"Footless Dancers" is my new series of artwork based on a poem I wrote. The series consists of 13 paintings, 7 of which are now done. To see the paintings and read the poem, please visit the gallery page: Footless Dancers. Below is the latest art piece: Footless Dancers #7: Planted, acrylic and ink on canvas, 28x28". The lines of the poem that accompany this piece are: We planted your crosses Planted our flowers around them Tied green leaves to the tips... Please continue reading or click here for more information. These mixed-media paintings are a combination of my body of work The Euphoric Dance of the Unconquered Mind and my poem Footless Dancers. The poem addresses the indigenous resistance to European beliefs, values, and lifestyle. Although the indigenous people of the Americas are and continue to be pressured to conform, they continue to rebel by various forms of resistance. The paintings in this series present the dancers, as representatives of the indigenous people of the continent, symbolically resisting oppression: Their energy bursts forth despite their confined space; their vibrant colors shine out from the tame grays; they are missing limbs and parts, but continue to dance. In reality, these people and their descendants continue to make their presence felt as we defend our dignity, claim our rights, tell our stories, and continue to speak through our own voices and the voices of others.
See the rest of the series Footless Dancers.
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For todays post, I'd like to feature my artwork Xicana Birth and share the idea behind the art. Xicana Birth is 23.5" in diameter, acrylic and ink on wood. I completed it this year, 2014. Please see image below and explanation. Please click the link to view this and other related work on my site. Enjoy! xicana [shee-CAH-nah]
To choose to identify as Xicano or Xicana is at once a declaration of: consciousness of actual history, solidarity with the struggles of the Chicano civil rights movement (and similar struggles on the continent), a rejection of imposed labels, acknowledgement of nahua roots, an affirmation of cultural identity, and resistance through language. This piece was inspired by my own Xicana experience. Xicana Birth is not about a physical birth or physical existence, but about a recurring spiritual and intellectual birth (or transformation) which develops through constant introspection while becoming aware of illusions, discovering truth, uniting with the community, and acknowledging a deep connection to nature and the universe. Xicana Birth includes references to Catholic Mexican culture (figure on the left), the United States of America (figure on the right), and the displacement of Native Americans, First Nations, Mesoamericans, and other indigenous Nican Tlacan people from their homes on this continent. The piece also makes reference to the search for truth in ancestral wisdom, rejection of the illusions that restrict freedom, civil rights and resistance, change and transformation of the spirit, unrestricted immigration, the constant presence of duality (ometeotl, hunab ku, yin yang), the inevitability of transformation, and the possibility of peace through wisdom and unity. There are also a reference to Frida Kahlo's Las Dos Fridas as well as the reuse of iconography from my previous painting Reclaiming Autonomy. The We Are You Project, a traveling art and poetry exhibition based in New York City featuring Latino artists and their artwork which addresses themes relating to the presence of Latinos in the United States. The next exhibition and accompanying symposium will take place at the Galleries of Contemporary Art at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs starting September 2014. The We Are You Project Symposium is scheduled for September 13, 2014 from 10-4pm followed by a reception from 5-7pm. Please see more details on the We Are You Project website: http://www.weareyouproject.org Below is the announcement for the symposium featuring my artwork! I am honored to be an exhibiting artist in the We Are You Project International Traveling Exhibition. I was chosen to participate in 2011, and exhibited artwork in New York City for the first time as part of the We Are You Project and the Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba in March 2012. It was my first time visiting the East Coast as well, it was a pleasure to be warmly received by people such as Dr. José Rodeiro and meet artists Raul Villarreal, Duda Penteado, Nelson Alvarez, and many other well known artists, several who are also professors and very respected members of their community. Also representing the West Coast in WAY Project are Efren Alvarez and Gabriel Navar, both from California. Below is a photo of some of us from our reunion after the exhibition at the Joyce Gordon Gallery in Oakland in July 2013. We were treated to a beautiful view of Oakland, California by Eric Murphy of the Joyce Gordon Gallery followed by a special art tour so secret we had to photoshop the background. An article with more information about the current We Are You Project exhibition in Colorado Springs can be found on the Ragazine.cc website:
http://ragazine.cc/2014/08/waypi-goes-to-colorado/ "The WAYPI artists exhibiting in UCCS’s GoCA Galleries during fall 2014’s Hispanic Heritage Celebration are: José Acosta, Nelson Alvarez, Josephine Barreiro, Hugo X. Bastidas, Monica S. Camin, Jacqui Casale, Pablo Caviedes, Carlos Chavez, Williams Coronado, Laura L. Cuevas, EfrenAve, Ricardo Fonseca, Roberto Márquez, Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo, Lisette Morel, Gabriel Navar, Isabel Alvarez Nazario, Julio Nazario, Joe Peña, Duda Penteado, Mel Ramos, Ana Laura Rivera, José Rodeiro, Patricio Moreno Toro, Sergio Villamizar, Marta Sanchez-Dallam, and Raúl Villarreal. Also exhibiting are Quintin Gonzalez, Anthony Ortega, and George Rivera, three prominent Colorado contemporary Latino artists. For further information about this exciting Latino visual arts exhibition and related UCCS WAYPI artistic events contact Ms Daisy McConnell, Director, GoCA Galleries at 719-255-3504 or dmcconne@uccs.edu . " I was very pleased to teach art summer camp classes this year at the School of Arts and Culture @MHP at the corner of Alum Rock Ave and King Rd in San José, CA. During the course of the summer, I had three groups of students for my Mesoamerican Ceramics class, ages 6-8 and ages 9 and up. I showed the students how to make plates, cups, a large pot, and small animals. The picture of our clay projects below are from my final class where the students made a komitl (comitl) using the coil method. I also had two groups of students for my Number Games (Ancestral Math) class in which I taught students 6-8 years old how to count in Nahuatl (some could count up to 24 by the first few days), also how to write numbers Mesoamerican style with dots and bars (which we made out of clay), and how to draw and paint glyphs and say the names in Nahuatl. One of their projects was a loteria game featuring Nahuatl glyphs. We had many parents, family members, friends, artists, and community members come support the students for the closing recital. The students performed guitar, hip hop, and folklorico among other things. This final recital was a complete success with the strong performances taught by the School of Arts and Culture's committed instructors who are also performing/exhibiting artists. Fall classes start in September 2014, also available for adults. Please visit for more information:
School of Arts and Culture @ MHP 1700 Alum Rock Ave San José, CA (408)794-6250 http://www.schoolofartsandculture.org Today, July 22, 2014, I joined Damian Trujillo on Comunidad del Valle for the fourth time. I'm grateful he has welcomed me before to discuss: the first exhibition I co-curated at South First Billiards in San José (2011), also when I curated and exhibited in Cultures Crossing Borders: Breaking the Silence at Alliant International University (2012), my solo exhibition at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts (2013), and now my inclusion in the exhibition Imagine at the Triton Museum of Art. Glad to share this experience with artist Miguel Machuca.
