By Karen Wolitzer
On August 18, the museum opened their exhibit of Latino artists which will run until November 3. The Latin Century: Beyond the Border explores the achievements of artists whose roots are in Central and South America, including Cuba, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Mexico. There are approximately 100 works on view that reflect the wide diversity of Hispanic art during the 20th century.
Latin art has hit the art scene like a ton of bricks. It has become one of the major aspects of the art world today, says Constance Schwartz, Director and Chief Curator of the museum.
If I had to choose one word to describe the exhibit, it would have to be interesting. Each work was different, some were traditionally beautiful, but many were scary, which I found unusual. Vik Muniz's Medusa Marinara shows a terrified face in the middle of a plate of sauce, with the only spaghetti remaining framing it. It sent chills down my spine. I've never seen anything like it.
Some other scary ones include Alejandro Colunga's Volantin Marciano (Martian's Merry-Go-Round), which depicts many scary looking creatures on a merry-go-round horse from hell. I think that the most interesting aspect of this painting are the legs sticking out of the frame very eerie. Julio Galan's Hungry Proof is a body with disembodied arms and a head floating in the middle of the air. Rodrigo Penabla's Los Brujos de Monimbo (Warlocks of Monimbo) is a frightening picture of disturbing people and a skeleton.
But I think the creepiest of all was Luis Cruz Azaceta's Traveler (Viajero). I can't do it justice with words but I'll try. It looks like a human face on some sort of animal's body with the middle missing and just a bone connecting the two bloody dripping halves of its body and as if that weren't enough there are nails sticking out of it everywhere. Wherever this traveler is traveling
