits, their technical use of materials and media, and their use of wordplay and poetic riddles.

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“Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective” was made possible through a collaboration between the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino and The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum.

Major support was provided by the National Museum of the American Latino for the National Tour.

Additional support was provided by the Mellon Foundation, the Texas Commission on the Arts, Carol Johnson, The Carol Jean MacGuire Foundation, the estate of Lineaus Hooper Lorette and UTEP College of the Liberal Arts.

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