ELVELORI0 AHORA THE WAKE NOW ANTONIO MARTORELL
MUSEO DE HISTORIA
ANTROPOLOGiA Y ARTE Universidad
de Puerto Rico
Recinto de Rlo
Piedras
29 de febrero de 2012
Wky EI Veloriof
This question might be asked of any of the Puerto Rican artists who have sought out Oller's painting over the last century in
order to explore both it and themselves-Jorge Soto in New York, Ellzam
Escobar in
a Chicago prison,
Rafael Trelles
in
Rlo Piedras,
Jose Alicea in Carolina, Carmelo Sobrino and Santurce, and now
me at the Playa de Ponce. We have all been drawn to the theme
of the wake. The reason may be because to hold a wake, or to stand vigil over the deceased, implies a more intensified way of seeing. As visual artists, we train ourselves to be ever vigilant, and
this leads us to carried away by our fantasies, to create new forms of what is seen, to uncover the enshrouding veil, or, conversely
to see in a different way, to enshroud what is seen with our own unique gaze, depict lt in a different way, thereby uncovering hidden meanings in the object of our gaze. Every place, every historical period,
and every artist contributes some unique vision,
and
some way of seeing this national icon.
From my very first pre-adolescent glance-at this very museumto this mature study, many years and multiple ways of seeing, feeling,
drawing,
painting,
engraving,
acting,
and
writing
have
passed. And yet I always return to this image of death as an eternal harmonizer of questions and answers. It is a fascination that is
apparently never endlng. And now I return to it, and in so doing, I recognize it again in a different way. I try to be faithful to its roots and origins,
but also to how it resonates against our present reality, in what
may be a vainglorious attempt to expose the urgency of our times. And in this season of so much death, perhaps we can all find some affirming spark of life through art.
A work as immense as Francisco Oller y Cestero's mas-
terpiece-not only in terms of physical size-triggers an urge toward fragmentation, of breaking the work down into pieces, as
lf it were a sumptuous banquet, or a vintage wine, which must be sampled slowly and sparingly. Wood, canvas, and paper have served as my surfaces. It is here that I go about my task of applying oil paint, ink, pastel, crayon, charcoal, and more paper, in a desire to once again veil and unveil what is seen. This is why the classified
and
divorce announcements,
listjngs,
obituaries,
bankruptcy
prize-winning tickets,
advertise-
ments, weapons and toys, and all the other images that compose the mosaic of our consumerist society, abound in this exhibit. By working from Oller's time, I intend to reveal the beginning of a
century that grew old prematurely, whose promise of the future
vanished as it progressed. Beginning with the downfall of the Spanish Empire, and the rise of the United States, with its illusions
of freedom, to the globalization of misery and disappointment.
From one war to another, from one crime to the next. From the moment Puerto Rico's first inhabitants held a
wake for Diego Salcedo's decaying corpse to test his mortality, to the vultures of partisan politics who are submerged in an op-
portunistic game of letting the dead bury the dead, the death of another has inspired the possibility of an afterlife. Artlsts do not
pretend too much, we settle for the visual metaphor, with some hopeful beginning, with the glimmer of a better world than the one we've inherited. And isn't that the implicit mandate for every
generation, to rise up on the foundations of the past in the hope
of creating a better future? And so I dedlcate this exhibit to the patriot Filiberto Ojeda
Rfos, who was assassinated by the FBI in Hormigueros on Sep-
tember 23, 2005, on the anniversary of the Lares Uprising. As a
horribly tragic footnote to that moment in 1868, when our people
rose up to defend their freedom, we have one more reason to be vigilant, since we have been watched over for such a very long time. Observe the living above all and those who pretend to be alive, because standing vigil over the dead is not enough. That is
the reason for E/ Ve/ory.o. Antonio Martorell
From Mourning to Wake...
E/ ve/or/.o ahora (7t)e Wake IVow) is a mixed-media exhibit of works by Antonio Martorell and collaborators, which is now being dlsplayed at the university of Puerto Rico's Museum of His-
tory, Anthropology and Art.
The exhibit brings together a broad
selection of pieces, from Martorell's literary and graphic art book
E/ ve/or/.o no-ve/a to various multi-format images, all of which demonstrate the artist's masterful flare and fluency. Beginning
with the photo-digital graphlcs in his 2010 book through more
recent works, the artist attempts to critically dissect the master-
p.iece El velorio de un angelito (The Wake), wh`ich was pa`inted by Francisco Oller y Cestero between
1893 and
immersed himself in the scene of the painting,
1895.
