Latino Aritsts Puzzle Midwesterners By Not Painting The Natives
Fourteen Latino artists were granted the opportunity to showcase some of their art this month to the kind folk of Storm Lake, Iowa. The gallery consisted of abstract paintings, modern sculptures, and mixed-media and was devised to help non-Latinos realize that Latinos actually live amongst them. Unfortunately for the nice people of this great Midwest city, something was seriously missing.
“We kept getting this response: ‘Oh, I expected bright colors,’ ” said [Association of Latino Artists] founder, Dawn Martinez-Oropeza, who helped bring the show to Grand View College, where it remains through Oct. 17. “People were just a little shocked. There weren’t any images of people in native dress.”
We were shocked they have art galleries in Iowa, so we guess it all evens out.
14 Latino artists surprise viewers [Des Moines Register]
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- Managing Editor
Daniel Mauser
- Editor
Cindy Casares
- Associate Editor
Alex Alvarez
- Contributing Editors
Gabriel Caro - Camilla Rowan
- Video Editor
Marcelo Cunning
Exhibiting with ALA has been an honor. I am not latino by birth, however, through my friends who are latino have kindly accepted me into their fold, “la familia.” Being an “Asian artist,” there is a sense of “type-casting” that happens. As I was growing up, I resisted Chinese watercolor and calligraphy. I immersed myself in traditional western media. It is only in the last couple of years that I have begun enjoying exploring media and subject matter of my own culture. I am having fun exploring traditional Peranakan motifs using batik technique.
Having said that, I believe that an artist must “follow their bliss.” (Joseph Campbell) There are times which we are inwardly compelled to create pieces that reflect more of our cultural-historical roots. There are other times where our artistic notions lead us to drink from other inspirations. As artist, we celebrate freedom and liberty. We hope to inspire our community to celebrate that same freedom in their lives.
Kemlyn Tan Bappe
ALA Member Artist
Imago Fine Arts Agency & Advocacy
Galleria Imago Dei, Fairfield, Iowa
Posted by KemlynTan Bappe | September 27, 2007