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Dispatches From Aztlantis! Ranflas y El Modern Art · Tales From Aztlantis

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Season four Dispatch four Ramflas yell modern art Panolte and welcome to the fourth dispatch of Tales from Atlantis season four.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Tlacat, and the subject of today's dispatch is the De La Torre Brothers exhibit entitled Upward Mobility that is still currently on view at the McNay Museum in San Antonio until September 15th, as well as a recently closed exhibit at the Bullock, Texas State History Museum about low riders entitled Carros y Cultura.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Over the summer, I visited the McNay Museum in San Antonio specifically to look at the De La Torre Brothers' exhibit Upward Mobility.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: The exhibit is a powerful exploration of identity, culture, and the American dream.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Through their vibrant and thought-provoking artworks, the brothers delve into the complexities of being Mexican American, navigating the challenges and opportunities of upward mobility.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: The exhibit showcases their artistic journey from their humble beginnings to their current status as renowned artists.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: By blending traditional Mexican art techniques with contemporary styles, the De la Torre brothers offer a unique perspective on the immigrant experience and the ongoing pursuit of equality and opportunity.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: The exhibit also delves into the cultural tapestry that bridges the United States and Mexico.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Brothers Ainar and Jamex de la Torre, based in Baja California and San Diego, have collaborated since the 1990s, their shared passion for blown glass igniting a fruitful partnership.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Upward Mobility showcases their distinctive maximalist aesthetic through four galleries featuring glass sculpture, lenticular prints, video, and installations.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Drawing inspiration from Aztic mythology, Catholic iconography, popular culture, and art history, the brothers create symbolically charged imagery.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Their mixed media works playfully blend humor and satire to critique consumerism and excess.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Upward mobility embraces contradiction and multiplicity, encouraging viewers to form their own interpretations and responses.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: As the De La Torre brothers have said, our art is a reflection of our journey, a testament to the power of upward mobility.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well that's putting it mildly, I would say, since theirs is an ambitious sensory overload pushing aesthetics, conception, and meaning to their limits.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: The result is a lavish yet disturbing exhibition that is both mind-bending and straightforward.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now let me give you a more indigenous Chicano perspective on the exhibit.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: The exhibit is a kaleidoscope of sensory overload combining sculpture, video, holograms, blown glass, and more.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: The effect is more exhilarating and unsettling, often within the same piece.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: The brothers blur the lines between high and low art, juxtaposing delicate glass and porcelain with kitschy holograms.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Mesoamerican imagery such as Aztec and Olmic mingles with pop culture references, monster movies, and provocative forms inspired by cacti and arteries, a technicolor rascacielos or skyscrapers, if you will.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: The show feels less like a curated exhibition and more like a fevered dream pinata overflowing with pop culture, Aztic icons, and excessive over-the-top detailing that'll make a low rider blush.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: In effect, I found myself wandering through a technicolor skyscraper built on a foundation of contradictions.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Don't get me wrong here, the brothers are talented and deserve all the recognition they've earned.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Their mastery of mixed media is undeniable.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: The lenticular prints morphing between luchadores and Slavic swamp creatures are mesmerizing.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: The piece entitled Michicano Corazon, with its low rider rim embedded in a prickly paracactus sculpture, is a beautiful mashup of identity markers.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: I particularly liked the lenticular prints that were depicted in one of the galleries, which was basically two large-scale projections depicting a scene of destruction at the hands of what the brothers call Kwatzila, which is a fusion of the Japanese kaiju or sci-fi monster Godzilla and Kwatlique, the Aztec Mother Earth deity, on one wall.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: On the opposite wall, they projected the mashup monster they call Miktlan Teputin, which combines Russian President Vladimir Putin with the Aztec deity of the underworld, Miktlan Tekutli.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: In the floor space between the walls, they projected an aerial view of Mexico City traffic so that you become part of the installation, trampling the city as a giant.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the rub.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: This upward mobility feels more like assimilation than ascension.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we see knots to indigenous heritage, but it's a fleeting glimpse compared to the dazzling spectacle of pop culture references.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: I recently had a conversation with a colleague who teaches Mexican American studies at my institution here in Dallas, and she's a little frustrated with how some of our colleagues who teach Mexican American art have stripped the course of the political context from which Chicano art arose.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: In that same spirit, I ask a similar question here about upward mobility.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Where's the struggle?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Where's the complexity of navigating two worlds that often feel at odds?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: The exhibit is split into four sections, but it feels more like a kaleidoscope of fragmented narratives.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: I yearned for a deeper connection, a sense of grounding in the rich tapestry of Chicano and indigenous experiences.