From Arts Fort Worth: "We invite the community to an opening reception at Arts Fort Worth Friday, March 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. for the exhibition “CTRL+X: Composed/desCompuestos” curated by Laredo-based cultural worker Maritza Bautista.

 

CTRL+X is the keyboard shortcut for “cut.” In this exhibit, CTRL+X represents artwork with a “rasquache,” or DIY aesthetic, common in border, Mexican-American or Chicano working-class communities. The artworks are composed of often scavenged materials and concepts taken from cultural representations of ordinary, everyday objects and people.

 

The artists in this joint exhibition, Gil Rocha and Cande Aguilar, are native to south Texas and have exhibited their artwork widely on the national and international level. Rocha and Aguilar create artworks that give the impression of being improvised, implying an almost-uncomposed (or descompuesto) resolution.

 

“Both Rocha and Aguilar work in a similar way. They use the information they soak up from living on the border to guide them to create unique, culturally rich assemblages, paintings, sculptures, and media works. They cut directly from their cultural landscapes. They experiment with media and materials to make bold statements. They repurpose and reframe to compose visual works that invite the viewers to open up to unexpected conversations with their use of humor, play on words and color,” said Bautista.

 

Join the artists for an artist talk at 6 PM during the opening reception to learn more about their creative process and ideas surrounding their practice."