artists on a hot tin roof
Lawndale's retablos wrangle in artists in anticipation of Dia de los Muertos
- Jan Avery, "Anoint the Souls of the Dead," 2009
- Jean King, "The 5 Remembrances," 2009
- Sue Liska, "La Cancha Eterna," 2009
Update: All 300 retablo tins have been retrieved by entrants.
The roster of events surrounding Dia de los Muertos at Lawndale Art Center is legendary, and while October's blowout is still some time away, the party's already getting started for the city's artistically-inclined risk takers. Today, Lawndale is releasing an open call for entries for its non-juried exhibition of retablos, the traditional devotional painting indigenous to Latin America.
Entrants are encouraged to eschew the typical Catholic iconography in favor of something entirely contemporary. A maximum of 300 pieces of metal are now being distributed at Lawndale to anyone who wants to participate. No formal art credentials are required.
"I expect them to all be gone by the end of the day tomorrow," Lawndale's Dennis Nance tells CultureMap.
The finished works will be compiled into an exhibition and auctioned on Oct. 22 at the organization's gala. Participants can opt to donate 50 percent of the profit of their work to Lawndale, and offering a full donation gets two tickets to the gala and silent auction/preview party. "It's our biggest fundraiser of the year," Nance says of the art auction.
Get in on the Mexican mortality art remix — entry forms are available here.