August 28, 1997
CONTACT: Shirley Hulett, 594-2585
SDSU Art Gallery Exhibition Takes Fresh Look At Life’s Rituals
We mark life’s major events –christenings, birthdays parties, bar mitzvahs, funerals-- with formal ritual activities. Often unconsciously, the daily routines of our private lives –morning coffee, the nightly news– also assume ritual importance.
In Reconstructing Ritual, which debuts at San Diego State’s University Art Gallery on September 20, four artists from the United States, Canada and Mexico investigate and reformulate historic and contemporary ritual activities. Paintings by Francis Alÿs, sculptures by Jamex and Einar de la Torre, and sculptures by Spring Hurlbut will be exhibited through October 22. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, and Saturday from Noon to 4 p.m.
The artists will be will be honored with a public reception on Friday, September 19 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Gallery. The reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.
Parking permits are available at the Gallery during regular hours for use in Lot 160. No permits are required for the reception; use lots 160, Faculty/Staff and Student.
Reconstructing Ritual is curated by Tina Yapelli, director of the University Art Gallery at San Diego State University, and is organized in cooperation with inSITE97. The exhibition is sponsored by the School of Art, Design and Art History; the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts; and the fund for Instructionally Related Activities. Additional support is provided by the San Diego State University Art Council.
While rituals invoke both the sanctioned and the familiar, the reconstruction of ritual defies tradition. In their work, Alÿs, the de la Torres and Hurlbut go "outside the lines" to propose alternative ideological practice.
Belgian-born artist Francis Alÿs creates small paintings using the traditional medium of oil on canvas. His paintings are then reproduced by commercial artists who employ the materials of their trade: enamel on sheet metal. Together an "original" and its "replicas" become one multipart artwork.
Jamex and Einar de la Torre spent their early years in Mexico, moving to Dana Point, California, as adolescents. Currently, they live in both San Diego and Baja California. Their work reflects the artistic and cultural traditions of both sides of the border. The de la Torre brothers irreverently conflate indigenous Mexican myth and ritual, Catholic symbology and religious practice, and popular-culture icons from Mexico and the United States. The result is an inventive pastiche that critiques its individual sources with satirical wit, yet celebrates their hybridization with joyous disrespect.
Toronto-based artist Spring Hurlbut adopts the strategy of an archeologist, bringing to light new evidence in order to re-evaluate the progress of civilization. Her work incorporates casts of human bones, animal teeth and glass eyes with elegant plaster. The artist reminds us that these human and animal remains were used in pagan sacrifices, and later memorialized in the ornamentation of classical Greek architecture. At the same time, she provokes examination of today’s architectural surroundings.