26th Annual Dia de los Muertos Art Exhibition

The Bath House Cultural Center presents its long-lived 26th annual Día de los Muertos art exhibition from October 13 to November 10, 2012. This lively eclectic exhibition features over sixty local, regional, and international artists working in traditional and contemporary styles to celebrate explore and honor people, things, and ideas that have “passed on.”

An opening reception with the artists will be held on Sunday, October 14, 2012 from 5 to 7 PM. The public is strongly encouraged to wear their favorite Day of the Day costume to the reception to make this show even more festive. Be creative and have fun. Both the exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

About the Exhibition: In 1986, the tradition of the Day of the Dead was introduced for the first time to the cultural life of the Bath House Cultural Center when Teatro Dallas produced a play called Johnny Tenorio. The play was inspired by Jose Zorilla’s Don Juán Tenorio, which is the longest-running play in Spain and Mexico and is traditionally staged every year during the Day of the Dead. In addition to the staged production, Teatro Dallas also coordinated a gallery exhibition that included traditional Mexican Day of the Dead altars, which created a deeper awareness of the social and artistic significance of the celebration.

Twenty-six years later, the Bath House show continues to commemorate the traditional holiday. A notorious difference between the early exhibitions, which were mostly composed of altarpieces by Latino artists, and the shows from recent years is the inclusion of more contemporary styles and media. The inclusion of traditional Día de los Muertos altarpieces alongside contemporary artwork in a variety of media is evidence that this show, albeit rooted in the syncretistic Pre-Columbian and Catholic tradition of All Saints Day, has inspired artists of all backgrounds and cultures, who have in turn made the aesthetics of the tradition part of their creative sensibility.

Participating Artists: TX Honeybee Guild, Andrew Anderson, Karin Michele Anderson, Chandra Armstead, ARTners Group, Robin Bachtler Cushman, Rita Barnard, Apryl Begay, María Dolores Benitez, Angie Bolling, Lori Brennan, Gayla Burgess, Jan Byron, Kailyn Cano, Paul Carranza, Jim Clement, Brandy Collins, Rebecca Collins, Cynthia M. Daniel, Dan Dudley, Lori Dudley, Jacque Forsher, Gale Gibbs, Karen Gray, Cynthia Green, Rebecca Guy, Melissa Hayes, Duke M. Horn, Sherry Houpt, Trent Koym, KeLaine Kvale, Joanna LaGrone-Headrick, Barbara Lee, Rachel E. Lord, Leticia Magaña, Yoanna Martell, Mary “Strange Blossom” Morris, Sharon Neel-Bagley, Melia Newman, Linda Noland, Julie Owen, Kelly Pevehouse, Marie Pugh, Christina Ramirez, Marty Ray, Richard Ray, Janet Reynolds, Christina Sanchez, Kate Schatz, Alesia Shaw, Heather Shoulders, CeCe Skeith, Brandi Solomon, Madeleine Terry, Diane Torres, Steve Van Gelder, Marc Vargas, VET, Mark Walden, Tina Weger, Kathy Windrow, Kim Worthington, Guadalupe Zacarias, and Mayra V. Zamora.

Enrique Fernández Cervantes curated this exhibition.

Art by Melissa Hayes

Information from venue