Icons & Symbols of the Borderland

Sep. 18, 2016

Sep. 18, 2016 @ 11:00 am Nov. 13, 2016 @ 5:00 pm

About

Now more than ever, the U.S./Mexico Borderland has become the focus of an international audience. The icons and symbols of the region have been vital in providing a framework for the ideals, emotions, philosophy, and patterns of behavior. The Icons and Symbols of the Borderland exhibition embodies this terrain’s landscape and cultural legacy with respect to a global community.

The work displayed are by artists from the El Paso-based Juntos Art Association ( juntos translates to together in English), whose organization is designed to nurture the advancement of art that reflects and represents the Borderland environment and community. The exhibit is laid out thematically, informed by artworks pertaining to socio-political issues, immigration topics, religious iconography, and much more.

The symbolism of a monarch butterfly or Cerveza XX and popular icons like Pancho Villa and La Virgen de Guadalupe are represented in an array of interpretations bu Juntos artists. Mesoamerican, Spanish, Mexican, and Native American elements are blended with the modern American cultural terrain and consumer trends, serving as a repository of accumulated memory built over centuries and continents.

Each image, each work of art, carries a story within it. The works in this collection share a regional consciousness of place and time and ultimately brings us closer to envisioning and experiencing the borderland of today.

Installation Images

Photos by Chris Caselli