SOMOS HUMANOS / WE ARE HUMAN
With a style akin to German and Latin American Expressionism, I'm looking to render the enduring humanity of a people
who have been dehumanized for political gain. We are all Americans in the Hemispheric Americas. --El JTT
With a style akin to German and Latin American Expressionism, I'm looking to render the enduring humanity of a people
who have been dehumanized for political gain. We are all Americans in the Hemispheric Americas. --El JTT
These drawings are inspired by the many photographs of pubic protests I have taken of the Congress of Day Laborers / El Congreso de Jornaleros, the immigrant activist group working fiercely to bring attention to the injustices suffered by a community that has given their sweat and blood to rebuild New Orleans. --El JTT
Somos Humanos / We Are Human is composed of dramatic black and white pastel works on Arches paper, and the graphic compositions and images echo with the influences of Max Beckman and the figurative renderings of José Clemente Orozco. These mixed media drawings also resound with political overtones found in British artist Sue Coe’s images, and the surreal figurative work of the contemporary Cuban José Bedia.
Torres-Tama studied traditional drawing at the Arts Students League in New York with renowned master Robert Beverly Hale, and his aim is to create pictorial narratives that document the epic struggles of undocumented immigrants during a time of persecution. Latino immigrants have been a big part of the rebirth of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina, but they face a clear and present danger with a hostile administration in the White House--as they struggle with brutal deportations to remain in a city they have helped to rebuild.
A moving battery-operated second-hand clock is placed at various points of some compositions, and such mixed media elements push these drawings beyond being static images. The moving hand is a symbolic element representing the beating heart of immigrants working in the shadows, and their tenuous position because their time may be up at any second.
The drawings are mounted on wood panels and magnet letters spell out various statements that express the political urgency of the moment. Below is a picture of Torres-Tama's ArteFuturo Studio in New Orleans.
Somos Humanos / We Are Human is composed of dramatic black and white pastel works on Arches paper, and the graphic compositions and images echo with the influences of Max Beckman and the figurative renderings of José Clemente Orozco. These mixed media drawings also resound with political overtones found in British artist Sue Coe’s images, and the surreal figurative work of the contemporary Cuban José Bedia.
Torres-Tama studied traditional drawing at the Arts Students League in New York with renowned master Robert Beverly Hale, and his aim is to create pictorial narratives that document the epic struggles of undocumented immigrants during a time of persecution. Latino immigrants have been a big part of the rebirth of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina, but they face a clear and present danger with a hostile administration in the White House--as they struggle with brutal deportations to remain in a city they have helped to rebuild.
A moving battery-operated second-hand clock is placed at various points of some compositions, and such mixed media elements push these drawings beyond being static images. The moving hand is a symbolic element representing the beating heart of immigrants working in the shadows, and their tenuous position because their time may be up at any second.
The drawings are mounted on wood panels and magnet letters spell out various statements that express the political urgency of the moment. Below is a picture of Torres-Tama's ArteFuturo Studio in New Orleans.