Title: Recollections – Atravesando con el Toro Year: 2021 Medium: Ceramic with glaze, glass, photo-transfer
About: Family history in the United States/Mexico border informs Marilyn Montúfar and George Rodriguez collaboration. Traversing time, place, history, and memories, the artists’ families roots in Texas (United States) and Chihuahua (Mexico) unravel throughout the piece.
The desert landscape such as the Rio Grande, regional plants that grow across borders, and fond memories of scenic drives across the U.S. and Mexico are depicted on the bull’s face as photographs. The artists’ childhood memories of the landscape in El Paso and Juárez are displayed with a stark reminder of the drastic contrast between the countries when one crosses the Mexican border into towns such as Puerto de Anapra in the city of Juárez. Common imagery of Juárez are transferred onto the bull, such as pink crosses labeled Ni Una Más - (not one more woman missing)- a cry for help to end the femicide that has been occurring in Juárez for decades.
An image of Rodriguez’ mother at the swap meet is printed on the bull's face. She is pregnant with one of Rodriguez’ siblings, perhaps at a swap meet location like Fox Plaza, where the artist spent many weekends with his family. Montufar’s grandparents embrace adjacent to the portrait of Rodriguez’ mother, the Texan desert landscape behind them where they first met before relocating to Mexico due to hostility and racism towards Mexicans in the U.S.
A reference to the “wall” dividing the U.S./Mexico border runs down the bull’s face, with carvings referencing the statue of the Aztec God, Xochipilli. A reminder that throughout history there were animals, plants, and people, but no man-made borders.
More about the collaboration here: