Living in California we sometimes take for granted how fortunate we are to live in such a visually stunning and diverse state. The Mexican culture in particular is deeply ingrained within the heart and soul of the state. Its language, food, music, celebrations, and so much more are part of our everyday lives regardless of who we are or where we originally came from.
In keeping with the vital need to continue learning about other cultures, the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art’s most recent exhibition showcases the work of artist Esteban Cabeza de Baca, who is of Mexican and Native American heritage.
In Memories of the Future, Cabeza de Baca gives us a nuanced picture of what it’s like to be born and raised as an indigenous native. He strips away any romantic vision that we may have and shows us what it’s like to be raised within a community of hard working, and many times overlooked, farm workers.
He uses his art to visually share his very personal life experiences as a child witnessing societal injustices as well as the beauty in the natural world and the everyday life of his community.
When you enter the exhibition of just 11 paintings, you are immediately taken by the large and brightly colored canvases. Cabeza de Baca explains that he is drawn to these intense colors while also having a fascination with petroglyphs, graffiti, and abstraction, often combining several different subject matters within a single canvas.
Cabeza de Baca says he frequently enjoys plein air painting—however, the resulting landscapes combine numerous other influences, giving his paintings an entirely different and unique context. Sadly, this current exhibition contains just a small number of his works and subject matter.
This is a gifted and thoughtful artist whose portfolio includes a large variety of different processes, styles, subjects, and mediums. I strongly recommend you visit the museum, as you really need to see this exhibition to appreciate it.
I can only hope that SLOMA will be able to have subsequent exhibitions with more of Cabeza de Baca’s past, present, and future work. I also urge you to enjoy the artist talk he gave at SLOMA on February 22, as well as an engaging video posted on Art21, Esteban Cabeza de Baca’s Time Travels.
Memories of the Future is available to view through June 22.