South Texas College’s Mid-Valley Campus Library Art Gallery presents “Inventa La Vida (Invent Life): Works by Juan De Dios Mora.” The exhibit opens Thursday, Sept 19, 2013, with an artist lecture held at 6 p.m. The exhibit will be on view through Friday, Dec. 6 at the Mid-Valley Campus Library Art Gallery, located at 400 N. Border in Weslaco. Admission is free and open to the public.
Mora’s detailed, black and white print work depicts characters interacting with devices that are poorly made, yet highly adorned. These customized inventions are made up of hybrid cultures of the Mexican-American border and are decorated with traditional imagery, food, objects, materials, banners and sayings. Through these devices, the artist expresses the characters inventiveness, resourcefulness and their strong will to survive. Mora’s surrealistic visions are filled with symbolic meaning and a hopeful optimism that our character will live on forever.
Mora was born in Jalisco, Mexico and immigrated to the United States in 1998. He received a Masters of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in printmaking from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and is currently an art instructor at the UTSA Art & Art History department.
“It’s inspiring to see characters of little means depicted so proudly by Mora,” said STC Art Gallery Associate Dawn Haughey. “When he portrays a man with a broom, the broom is then embellished with flags, wings, mirrors and a saddle. His work reflects the idea of making the most of what you have and never feeling ashamed of what you don’t. This series, although focusing on Mexican-American culture, is empowering to people of any race.”
STC’s Library Art Gallery exhibits regional, national and international artwork, explores new visions and theories of creativity, and introduces innovative artistic expressions to the South Texas region.
For more information, contact Dawn Haughey at 956-872-3488, or via email at dhaughey@southtexascollege.edu.
