In 1972, when Einar and Jamex de la Torre had been 9 and 12 years outdated, respectively, their household moved to Southern California from their hometown, Guadalajara, Mexico. Constructing upon their immigrant experiences and the generally contradictory sides of bicultural id, the artists started creating sculptures and installations exploring themes as diversified as time, faith, traditions, and regionalism.
The pair have collaborated because the Nineteen Nineties, combining blown glass and blended media into large-scale wall items and putting public artwork. Within the expansive exhibition Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective on the Corning Museum of Glass, the pair current 40 works spanning practically three a long time.
Included within the showcase is a model new, monumental fee titled “Meteorite dall’ Influenza Veneziana,” which attracts on the wealthy historical past of Venetian or Murano glass.
Whereas solely items produced on the small Italian island can bear the title of Murano—suppose Champagne within the wine world or Parmigiano Reggiano for cheese—the de la Torre brothers experience the concept “once [the technique] escaped, it hit the glassblowing world like a meteorite,” Einar says.
The de la Torre brothers are identified for his or her additive strategy, layering each that means and materials into meticulous assemblages. Vibrant colours and generally ironic particulars, like symbols for a automobile battery or engine gentle, emerge when encountered up shut, then dissolve into energetic patterns when seen from a distance.
At the moment, the duo break up their time between San Diego and the Guadalupe Valley of Baja California, Mexico, and the sometimes humorous interaction of American and Mexican motifs maintain a sustained position of their apply. Many items incorporate motifs particular to Mexico, like the enduring, round Aztec calendar that mixes a 365-day cycle with a 260-day ritual or non secular cycle. Mechanical gears, shells, non secular iconography, anatomy, and extra, merge of their maximalist compilations.
The brothers created the brand new work within the Corning Museum’s studio, and the concept for incorporating Venetian particulars like cane work arose organically across the sizzling store staff’s expertise with the fashion. “An artist’s job is to get away with their vision,” Einar says, “and we were very gratified and surprised at how much support we had for our ideas for this commission.”
Collidoscope continues by means of January 5 in Corning, New York. Discover extra on the artists’ web site.
