La Raíz, Strike-slip Gallery, San Francisco, CA

By Nick Maltagliati

Strike-slip Gallery's current group show La Raíz translates to "the root", showcasing work that has strong cultural ties to Latine pride in observance of Hispanic Heritage Month. The art, curated by co-founder Andy Antezana, exudes magical and vibrant energy. La Raíz confidently exhibits five Bay Area Latine artists: Esteban Raheem Abdul Raheem Samayoa, Fernanda Martinez, Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán, Miguel Arzabe, and Victor Reyes to passersby of the growing northern Mission. This is Antezana's second curation at Strike-slip. The show opened on September 11th and will run through October 30th.

Upon entering the gallery, a stunning cork floor elevates the light-filled space with its earthy, variegated pattern. Anetzana's bold curatorial choices of artists from emerging to mid-career harness unique styles combining organic abstractions, intricate weavings, and depictions of cultural indicators from Incan-inspired textiles, and Homies toys, to tortilla making, Pit Bulls, and airbrush techniques.

Victor Reyes, Motherland, pigment and binder on canvas, 60 x 54 in.

The larger of Victor Reyes' two paintings in La Raíz is a warm, layered composition titled Motherland. Reyes's approach engages translucent components to create obscure hues and form an unfamiliar shape centered on a clean, off-white background. The pockets of bright blue poking out from behind balance the dominance of the mustard yellow and pale coral shapes. The visual representation of Motherland suggests how layered histories of different cultures, movements, and expressions can amalgamate into a unique identity.

Fernanda Martinez, Even there, even here., acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 in.

In a similar vein to Reyes' visual language, Fernanda Martinez's paintings also convey an organic quality, but incorporate bold, opaque color utilization in an edge-to-edge composition. Her work conjures vibrant energy, mainly due to the range of her palette and invisible, interior lines that dictate color shifts of the forms that cross her structure’s borders. This hidden geometry is a playful device breaking up the monotony of the flat shapes, conjuring a dynamic landscape of rich hues vaguely illustrating leaves, petals, human figures, and natural silhouettes.

Miguel Arzabe, Qaqa Unku, woven acrylic on Yupo, 57.5 x 32.5 in.

Miguel Arzabe's original weavings incorporate a glitch aesthetic and hues that are cohesive with Reyes' and Martinez's pieces. Arzabe's works are woven paintings, created using acrylic on canvas and paper strips, that portray altered patterns connected to the cultures of indigenous Latine America. One particular piece, Qaka Unku, is presented as a suspended tapestry, allowing for the raw portions of the weaving to create a dynamic edge, a common factor found in his practice. The title translates from Quechua, the most widely spoken indigenous language in South America, to English as "tunic with a rock pattern." With close inspection, you can see rock-like striations and contours that run the length of the weaving.

Although this artwork is primarily composed of paper, the act of weaving is inherently a textile-based practice, connecting the artwork to the deep history of weaving tunics in South America's Andean cultures. A majority of these textiles were created by weaving cotton and wool from alpacas and llamas while incorporating intricate details. Arzabe's Qaka Unku is a historical callback to the tradition of weaving, infusing earthly contours to mimic mountains with a 21st-century aesthetic.

Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán, Revolution For The Homies, acrylic, cement, soil and glued Homies figures on wood panel, 18.5 x 14 in.

Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán's works employ a sense of play with cultural semiotics and a touch of surrealism. For one, Muñoz-Guzmán's Revolution For The Homies main subject is a jungle cat figure actively beheading a pig-like law enforcer. Muñoz-Guzmán paints on a rough-surfaced cement, advancing the idea that the setting of this action would take place on the streets. The piece is framed by Homies mini figure toys, reminiscent of a millennial childhood, made to represent characters found in Mexican American culture.

Muñoz-Guzmán's second piece is a stunning, fantastical portrayal of a flower street vendor. This unique perspective takes us into a dreamy state with the vendor's shoes being extraordinarily pointy and the firework-like bouquet consuming everything from the vendor's waist up. The highlights on the pants and shoes show how the light is emanating from the flower bunch, resembling a Koosh ball, yet another toy from the 1990s.

Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán, El Hombre De Flores, acrylic on cement on wood panel, 48 x 36 in.

The main wall featuring both Muñoz-Guzmán's and Esteban Raheem Abdul Raheem Samayoa's work is a harmonious pairing. Samayoa also paints on unconventional surfaces like burlap and a baby rib tank top. Interestingly, his practice diverges in two different directions: moody airbrush and food-centric comfort. Great depth is found in the artist's darker works, especially the standouts: 30 Years and Dos Perros.

Esteban Raheem Abdul Raheem Samayoa, 30 Years, airbrush on t-shirt wrapped on burlap, 14 x 11 in., and Dos Perros, oil paint and pastel on burlap, 26 x 20 in.

Each painting evokes a reverence associated with Latine America, here as manifest in the Doberman and Pit Bull. This connection stretches to pre-colonial Mesoamerican traditions, where dogs were seen as the carriers of the soul into the afterlife. The monochromatic painting 30 Years utilizes an airbrush technique on a t-shirt placed over a canvas picturing a young child's portrait, a monstrous face with sharp teeth, and a Pit Bull with a spiked collar in the background. Dos Perros has a Cubist / faux-naïf sensibility with the two Dobermans sharing one eye. Samayoa's bold texture is accentuated by the use of pastel, adding a rich, worn-in layer. While these works have a menacing demeanor, they also reference ancient elements of the culture in which Samayoa was born, compelling an appreciation of such an earnest expression.

La Raíz promotional graphic

The exhibition's hero graphic for La Raíz becomes distinctly Mexican by pulling together terra cotta red and cobalt blue (think of Frida Kahlo's La Casa Azul), creating a thoughtfully cohesive symbol that rightfully connects to Latine American roots. This collection of work speaks with beautiful sincerity of each artist's identity and upbringing, some more explicit than others. Andy Antezana's curation is an impressive exposition of contemporary artists who show grace, reverence, and add some cheeky fun to their cultural roots. Like many Americans, each artist has origins in another country. La Raíz's curatorial lens is of the Latine American diaspora experience, diverging into diverse aesthetic directions and narratives saturated with personal perspective. Antezana's keen curatorial eye on this selection speaks to their discerning editorial sensibilities that capture the past, present, and future of cultural reckoning.

Images Courtesy of the author.