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Fronteras: Native Texas and Texas-based artists reflect diverse Latinx identities in ‘Soy de Tejas’ exhibit

Latino artists are as diverse as their respective cultures and experiences.

A snapshot of their work is on display in San Antonio’s “Soy de Tejas: A Statewide Survey of Latinx Art” exhibit.

Forty artists from across Texas have contributed over 100 pieces that include paintings, sculptures, installations, and performance art.

It takes up both floors of the 20,000 square-foot Centro de Artes galley in downtown San Antonio.

Artists employ a wide-ranging source of materials from traditional paint on canvas, to photography, to ironwork and leather.

Rigoberto Luna, co-founder and director of Presa House Gallery in San Antonio, curated the exhibit.

He said many pieces in the show are artistic expressions of rasquache, a Chicano concept that utilizes fragments or leftovers to create something — in this case, art.

“The further you travel through the show, the media continues to push the boundaries of the media,” he said. “The entire exhibition is sort of highlighting all the different types of mediums, the approaches, the material. Materials (are) key to the show.”

The exhibit also explores a mix of subject matter ranging from family and heritage, to gentrification, to food.

El Paso native and San Antonio resident José Villaloboscontributed the installation “QueeRiders.” It takes on themes of toxic masculinity, particularly in Latino households.

Villabos said all artworks in the exhibit encompass the expansive Latino experience across Texas.

“I think that the conversations that are happening between pieces is what really makes the show, tell a story almost,” he said. “It becomes a narrative.”

The exhibit runs through July 2.

See a walkthrough of some of the collection below.

Norma Martinez can be reached at norma@tpr.org and on Twitter at @NormDog1