Collectively, these artistic works constitute a powerful testimonio of the history, experience and transformations of Latino/a individuals and their place in the communities of these lands.
Out of their vision and craft, these artists have created works that imagine art as a practice of political and spiritual uprising, art as a testament to the abiding power of memory and heritage to help understand ourselves, of the central place of landscape and portraiture in capturing the stories of our legacy, and of the role of mythic imagination as a force that can be refined to re-imagine ourselves into the future.
Amidst all of the differentiation of visions, perhaps there is a deeper narrative visible here, of a people broadening the scope of the ideas and images of themselves as Americans rooted in a still contested landscape, in an increasingly globalized world.
Seen as a whole, the VOZ exhibition can be viewed as a powerful affirmation of the role artists and their work are playing in helping to unfold and reveal the destiny of a people, a story embodied in the three-hundred yearlong history of the city of San Antonio.
John Phillip Santos
More than 200 works drawn from the art collection of the University of Texas San Antonio are included in “VOZ,” on display at Centro de Artes at Market Square as part of San Antonio’s Tricentennial Celebration.
For three hundred years, San Antonio has been a place where different languages, customs and traditions have merged to form a unique cultural history.
Like all stories of a particular place and time, the work on these walls is informed by pride, joy and a tenacity that reverberates in the voices that celebrate the Latino experience.
Arturo Infante Almeida, exhibition curator
Six of the featured artists will join Almeida and Santos for a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Ellen Riojas Clark at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 5.
The not-to-be-missed admission-free exhibition runs through June 10.
Postcards from Barton Springs 