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean they do allude to them after all.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, I left feeling like I'd been bombarded with random, grotesque, and flashy imagery without a clear message or direction.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Even the Rascucha saturation of the Chicano Baroque, or the relajo aesthetic with its function in the Albur or the Mexican Spanish workplay provide transgressive critique that is both subtle and accessible to the average person.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: This show seemed unnecessarily complex at times, even if its intention is to point out the excesses of modern-day consumerism.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps that's the point.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the De La Torre Brothers are offering a reflection of the chaotic, ever-shifting landscape of our identities in the 21st century.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: But for this indigenous Chicano, upward mobility felt more like a disorienting dream than a grounded exploration.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's an impressive exhibition, for sure, but one that left me wanting more substance.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: On the other hand, maybe because I'm just a simple man and I'm rooted in my Chicano-ness, I found the exhibit down at the Bullock State History Museum a bit more satisfying.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Carros y Cultura, a show about lowrider cars, the culture, and the history of the lifestyle in Texas, was really splendid.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: The show opened back in May and just ended over Labor Day weekend.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now for this piece, I'm going to rely basically on a publication that was done by KERA News, a local Dallas NPR affiliate, and the author is Stephanie Salas Vega, and it's entitled A Pink Sparkly Dallas Lawwriter went viral on social media.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's in a Texas Museum.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: And this is in reference to the Law Rider car, pink one that was done by a young lady by the name of Mercedes Mata from Dallas, whose family has a long tradition of being involved in lawwriting.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I know some of the matas myself.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: I went to school with uh one of the matas.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so this car got attention and it made it into the exhibit, and it happened to be one of my favorite cars in the exhibit as well.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and so this is what Stephanie has to say about the exhibit that just closed over Labor Day weekend.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Every Sunday evening, 20-year-old Mercedes Mata would cruise her sparkly pink 1984 Chevy Monte Carlo down Jefferson Boulevard and Oak Cliff and through downtown Dallas.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Her customized lowrider, which she named La Mera Mera, caught the attention of many on the streets of her hometown and even celebrities online.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: But in November, her car did its last low and slow drive through the Dallas pavement, at least for another four months, Mata said, because La Mera Mera is being showcased in a Texas museum exhibition this summer.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: It feels unreal, Mata said.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: I never thought it would get this far.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: The Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin has put together its first exhibition dedicated to the legacy of Texas lawriders.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: The exhibition Carol Sicultura celebrates lawriders, the Mexican American community's bouncing old school cars and the people who ride them.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Among the seven Texas lawwriters being showcased, Mata is the only woman, the only one from Dallas, and the youngest lawrider in the exhibition.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Senior curator Catherine Sifker said the exhibition shows the relationship between the car and the person behind the wheel and the relationships those people have had with each other and their community.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're really trying to highlight the lowrider as a person, as a strong family figure, as a community leader, as an activist, Sifker said.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: The person is the heart of lowriding.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: For Mata, spending money and time to build and customize her lowrider isn't a hobby.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: This was a lifestyle she was born into.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Mata is a member of the Dallas Lowriders, a club founded by her late uncle Ivy in 1979.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: In 1985, after her uncle's death, the club disbanded and was inactive until 2003, the year Mata was born.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Her father Mark became the spokesperson for the Dallas Lowriders until he was incarcerated and remained behind bars until Mata and her sister Maria were preteens.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Lawriding helped us connect with him, Mata said.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's a deeper story than just a car.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: In the 1940s, lowriding turned into an artistic outlet for self-expression and identity within the Mexican American community.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: It was popular in California and then spread throughout Texas and other parts of the Southwest.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Lawrider culture is fueled by community and family support, and Mata's La Mera Meta is a product of that.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: The cars are like an expression of ourselves, Mata said.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's about family and bringing people together.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Unity.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Mata spent five months taking La Mera Meta apart and upgrading it for the exhibition.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: She redid the hydraulic setup, redipped the chrome suspensions, replaced the motor, updated the pink trunk, and more.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: The glittery rose gold lowrider still has the Dallas Lowrider silver plaque showing in the rear window, but another addition shows the real MetaMeta.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: A candy pink mural of Mata was painted on the hood of the car.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Mata wearing the popular upside-down Dallas cap is surrounded by Dallas sights.