North County Times
Art show examines half-century of Mexican history in Escondido
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"Mi Corazon Escondido (My Hidden Heart)" |
While Cal State San Marcos teacher David Avalos is cited as the creator of
the exhibit "Mi Corazon Escondido (My Hidden Heart)," he really is the one who
assembled the works of many artists to give a rarely seen look at Escondido.
"You hear about art being site specific," he said, "but this is place specific.
My interest is to do something about the place. I selected artists from
Escondido and others as well to contribute to the exhibit."
Artists with an Escondido connection include Escondido natives Brandon Cesmat, who teaches a humanities class with Alvalos, and Marco Garcia, one of Avalos' students. Another contributor is Carlos Von Son, a Spanish professor at Palomar College, as well as several other artists, poets, activists and residents.
"Collaboration is a way of recognizing that we're not just a bunch of
people," said Avalos, who has participated in several collaborative projects in
the past. "We can dig in our heels or dance together."
By combining all these different voices, the result is a richer, more
comprehensive look at Escondido's past, especially when it comes to its Mexican
population.
"The project has a couple of themes," he said. "It's based on the Mayan
philosophy 'Iam lak ech,' which means 'You are my other self.' It's a more
profound version of the golden rule."
Artists contributed photographs, poetry and artifacts. There are many found
objects, such a scrap wood, junk metals and cast-off gewgaws. Avalos put these
objects together in a way that invites the viewer to an emotional response.
For example, one work combines photographs of everyday objects in the homes of
Escondido's immigrant population.
"It's in response to Escondido's ill-conceived and incendiary housing
ordinance," he said, referring to the Escondido City Council's decision last
year to require landlords to verify the residency status of all tenants. That
policy has since been withdrawn. "We felt that what got lost in the discussion
is that we are talking about people's homes. So we took photographs of objects
such as a grinding bowl, tortillas and other common everyday objects. I
assembled them into a collage to try to communicate the feel of these people's
homes."
The immigration issue also gets touched on in a manner that reflects the
collaborators' feelings on the subject.
"It's all about recognizing our common humanity," he said. "We need to think in
terms of humans and human rights."
He also addresses the Bracero Program, a government program for immigrant
workers that brought many people from Mexico to the United States. This program,
started during the WWII labor shortage, lasted until the 1960s.
"Escondido has a long history of interacting with the Mexican population," he
said. "That's why we brought in photos of Bracero from the '50s. This is not an
issue that fell out of the tree last month. It's been around at least half a
century. It's time we started acting as if Mexico was our neighbor, not our
enemy."
That's a broad spectrum of ideals for one exhibit to communicate. But by
combining many different mediums from a large variety of artists, Avalos hopes
that "Mi Corazon Escondido" will do just that.
"I think that people will enjoy it visually," he said. "I want them to take some
visual satisfaction as well as an emotional response."
"Mi Corazon Escondido (My Hidden Heart)"
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m. Sundays; through July
4
Where: California Center for the Arts, Escondido Museum, 340 N. Escondido Blvd.,
Escondido
Tickets: $5, general; $4, seniors/active military; $3, students with ID;
children under age 12 admitted free
Information: (760) 839-4120
Web: www.artcenter.org/museum.htm
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/03/14/entertainment/art/12_37_063_14_07.txt