Mathew Burckhardt
Connector Editor
Elaine Bay and Raúl Gonzales III have come a long way from the border town of El Paso, TX, but their art collaborations draw heavily from life on the border of the United States and Mexico. The artist couple, who have collaborated since meeting as children, spoke on South Campus last Tuesday.
If you take one glance at their work, it shouldn’t surprise you that Gonzales was heavily influenced by the art style of comic books. Starting with a limited selection of comics at his local 7-Eleven, he practiced drawing in his youth by copying the images directly from the comics, producing a tower of filled sketchbooks which he still has to this very day.
This introduction to drawing made him much more comfortable with this non-photorealistic style, and indeed his art rarely touches the realm of realism in favor of comic book stylizations. The closest his artwork ever comes to realism can be seen in “Club Narco,” (not currently on display, but viewable online) a mixed media poster depicting the victims, perpetrators and profiteers of drug-based conflicts happening near the border.
“Riding Towards Ninguna Parte,” which means “riding towards no one part” is centered around the motif of movement, as it relates to the themes specified in the art description: “journey, migration, harsh terrain, and dreams shattered and accomplished.”
Three tire-rafts sit in the middle of the gallery, each laden with various trinkets including ceramic skulls and upside-down American flags and bearing a painting as their sail. During his speech, Gonzales specified that it wasn’t supposed to be clear if the rafts were meant to be moving or be stationary. While taking a look at the rafts, you could imagine them floating down a river, but the 4’ by 20’ mural titled “Merrily” uses surrealism to send a conflicting message.
The left-most frames of “Merrily” depict many characters drifting down what looks like a river on their tire rafts, but this water turns to sand in the right-most frame. This surreal illusion creates a sense of doubt about just how real the river is, and by extension, how real their hopes are. With mild depictions of violence interspersed throughout the mural (a decapitated rabbit head, a bird with its head ripped off), the mural is more grim than hopeful in tone, but a few characters like the masked boy in the middle frame help the mural retain some sense of hope and daring.
In fact, there’s a bit of duality just in the title of “Riding Towards Ninguna Parte.” While it might be understood as “heading towards nowhere” in a kind of grim sense, Gonzales mentioned that it is also inspired by the quote “nowhere to go but anywhere” from Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road.” This turns the title’s meaning upside down. There’s a sense of adventure that Gonzales and Bay are trying to show in this collection, but they keep it constantly in check with grim reminders.
“Riding Towards Ninguna Parte” is on display in South Campus’ University Gallery until Feb. 14. For more details, visit http://www.uml.edu/dept/art/galleries.htm.
You can view more artwork by Bay and Gonzales at elainebay.com and artbyraul.com.
