Icons and Symbols of the Borderland Opening Reception

Join the Department of Arts & Culture for the opening reception of “Icons and Symbols of the Borderland.”

In an age where visual representations are fundamental to communication and lifestyle, icons and symbols are the key to ethical precepts, inspirations, and beliefs; they provide a framework for ideals, emotions, philosophy, and, ultimately, patterns of behavior. The “Icons and Symbols of the Borderlands” exhibition is an embodiment of the landscape and cultural legacy of the U.S./Mexico borderland. 

The symbolism of a monarch butterfly, papel picado and Cerveza XX and popular icons like Pancho Villa and La Virgen de Guadalupe are represented in an array of interpretations by JUNTOS artists. Conceptually, each image, each work of art, carries its own story or commentary on memory, ritual, nature, socio-political issues and personal experience. 

Mesoamerican, Spanish, Mexican, and Native American elements are blended with the modern American cultural terrain and its consumer trends. The artistic renditions in this collection provide a regional context by which viewers can reflect upon their roots, bridge connections to their cultural and environmental landscape, and envision their place within a global community.

Serving as an external repository of accumulated memory built over the vastness of centuries and continents, these works of art shape a shared regional consciousness of place and time. Strung together, these works synthesize and collide in a creative depiction of the contemporary borderland. 

Artists include: Cesar Martínez, Ricky Armendáriz, Antonio Castro, Mark Clark, Socorro Diamonstein, Gaspar Enríquez, Christine Granados, Chris Grijalva-García, Wayne Hilton, Benito Huerta, Ilana Lapid, Diana Molina, Delilah Montoya, Oscar Moya, Miguel Valenzuela, Romy Sáenz Hawkins, Victoria Suescum, Andy Villarreal,  Lydia Limas, José Rodríguez, Roberto Salas, Leticia Diaz.