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THE SUNDAY JOURNAL      |      ARTS        | ALBUQUERQUE, DECEMBER 3, 2000  F5
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'La Luz' offers dazzling overview of Latino art in U.S.

■ Artists represent variable perceptions of life, American culture

BY WESLEY PULKKA
For the Journal

With Aztec- and Spanish-influenced architecture and lavish exhibition space, the National Hispanic Cultural Center is overwhelming.

Seeing the "La Luz: Contemporary Latino Art in the United States" show for the first time was a shock because of the scope covered by curator Andrew Connors' broad-based selections. He offers a Latino sampler that touches on radically different aspects of what some erroneously view as a monolithic culture.

REVIEW
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The show is dazzling, well executed, dense and very complex. This review will only scratch the surface of the issues, themes and abundant content.

During our recent presidential campaign politicians from both sides gave speeches in Spanish hoping that language alone would get them Latino support.

Connors' comprehensive vision reveals how foolish people are who try to pigeonhole millions of people who may share a language but certainly do not hold a common lockstep view of the world.

Family, church, rural communities, urban communities and universal human emotions are encompassed by this broad 50-artist extravaganza.

The show opens with "Untitled (March 5th) #2" consisting of two 40-watt light bulbs dangling together from white extension cords. Taken at face value the work by the late Felix Gonzáles-Torres can be compared to the factory-made fluorescent fixtures of Dan Flavin. The date refers to Gonzáles-Torres' lover's birthday, making the piece a symbol of their relationship.

The problem with this type of found-object art is that the viewer needs more information than the work itself imparts. If one were to look at the Sistine Chapel without

If you go
WHAT: "La Luz: Contemporary Latino Art in the United States"
WHEN: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays through May 27
WHERE: National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico, 1701 Fourth SW at Bridge
HOW MUCH: Free admission and parking. Call 246-2261

His crisp style and absolute control of the medium reveals the true talent behind graffiti expression.

Being left-handed I can identify with Arnaldo Roche-Rabell's "The Black Man Always Hides His Left Hand," which was inspired by the belief the left hand is dirty and sinister. The work depicts a man who has cut off his left hand only to discover that it bears the mark of the Christian stigmata with each finger supporting a member of the Holy Family.

Delilah Montoya and Ester Hernández both work with the symbolism of the tattoo as a blood offering. Montoya installed a huge compilation of photographs of tattoos of the Virgin of Guadalupe on men's backs. The central heroic-size figure was photographed in jail wearing handcuffs and facing the barred door. Tragically, the man was murdered while incarcerated.

Her work poignantly illustrates the painful waste of human beings caused by drugs, crime and poverty among disenfranchised people. The uneven application of legal standards leads to the incarceration of a disproportionate percentage of minorities who generally lack funds for competent counsel.

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IN DON'T-MISS SHOW: "Mother and Child," an oil by María Brito, is part of the "La Luz: Contemporary Latino Art in the United States" exhibition.

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