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the images include the Texas Theater in Oak Cliff, the Jefferson Boulevard street sign, the Dallas Neon Pegasus icon, and the downtown skyline.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody that knows me knows I have a big personality, Mata said.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, let's go all out.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Along with La Mera Mera, Mata will also showcase personal items in a glass case that includes an original Gold Dallas Lowrider plaque, her Dallas Lowrider of the Year Award from 2023, and her first steering wheel that was once on her dad's Lowrider from 2003.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: The rest of the Bullock Museum exhibit included bikes, fashion, music, photography, and videos, and interactive touchscreen mural will allow visitors to explore the characteristics that make a custom car a lowrider car, hydraulics, upholstery, and paint.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty cool that the culture itself is getting exposure.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Mata said it's getting what it deserves.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: And that is exactly what I thought.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: I thought to myself, it's about time that we have something like this in Texas in general.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: The Bullock Museum is the official state of Texas museum.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's located in Austin.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's basically downtown Austin.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that far from the Capitol.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that far from UT, University of Texas.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: And to see our cultura, our culture being exhibited on full display at an institution of that magnitude was really, really, you know, gratifying.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Especially since I grew up with this culture and still part of who I am, even though I'm not actively a low rider per se, but I still engage in in low writing type of activities.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Not that long ago, we had uh the the low rider super show that came through Dallas after a long time of not being here.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really it's really nice to see that that the state of Texas, that culture in our community is being recognized and exhibited and promoted and giving the uh attention that it deserves and the dignity, right, that it deserves as a culture.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, uh after the the exhibit, after we went through the exhibit, and you know, I'm not that kind of person that just rushes through it like we were in there for a while and taking pictures and just soaking it all in because it was basically the last weekend.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: We we weren't gonna have another chance to to see it.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: And uh afterwards we went to the gift shop and uh we were trying to find, you know, some some souvenirs, you know, for from the show, and uh all they had left were ball caps, and uh so we got one, but you know, uh we were kind of disappointed that we missed out on the t-shirts and all the other swag that they had.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I even spoke to the people who were at the desk and I asked them if they had anything else and said, no, you know, this is uh one of the most popular shows we've had, and it made a lot of money for the museum.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: And the impression that I got was that this had been up to this point, and the museum hasn't been around that long, maybe 10 or so years or whatever.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: And um apparently it's my understanding that this show has been one of the highest, if not the highest grossing exhibit that they've had at the Bullock, Texas State Museum, which is incredible, right?
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so I even told them, you know, this just goes to show that if you do things for our community, we will come out, we will represent, we will support it.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the uh the people behind the desk was saying, yes, we we see that now.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think the the people who are in charge of the museum are beginning to see that.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't say this, I thought this to myself.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, it's 2024 people, like, what do you mean they're beginning to see this?
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this is ridiculous.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: This should have been a no-brainer like decades ago.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: But in any case, um, this is just one example of a few that have uh really come through in the last couple of years uh in regards to institutions, museums more specifically, doing things related to Chicano, Mexicano people, and those events, those exhibits becoming either their highest growth scene or their highest attended exhibits to date.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: A few years ago, the Dallas Museum of Art had uh an exhibit uh where they showcased Mexican painters, Mexican artists, and according to the museum, that particular exhibit had been the second highest, most attended exhibit in the museum's history.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so that again, why is it taking institutions this long to recognize that we not only have a culture, we have arts, and that we have dignity and that we have things that that are worthy of being promoted and shown in these kinds of spaces, but not only that, but that the community will come out.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: If you show that kind of regard for the community, the communities will see that.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: They'll see that you are paying attention, they'll see that you're giving them their due.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: The community will come out, they will support, and as has been shown, they will effectively make that show one of the biggest shows that you've had at your at your institution.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: So this is just the PSA out there I'm throwing out.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you're an institution of higher learning, if you're a museum, uh someone who's uh looking for an exhibit, and if you're wondering what to showcase, look at our history, look at our people, Mexican Americans, Chicanos, and other indigenous peoples.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: We will come out.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: We will come out and we'll support these things.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that has been this dispatch for season four, dispatch four, and until next time, people, we'll see ya.