Having
Martorell struc-
turally explores and reconfigures the details of this highly complex
composition. By magnifying areas of the immense canvas, he singles
out and highlights fragments of the original work. Martorell draws us in through his work, inviting us to recreate these visual journeys,
and forcing us to reexamine the elements he has appropriated.
Through his Interpretation-an act of curatorial editing-he reafflrms the contlnuing symbolic resonance of this classic painting.
Through
his act of deconstruction,
Martorell
reclaims the piece
once again, thereby reconfirming its position as one of our greatest national treasures.
The works are created by first deconstructlng the scene, in all its theatricality, and then reworking it through drawing, paint-
ing, and the application of black-and-white and color excerpts
from newspapers and advertisements, all printed using the latest graphic technology. The resulting
images,
in turn,
offer multiple
possibilities for reading Martorell's works, and for reinterpreting
Oller's painting. Figures, scenes, and objects are constructed from clippings of obituaries, news articles, classified listings, department
store ads, lottery numbers, bankruptcy and divorce announcements; in other words, employing a vast palette of letters, words,
and numbers from the country's newspapers and supermarket circulars. Other works by Martorell have recreated an image by using multiple digital prints of sections of Oller's painting.
These images,
reverberating and reflecting like a rhythmic echo, create a visual ebb and flow. The result is a display of new scenes, allowing a plurality
of interpretations, thus illustrating both the continued relevance of
this nineteenth-century master and of Martorell's resolve.
The details of bodies, furn`ture, faces, gestures, and other references taken from the classic painting, function as a source of signs and forms affirming Puerto Rico's cultural history. The image
of old Pablo, stepping out of his eternal pose to observe the little
''sleeping angel," becomes relocated at the Playa de Ponce, where painted waves lap at his feet. Martorell reveals, in another of his works, Oller`s commanding canvas, now partially veiled by theater
curtalns that have been gathered to one side, the fabric opening to a backdrop displaying the original Velorio in shades of amber,
thus implying the wooden stretcher surface. The artist suggests a
painting behind the painting, growing from a monumental foundation. This stratification functions like translucent layers of skin,
each revealing an irrefutable truth. In another piece, the minute
fragments of a collage make up the image of an automatic rifle dominating the desolate urban silhouette of Santurce. Martorell's use of diverse techniques enables him to re-
fract the centenary canvas from various vantage points. He reacts to the eternity of Oller`s painting with sketches, oil painting, and
woodcuts, impressions on Japanese Washi paper, and drypoint
on copperplate. From EI Velorio de un angelito (The Wake), by oller, to E/ Ve/or/.o ahora (The Wake IVow), there are unexpected yet subtle shifts, leaps, and formal twists.
For Martorell life is a
constant flirtation with the reality of death, Yet life also Implies
work, joy, awareness, love, and re5ponsibility.
The island's crime victims of recent months have been
transposed to paper, their faces first engraved in metal forever. We
recognize the immortality of these images, which somehow seek to recreate llfe.
Male and female, young and old; shot, abused,
beaten, mutilated, disemboweled, burned, or drowned-all of them deprived of a future. Regardless of guilt or innocence, they
are now merely absent. From mournlng to bereavement, from vigil to wake, from funeral to burial, across linguistic barriers, this final
rite of life is now reinterpreted.
From his studjo, the artist has worked tirelessly so that he
can communicate and contemplate through his own art, thus inevitably resonating back onto Oller's canvas. This process confirms that Oller's work is eternally relevant, in light of so much death. Yet
we remain mindful of the fact that life goes on. The little corpse,
forever lifeless and grey, the dead man attending his own wake with his cap and sunglasses hiding a vacant gaze, or the figure seated on a motorcycle, lying in an ambulance, or waiting in line in front of the capitol building-all inert corpses. They all maintain lifelike poses; strangely immobile yet alive as images forever.
Over
cloth, paper, canvas, wood, or in photography, the images are eternally reproduced. Whether resting on tradit`onal supports or on the Internet, they continue to live in our gaze, ultimately remaining
within the labyrinthine recesses of our memories.
This exhibition culminates with a monumental work: the
tr`iptych Elegla a Filiberto Ojeda Rios (Elegy to Filiberto Ojeda Rios). This piece alludes to the tricolor flag of Puerto Rico's independence
movement. The woodcut and concrete prints in blue, white, and red are meant to reference the tragic assassination that took place on September 23, 2005, ln the lush hills of Hormigueros by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. All art ls work, a manlfestation of life and love, and a talis-
man to ward off death.
