Whenever we hear a protest is going down we’re usually on the scene, so when we received an email Tuesday afternoon about a possible protest at Francisco Delgado’s show Bordeño Chronicles at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México we couldn’t resist.
Delgado is a well-known fronterizo artist (border artist) who calls El Paso and Ciudad Juarez his home — his experience of living on the edge of two drastically different worlds is the theme for his current exhibition. He’s also an accomplished illustrator, his works can be found in children’s books: ¡Si, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can! and also Lover Boy / Juanito El Cariñoso.
His artist statement reads: “Delgado believes in making visible the struggles and celebrating the successes of immigrant communities in the United States.” His quirky, sardonic works obviously touched a nerve with the predominately Spanish-speaking crowd at the opening reception. His edgy pieces are appealing to the eye and to the politically driven art lover, too. Within Bordeño Chronicles Delgado’s message “transcends race and social class perimeters and unites communities in a language of universal truth.”
While we didn’t stay long enough to see if a protest ensued, we will update later in the day if one did occur. According to one unnamed source, the event was great — however, they would not comment whether a protest erupted. We suspect it was a ploy to get us out to see the exhibit. If it was job well done UNAM, folks. Job well done.
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u003cdivu003eUNAM-San Antoniou003c/divu003e
u003cdivu003e600 Hemisfair Parku003c/divu003e",1` ); //-->
Bordeño Chronicles
600 Hemisfair Park
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u003cdivu003eThrough July 24 (UNAM will be closed the week of May 12-16)u003c/divu003e
u003cdivu003e9am-5:30pm Mon-Thursdayu003c/divu003e
u003cspan styleu003d"font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times"u003e9am-4pm
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Through July 24 (UNAM will be closed the week of May 12-16)
9am-5:30pm Mon-Thursday 9am-4pm Fri
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2008.