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A DAY WITH THE DEAD ON LAKE STREET
Grupo Soap del Corazon By Jim Grafsgaard There is about to be another confrontation of life and death on Lake Street in Minneapolis. On the weekend of October 28th, a series of 9 temporary murals will be installed on Lake between Chicago and Elliot Avenues on the south side of the landmark Sears Tower. The murals by local Latino artists recognize the Day of the Dead on November 2nd, and will remain on public display throughout the month. In Mexican tradition, it is believed every year during Day of the Dead the deceased return to visit us, and we must await their arrival by providing the food and other objects they liked most in life, usually offered as part of richly decorated memorial altars called ofrendas. For artists, however, Day of the Dead has always provided an opportunity to confront the most profound themes of life and death, of human frailty and vanity, of love, hate, fear and forgiveness. The artists of the Lake Street murals include Luis Fitch, Alexa Horochowski, Maria Cristina O’Brien, Douglas Padilla, and Xavier Tavera, who organized 2 years ago as Grupo Soap del Corazon, and have since exhibited together in several venues, including last year’s energetic “Frontera Lake Street” exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Also included are several artists affiliated with the ArTrujillo Studio-Gallery, including founder Alejandro Trujillo, Patricia Mendoza, Anselmo Cornejo, and Gustavo Lira. Other sponsors of the project include the Minneapolis Community Development Agency and the City of Minneapolis, UNO advertising and design agency, and La Prensa de Minnesota. In these new murals, the artists use the Day of the Dead theme to continue their celebration of Lake Street as a “border” symbolizing all that is good and bad in the confrontation of Latino cultures and mainstream Minnesota. The artworks, each 8 feet wide and 12 feet high, include designs inspired by Mexican art, such as the ancient sculptural reliefs of the Mayans, “papel picado” paper cut-outs, and even the covers of modern-day sensational true-crime tabloids. Over the next few weeks, thousands of people will pass these murals. What will they see? Sensational art, for certain – colorful and questioning. If the artists’ work succeeds many will be inspired to remember our dead, our endangered, and the richness of our living cultures and the mystery of our mortality. The artists are planning a Day of the Dead observance at the mural site on the evening of November 2nd, followed by a celebration at the ArTrujillo Studio-Gallery, 301 E. Lake St. Suite 01, from 8pm until 3am with food, drink and DJ WAMM. For more information call 612-821-9076 or e-mail us at artjones@bitstream.net . The public is invited. |
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