Hybridized Art: an open question.(?) ohigis It is against numerous obstacles that artists from | ie eid idioma tf 0.2 eo. |e ee pS dintieielie ieee ae é FESS SESS eee eee: } South and Central America have managed to get by and get out into the world. The near future may show a path where hybridization will also mean hybridized art, but | think we can find a light | to help us keep it from those obscure extremes. . = : y saat Your holiday gift shopping, that is. Don't miss Western Canada's largest crafi event, Teaturing, over Z00 cratt exhibiters “unedicr the sais.” it's our 26th year showcasing onc-of- a-kind sewellery, ceramics, wearables, edibles and collectibles by artisans from Newfoundland to Salt Spring ECIAD studen Get $2 off the $6 student rate by showing this coupon and your at the door! island. You're sure te find something unique and inspined for overponc on your holiday gift shopping list. Vancouver Trane & Comennon Centar Wied, Thaw, Fri: iene - Oper Sat: iaen ~ Form Sun: Like : Agui $8 Seniorshniciends $3 Sixee Peas 3 423 2 Informaliens:, 01-5220 @)° 2674 Annual Circe Crarr Cxpstaas Market Novemerr 10. 14, 1999 hel eal el iin on ee ee eee Parallel to the 20th century Western Art mainstream and not unaware of it, different movements have been taking place all over Latin America. All of them having different exponents and nation- alities, and different names in some cases. All of them being valid in their own context. Rather than focusing on the few ones that have made it to the high-art circles, i.e. to the big galleries, | wish to concentrate on the ones that have kept their art closer to their homeland. By this | don't mean a geographical closeness but a intentional one. Uruguayan artist Luis Camnitzer (whom | have already cited and whose works and writings are clearly concerned with Uruguay and Latin America), and Colombian artist Antonio Caro (who has main- tained a consistent perspective pertaining Colonialism and Imperialism as well as the weight of the ruling classes on the oppressed), are both exponents of a 1970s anti-Imperialist current that emerged from Latin American Marxism. The former, analyzing it from the hegemonic centres, and the latter from the centre of a very oppressed culture, they both work from within an elite but choose to maintain a rigid position of defense for the socially disad- vantaged. In a more subtle and individualistic way, during the seventies and eighties, exiled Cuban Ana Mendieta addressed her melancholy for her motherland as well as her feelings towards women and social issues which had affected her throughout her life. Using land as a connection to sacred places and blood as a connection to social issues, Ana Mendieta has also kept a strong attachment to her roots and to her people, extending this in some cases to more gen- eral matters as those of gender and violence. Even though the three artists cited above come from a different culture and manifest themselves in different forms, they are clear examples of the politi- cal sense most art in Latin America was carrying, especially during the seventies and eighties, along with specific cultural issues. In Brazil, after colonization, the people found an earlier secularized society mostly because of the clash between African and European cultures and because, unlike the Spaniards in the neighboring coun- tries, the Portuguese went to Brazil not to settle but to extract min- erals and rubber and go back home to lead wealthy lives. The Brazilian population is almost entirely mulata (mixture between African and White), and their musical rhythms and culture come from a predominantly African influence. Ana Mendieta's art, being deeply concerned with the body, is predominantly political. In’ continued on p.28 Mr ui ote ac racic B57 Sa Lilien. Hybridized Art: an open question.(?) ohn LD | . H a s ro s : cd s . Don’t miss Western Canada’s largest crafl event, featuring over 200 cralt exhibitors “under the sails.” It’s our 26th year showcasing one-of- ackind jewellery. ceramics, wearables, edibles and collectibles by artisans from Newfoundland to Salt Spring = 2 Get $2 off the $6 student rate by showing this coupon and your ECIAD student card at the door! Your holiday gift shopping, that is. your holiday gift shopping list. Vancouver Trant & Convention Cac Wed, Thus Fi: 10s = Span Set, 10am- 7pm Suns 1am Sem Adults $8 Senlarg/Snudents $6 Shrow Peas 510/ Information. 801-5220 It against numerous obstacles that artists from South and Central America have managed to get by and get out into the world. The near future may show a path where hybridization will also mean hybridized art, but | think we can find a light to help us keep it from those obscure extremes. I c ESET PPSPE SE eS @*6 2674 Annual Circle Crart Curismaas Marker + Novemat Parallel to the 20th century Western Art mainstream and not unaware of it, different movements have been taking place all over Latin America. All of them having different exponents and nation- alities, and different names in some cases. All of them being valid in their own context. Rather than focusing on the few ones that have made it to the high-art circles, i.e. to the big galleries, | wish to concentrate on the ones that have kept their art closer to their homeland. By this | don't mean a geographical closeness but a intentional one. Uruguayan artist Luis Camnitzer (whom | have already cited and whose works and writings are clearly concerned with Uruguay and Latin America), and Colombian artist Antonio Caro (who has main- tained a consistent perspective pertaining Colonialism and Imperialism as well as the weight of the ruling classes on the oppressed), are both exponents of a 1970s anti-Imperialist current that emerged from Latin American Marxism. The former, analyzing it from the hegemonic centres, and the latter from the centre of a very oppressed culture, they both work from within an elite but choose to maintain a rigid position of defense for the socially disad- vantaged. In a more subtle and individualistic way, during the seventies and eighties, exiled Cuban Ana Mendieta addressed her melancholy for her motherland as well as her feelings towards women and social issues which had affected her throughout her life. Using land as a connection to sacred places and blood as a connection to social issues, Ana Mendieta has also kept a strong attachment to her roots and to her people, extending this in some cases to more gen- eral matters as those of gender and violence. Even though the three artists cited above come from a different culture and manifest themselves in different forms, they are clear examples of the politi- cal sense most art in Latin America was carrying, especially during the seventies and eighties, along with specific cultural issues. In Brazil, after colonization, the people found an earlier secularized society mostly because of the clash between African and European cultures and because, unlike the Spaniards in the neighboring coun- tries, the Portuguese went to Brazil not to settle but to extract min- erals and rubber and go back home to lead wealthy lives. The Brazilian population is almost entirely mulata (mixture between African and White), and their musical rhythms and culture come from a predominantly African influence. Ana Mendieta’s art, being deeply concerned with the body, is predominantly political. In’ continued on p.28 |