Humberto Figueroa
List of Works 1. Desvelo de El velorio (cort.ina Azul), 2010 (Unve.il.ing EI Velorio] (Blue Curtain)
Oil, charcoal and paper on wood, 48"x 72" Collection of Dr. Jos6 Cangiano
2. EI hombre bebiendo, 2010 [Man Drinking]
Oil and paper on linen, 60"x 48" Collection of Miguel Merced
3. EI hombre que canto, Z010 [Man Sing.ing]
Paper and charcoal on linen, 48"x 60"
4. El hombre que no alcanza el machete, 2010 [The Man Who Can't Reach the Machete] Oil and paper on wood, 60"x 48" S. EI muerl:o parao, 2010 [Dead Man Standing] Charcoal, crayon and paper on linen, 72"x 48"
6. EI Negro Pablo, 2010 [Pablo, The Black Man]
Charcoal, paper and crayon on wood, 48"x 71 " Private collect.Ion 7 . EI Tlure, 2010
Crayon, charcoal and paper on linen, 60"x 48`'
8. EI velorio en la ciudad, 2010
[Wake for the C.ity] Charcoal, crayon and paper on linen, 48''x 72"
9. Mujer que ofrece la copa I, 2010 [Woman Offering a Drink 1] Crayon, charcoal and paper on linen, 48"x 60"
10. Mujer que ofrece la copa 11, 2010 [Woman Offering a Drink 11]
Oil and paper on linen, 48''x 60" Collection of Violeta Caceres 11. [a Pa/rna, 2010 [The Palm] Oil and paper on linen, 60"x 48"
12. La silla Windsor, 2010 [W.indsor Chair]
Crayon, charcoal and paper on linen, 72"x 48" Collection of Dr. Jos6 Cangiano 13.1a sombra, 2010 [Shadow]
Oil, charcoal and paper on wood, 48"x 96" 14. OIler con sombrero, 2010 [OIIer with a Hat]
crayon, charcoal and paper on linen, 60"x 48" Collection of Dr. Jos6 Cangiano 15. E/ ange/i.to, 2011 [Little Angel]
Charcoal and paper on linen, 48"x 60" 16. E/ ati.5bo, 2011 [Glimpse]
Woodcut on paper, 96"x 16" 17. I/ p/.5o, 2011 [The Floor]
Oil, paper and engraving on wood, 48"x 72" 18. EI porfador del Iech6n, 2011 [Bearer of the Suckling Pig]
Charcoal, crayon and paper on linen, 72"x 48" 19. El quincallero trovador, 2011 [The Singing Salesman] Charcoal and paper on linen, 48`'x 60"
20. [as nudes, 2011 [Clouds]
Charcoal and paper on I.inen, 48`'x 60"
21. Las p6ginas de EI velorio, 2011 [Page5 from EI Velorio]
Crayon, charcoal and paper on linen, 48"x 72" Collection of Ghigliotty -Banchs
22. Retrato de Francisco Oller, 2011 [Portra.it of Francisco Oller]
Woodcut mold with photocopies of manuscripts, 60"x 48"
23. Retrato de Francisco Oller, 2011 [Portrait of Francisco Oller]
Woodcut on paper and photocopies on wood, 60"x 48" 24. Un atisbo de EI velorio, 2011 [A Glimpse of EI Velorio)
Woodcut on paper and photocopies on wood, 96''x 48" 25. Bocetos /-V, 2011 [Sketches I-V]
Charcoal on paper,19" diameter 26. Bocetos VI-VII, 2011 [Sketches Vl-Vll]
Charcoal on paper,16" diameter Z] . Bocetos VIII-XXI, Z011 [Sketches Vlll-Xxl]
Charcoal on paper,12-3/4" diameter 28. V/.ct/.mas /-X/X, 2011 [Victims I-XIX]
Drypoint on copper plate, on paper, 11 " x 8"
29. EI velorio ahora I-IV, 2011 [EI Velorio Now]
Woodcut on paper, 96" x 43-1/2" 30. Elegl.a a Filiberto, 2011 (Elegy to Filiberto]
Woodcut on paper, 96"x 130-1/2"
Translation for Museums
Dr. David Auerbach, Professor UPR Graduate Program of Translation Students: Gabriel Beltran Ortiz
Mark Hanuman Geraghty Melanie Kinch P6rez
Gabriel Rodrlguez
Bianca Rodriguez Rojas
Carla VIzquez Eric VIzquez S6nchez Autorlzado por la Comisi6n Estatal de Elecciones Nun. CEE-SA-12-1746