de la Torre Brothers: Upward Mobility

March 1, 2024 - September 15, 2024

Located in the Tobin Exhibition Galleries

de la Torre Brothers: Upward Mobility

March 1, 2024 

- September 15, 2024

Located in the Tobin Exhibition Galleries

de la Torre Brothers: Upward Mobility presents works that explore culture on both sides of the United States-México border. Brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre live and work in the Guadalupe Valley in Baja California, México, and San Diego, California. After developing individual artistic practices they began to collaborate in the 1990s after discovering a shared passion for blown glass. de la Torre Brothers: Upward Mobility highlights their distinct maximalist aesthetic through four galleries of glass sculpture, lenticular prints, video, and installations.

The brothers use motifs from Aztec mythology, Catholic iconography, popular culture, and art history to build symbolically loaded imagery. Their mixed media works playfully incorporate humor and satire into critiques of consumption and indulgence. de la Torre Brothers: Upward Mobility embraces contradiction and multiplicity, inviting the viewer to form their own opinions and responses.

de la Torre Brothers: Upward Mobility is organized by the McNay Art Museum and co-curated by René Paul Barilleaux, Head of Curatorial Affairs, and Lauren Thompson, Curator of Exhibitions, with assistance from Mia Lopez, Curator of Latinx Art.

The brothers recently completed a separate site-specific installation at the McNay, de la Torre Brothers: Latin Exoskeleton. On view through Sept. 15, 2024, the work transformed the AT&T Lobby wall through a combination of tromps l’oeil wallpaper and lenticular images. Their presentations at the McNay are their first exhibitions in San Antonio.

Lead funding for de la Torre Brothers: Upward Mobility is most generously provided by the Elizabeth Huth Coates Charitable Foundation of 1992. Major funding is provided by The Brown Foundation, Semmes Foundation Inc., Frost Bank, The Joan and Herb Kelleher Charitable Foundation, and Humanities Texas.

Download our new digital guide on Bloomberg Connects for an exclusive audio tour with the de la Torre brothers.

Einar de la Torre (left) and Jamex de la Torre (right). Photograph by Josue Castro.

Email Yolanda Urrabazo, Head of Communications and Marketing, at yolanda.urrabazo@mcnayart.org for press material.

Exhibition Video Playlist

2 Videos
Description

Collaborating brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre walk us through their exhibition, de la Torre Brothers: Upward Mobility, delving into the complexities and contradictions of dual American and Mexican identities, as well as the mixed media process, including blown glass sculpture, lenticular prints, video, installation, and taxidermy.

Kathy and Lionel Sosa, Chairs

Dr. William and Liz Chiego
Cynthia and Forrest Miller

Elva Ruiz

Rachel and Andrew Barnett
Robert Brown and Dennis Karbach
Caroline and William Carrington
Patricia Diaz and Michael Dennis
Lou Celia and Don Frost
Susan Frost and Craig Bunch
Barbara Kyse
Dr. Matthew McLendon and Townes Coates
Nancy Moorman
Barbie and Toby O’Connor
Bonnie Reed and Stuart Schlossberg
Terri Smith and Bill Alig
Amy Stieren
Olga and Katerina Tsvetkova

Terri and Glenn Huddleston
Patricia Pratchett

Host Committee

Kathy and Lionel Sosa, Chairs

Dr. William and Liz Chiego
Cynthia and Forrest Miller

Elva Ruiz

Rachel and Andrew Barnett
Robert Brown and Dennis Karbach
Caroline and William Carrington
Patricia Diaz and Michael Dennis
Lou Celia and Don Frost
Susan Frost and Craig Bunch
Barbara Kyse
Dr. Matthew McLendon and Townes Coates
Nancy Moorman
Barbie and Toby O’Connor
Bonnie Reed and Stuart Schlossberg
Terri Smith and Bill Alig
Amy Stieren
Olga and Katerina Tsvetkova

Terri and Glenn Huddleston
Patricia Pratchett

Due to a private event, the McNay will close at 5:00 PM on Friday, May 1.

Due to severe weather conditions, the McNay will be closed on Sunday, January 25 and Monday, January 26.

 

We will be open on Saturday, January 24 until 4:00 PM.

Due to maintenance, the museum will close at 5pm on July 15.

 

Normal hours resume on July 16.

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