For Marilu II: "Adios Mexico"



Rio Grande V, 2010
Oil, Pastel Collage on Canvas
27" x 37"


 MARILU FLORES GRUBEN ARTIST STATEMENT:

As I drive from Dallas, South on my Highway 35, visions of my relatives appear, but then something else pops up -- high school, religious processions, altars, beds, the girls, the women, the ladies, and the county jail.

"The violence of the flood (in the Guerrero Viejo series) is visibly realized in the floating animals that emerge from the abstract whirl of brilliant colors, in the blood red satin fabric representing the river, in the spooky images of drowning figures with arms extended, seen through billowing veils of chiffon and taffeta. The fabrics echo an age of innocence and glamour from her mother's teen years when, on the arm of her uncle and draped in her flowing gowns, she led the dance promenade at the Hotel Flores. Even seemingly bizarre and unrelated objects---such as wooden planks hammered into the middle of the paintings with scribbled amorous declarations such as 'Ruby loves Mario'---all have their function in recounting the Guerrero Viejo story."  -- Claudia Lowenstein, The Texas Observer, 25 April 1997, p. 25


Texas Tornados "Adios Mexico"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toqPZHh83cU