Rocky Mountain News (CO)
FOOTHILLS SHOW IS THREE EXHIBITS IN ONE
By M.S. MASON SPECIAL TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Date: January 10, 1993
Section: SPOTLIGHT Page: 60
Copyright (c) 1993 Rocky Mountain News

The Aztec exhibition at the Denver Museum of Natural History has had a positive effect on some local arts institutions, and several shows have tapped into the glamor of ages past. The newest and most sophisticated is "The Codex Exhibitions" at the Foothills Art Center in Golden. The exhibit is part of the Rocky Mountain News Year of the Arts program, a year-long campaign to promote awareness, understanding and participation in the arts and culture of the Denver area.

It's a triple winner - three shows in one. The first as you enter is ''Views of Ancient Monuments." These hand-colored lithographs of Mayan temples and pyramids by Frederick Catherwood were taken from drawings during an expedition from 1839 to 1841. The expedition had entered the jungle with the express purpose of finding these ancient ruins. So the lithos capture that sense of discovery. Dense jungle overhangs all, yet the monuments are startling still.Several small, exquisitely carved pieces of jade and conch shell and two life-sized mock-ups of large stone plinths bring the viewer a little closer to the reality of the past. This modest exhibit plays an important role in the experience of the whole show: It reminds us of the heritage of the contemporary art we are about to see.

No art develops in a vacuum. The contemporary paintings of Denver artists Stevon Lucero and Emanuel Martinez in the second show, "Glyphs, Gods, and Heroes," owe a great deal to the cosmology of their Native American ancestors.

Lucero makes bright glyph-like paintings that incorporate the mythology of the ancients with his own mystical visions. They are clean and clear - sharp lines, bright, clean color - and engaging.

Martinez's work looks better and better the more I see of it. He works in bold colors - strong blues and purples, vibrant earth tones, etc. His surfaces are flat as glass, but he coaxes gorgeous depths of color into his grand arcs of form.

A strange and wistful Madonna glances out in a complex, stained-glass structure of veils and halo. I cannot remember the last time I saw a Madonna with a veil covering her face - an interesting twist on an important theme.

The large gallery contains the main event of "Codex Exhibitions." In this room 27 artists reinterpret the Codex, the ancient accordion-style books of the Maya, Mixtec, and Aztec peoples. "The Chicano Codices: Encountering Art of the Americas" is a national traveling exhibition that takes as its central metaphor those books almost completely destroyed by the Spanish during the conquest. A few still survive. And these (in facsimile) lend inspiration to the exhibit.

The codices recounted the history, religion, social and political events and structures, cosmologies and scientific and medical information of the ancient American societies. This exhibition offers Chicana and Chicano artists a means to explore issues of national and personal identity as "books" of knowledge.

It is interesting to trace the presence of Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent, god of wisdom, knowledge and the arts, through the three shows.

Most of this new work carries socio-political overtones. But most of it seems to me to be particularly heartfelt and passionate. Emanuel Martinez's Codex Emmanuel is a large piece combining sculpture and painting. On one side of the wooden scroll, an artist's gesture captures the Spanish conquest and the Mexican Revolution of 1910. On the other side, a god / hero watches over heroes of art and culture and the honored war dead, among others. It is a testament to courage.

Another stunning piece is the Codex Ochoa: Chicanosaurus 500 / Chicano Dictionary 500 Year Edition by Victor Ochoa. A huge book sits on a pedestal emblazoned with thick paint in rich colors. A temple base leads up to a symbols of gods and Chicano power. The dictionary offers terms and heroes central to the civil-rights movement that began in the '60s, along with other important images and words.

Codex Yanez: Xata Nalga Xolo Xulu by Lawrence M. Yanez presents a series of boxes on wheels linked by hooks - a kind of train without an engine. The boxes are filled with toys and images of Hispanic culture. The juxtaposition of toys with sharp imagery is startling and strange - meant to provoke thought. Another series of boxes depicts the Chicano political struggle in powerful and brash cartoon-like images.

This Codex Quiroz: Pachucoatolese tells such interesting tales that, familiar as they are, they really do create a history.

Among my favorites is a modest piece - Codex Not-Vargas: The Forgotten Name Codex by Kathy Vargas. The central metaphor concerns the feather of Quetzalcoatl, which she links to her father's and her own identity. The story that runs with the images is moving and magical, the images subdued and highly evocative.

And then there is the troubling elegance of Codex Fresquez and the stately grace of Codex Amescua to delight the eye.

Some images will not leap the culture gap for some viewers. But never mind that. The impulses are clear and honest. There is a great deal to learn from them.