We discussed the work in this group exhibition curated by Preston Metcalf , featuring work by 10 artists. We talked about the deep thinking some artists have to do... The Interview airs: (Spanish) Saturday, July 26 on Telemundo KSTS Ch. 48 at 5:30pm (English) Sunday, July 27 on NBC BayArea KNTV Ch.11 at 9:30am Exhibition closes: August 3, 2014. Triton Museum of Art 1505 Warburton Ave, Santa Clara CA 95050 Open Tuesday-Saturday 11-5pm, Sunday 12-4pm FREE entrance You are invited to my exhibitions in June 2014 This one is coming up this Saturday: Berkeley, CA: La Peña Cultural Center, (Solo), May 1- June 30, 2014. [13 art pieces] Reception: Saturday, June 7 from 6-9pm. Grupo Puyakan Cumbia will be playing music! I am showing work from my series "The Euphoric Dance of the Unconquered Mind" (heavy impasto, brightly colored oil paintings of danzantes, indigenous Mexican dancers. These paintings reflect the energy created by the dancers as a symbol of unity and mental strength. I am also introducing mixed-media paintings from my new series, "Footless Dancers." These paintings combine the energy of my previous work with lines from my poem “Footless Dancers” addressing indigenous resistance to European beliefs, values, and lifestyle. Below: Invitation to the exhbition "Euphoric Dance, Footless Dancers." Other June 2014 exhibitions:
Current: Santa Clara, CA: Triton Museum of Art, "Imagine", April 24-August 3, 2014 [5 art pieces] Upcoming: Framingham, MA: Fountain Street Fine Art Gallery, We Are You Project, June 19- August 3, 2014 Reception: Saturday, June 21, 5-7pm San José, CA: CasaArte, with FAMA www.famafoundation.org, June 28, 2014 (4-8pm) Event: Santa Clara, CA: Midsummer Art Festival, June 28, 2014 (10-4pm) More information is available here: http://www.ejmontelongo.com/current-exhibitions.html The reception at the Triton Museum of Art was very well attended. The theme was the idea of breaking with the myths and beliefs that divide us, as John Lennon proposed in his famous song "Imagine." You can still view the art in this exhibition until August 3, 2014 at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, CA. Below: Ten artists showed their art at this exhibition (placed in order shown in images: (1) Jojo Perrea, LAuruS Myth, (2) Kelly Detweiler, Sarah Ratchye, (3) Ron Garcia, Eric Victorino, Mei-Ying Dell’Aquila, (4) Patrick “WaDL” Hofmeister, Miguel Machuca, and (5) myself Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo. Further reading regarding this exhibition:: Dewitt Cheng for The Stanford Daily http://www.stanforddaily.com/2014/05/09/the-triton-museum-presents-works-inspired-by-john-lennons-imagine/ Melissa McKenzie for the Santa Clara Weekly http://www.santaclaraweekly.com/2014/Issue-21/interpreting_imagine.html Please bookmark my Current Exhibitions page: http://www.ejmontelongo.com/current-exhibitions.html You are invited to visit the exhibition "Imagine" at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, CA. I will be showing 5 pieces of my mixed-media/assemblage art. The work in the show relays a message of unity, peace, letting go of divisive ideologies, and relates directly to the spirit of John Lennon's song "Imagine." The exhibition reception will be held on Friday, May 23, 2014 from 6-8pm at the Triton Museum of Art, 1505 Warburton Avenue, Santa Clara, CA 95050. The exhibition ends August 3, 2014. Come visit at your convenience or join the party on May 23rd to visit with artists, curators, and members of the community.
I have new paintings in a solo show in Berkeley, CA at La Peña Cultural Center through June 30, 2014. The exhibition contains work from my body of work The Euphoric Dance of the Unconquered Mind (started in 2010) and the series Footless Dancers (started 2014), both featuring Aztec/Mexika dancers from the SF Bay Area. The Euphoric Dance paintings are oil paintings on canvas and the Footless Dancer paintings are mixed-media including ink, acrylic, and oil on canvas. Below are some pictures of the work in progress and installation shots. The exhibition is currently on view at La Peña Cultural Center. Please check Current Exhibitions page for more information. Images of the paintings are available in my website Art Gallery: Mixed-media paintings of Aztec/Mexika Dancers.
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Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo
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