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Spanish Colonial Arts Society
(505) 982-2226
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MUSEUM OF SPANISH COLONIAL ART TO PRESENT
ONGOING INSTALLATIONS OF THE WORK OF TODAY'S
ARTISTS IN THE VISIONES (VISIONS) GALLERY
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The living tradition of New Mexico's Hispano artists is the subject of Visiones (Visions), a gallery for contemporary works at Santa Fe's Museum of Spanish Colonial Art. Dedicated to the entire range of Spanish Colonial art as it has flourished across four continents and five centuries, the Museum presents both historic works and recent expressions of this culture, drawn from its renowned permanent collections.
The installation of Visiones will change periodically, permitting Museum visitors to experience a curated overview of the work of living Hispano artists. The work of many of these artists is also seen in Santa Fe's twice-yearly Spanish Market, organized by the Museum's parent institution, the Spanish Colonial Arts Society.
The initial installation of Visiones, created for the Museum's opening in July 2002, encompasses some 45 works in a variety of media, including bultos (three-dimensional religious sculptures), retablos (religious paintings on wood), ceremonial objects, furniture and textiles.
Exemplifying the spirit of Visiones is a remarkable pair of screen doors made of elaborately carved wood. One of them, created in the late 1920s, was the work of the late José Dolores López. The other, dated 1990, is by Gloria López Córdova, a granddaughter of José Dolores López, and was created in homage to him.
Among the notable bultos in the opening installation is a collaborative sculpture of Nuestra Señora de Soledad (1999) by Charlie Carillo and Jimmy Trujillo, made of polychromed wood and cloth, with encrusted straw in piñon sap varnish. The initial group of bultos also includes a Santa Veronica (1993) by Gustavo Victor Goler, a Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows) (1994) by Raymond López and a Crucifix (1986) by the late Horacio Valdez, an artist who refined bulto carving and retablo painting to a new level and inspired many other artists.
Among the significant living retablo painters represented in Visiones are Alcario Otero (San Acacio, 1997), James M. Córdova (La Santísima Trinidad/The Holy Trinity, 1996) and José A. Lucero (Los Siete Arcángeles/The Seven Archangels, 1998).
New Mexico's Hispano artists have long devoted themselves to making beautifully designed and exquisitely crafted ceremonial objects, achieving remarkable results with both precious metals and humbler materials. Visiones features a monstrance in silver and amethyst by Lawrence Baca (1998) and another monstrance, in wood and straw appliqué, by Charlie Sanchez, Jr. (1996). Another such ceremonial work is a reliquary in the form of a double-headed eagle, made in tin by Robert and Annie Romero in collaboration with Marie Romero Cash (1995).
The furniture in Visiones includes a traditional wooden chest with forged ironwork by David C. de Baca (1992). The display of recent textiles features a colcha embroidery on handwoven sabanilla (coarse-weave cotton cloth) by Irene E. López (1998), an Ikat weaving by Maria Vergara Wilson (1979) and a Rio Grande textile by Teresa Archuleta Sagel (1993).
In addition to presenting Visiones at its own facility, the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art will also organize a sidebar exhibition of the work of New Mexico's living Hispano artists, to open on July 26, 2002, in the Governor's Gallery at the New Mexico State Capitol.
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