28th Annual Day of the Dead: Recrea, Renueva, Reusa: Un Ciclo Infinito
Dates: October 11 to November 14, 2014
Altar Installations: October 11, 2014
The path of all beings does not have a beginning or an end. Instead, each of us follows a cycle that renovates itself effortlessly. We may say we are recycled material from our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and fore-bearers, which in turn are manifestations of our more distant ancestors. “Recrea, Renueva, Reusa: Un Ciclo Infinito” is a loop of existence that recycles itself. For our 2014 Day of the Dead exhibition, MCCLA wants to explore the themes of Recreate (Recrea), Renew (Renueva), and Reuse (Reusa) as unavoidable cycles in our lives.
Curator: Demetrio Barrita
Contact: gallery@missionculturalcenter.org
Sindy Escoto: Sueños. I consider my installation to be a contemporary/ conceptual artwork that depicts the critical sociopolitical issue of child migration. The butterflies are made from clippings of newspaper reports of migrant children who have died or disappeared on their journey to the United States from Mexico and Central America.
Ximena Soza: Children Like my Children. This ofrenda is dedicated to the more than 500 Palestinian children that were killed during the months of July 2014 and August 2014.
Cristian Muñoz: To Street Resistance. This ofrenda is dedicated to the people that died in the streets of Chile during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, especially to those that used walls to denounce the daily horrors lived during that time.
Adriana Camarena, Ivonne Iriondo, and Erin Mc Elroy: Unaccounted Murders. Unaccounted Murders honors the victims of police shootings in San Francisco since 1939
Ginger L. Godines, Maria Medina Serafin: Chata Gutierrez. Chata Gutierrez spent much of her time at the San Francisco radio station K.P.O.O. 89.5FM. There she consistently programmed and produced the award-winning salsa music program, “En Clave” for over 40 years!
Flor Aieysha Khan: Cuerpo Sin Alma. Every inch of the sculpture is covered in receipts of purchases that come to a grand total of nearly 20,000 dollars’ worth of consumer goods. This altarpiece serves as an exploration and asks us to question: To what degree do we become what we consume?
Nick Mancillas: Cycles and Recycling. The Aztec hairless dog named Xolotlzuintli plays an important role in the transition of death to rebirth. After death, it is believed that Xolotlzuintli will guide you for seven years until your ultimate rebirth. This sculpture was made of newspapers.
Sergio Martinez & Danny Ayala: Piano Altar. This piano altar is tribute to my grandfather who used piano as the medium to express his love for tango. We decided that the whole piece must be made out of materials found on streets and flea markets all over Oakland, CA in order to recreate and in some way recover the poetry and beauty of those forgotten notes.
Sue Mathews: The Spirits of Agramonte and Perico. In the towns of Perico and Agramonte, Provincia de Matanzas, Cuba spirit altars and shrines have been maintained since the transatlantic slave trade.
Gabriel Mendoza Rodriguez & Flor Crisostomo: Vivos se los llevaron, Vivos los queremos!!! In memory of all the students that are missing, that were tortured, and were massacred by the Mexican Government in the following two Incidents: Oct. 2, 1968 known as The night of Tlatelolco, Mexico. Sept. 26-Sept.27, 2014 at Iguala, Guerrero. Mexico.
Ashley Jane Tomajan: Recycling the American Dream. This piece is a historical retrospective where one side tells the story of the Armenian ethnic cleansing endured by my maternal kin, and the other side illustrates the account of my maternal ancestors during Volga German genocide.
Demetrio Barrita: Nuevo Mictlan, Reciclando la Vida. The historical heritage concerning our presence in this life leads us to believe that we are part of an infinite loop. Now we call it recycling taking hold of the past we face our present to leave traces in the future. Many participated in the process of realizing this altar. The work was ardous 57 children and 52 adults worked for approximately 469 hours. People proud their past, remembering where they came from and that the challenge is now in this place and at this time.
Adrián Arias: Pepe dreaming. Altar-installation honoring the memory of Argentinian visual artist-provocateur Pepe Ozan. One of the most influencial artists in the installations at Burning Man in the past two decades.