This AGG exhibit explores Favela’s cultural roots and invites audiences to join in
Justin Favela is a Guatemalan-Mexican-American mixed media artist and sculptor. Entrelazados, his latest exhibit, was curated by Shauna McCabe and is on view at the Art Gallery of Guelph, AGG, until Dec. 29. The exhibit takes its name from the site-specific installation that was assembled in collaboration with community participants during a workshop held on Sept. 3.
Entrelazados is a collection of large paper textiles that fill the vaulted foyer of the gallery. These pieces are inspired by traditional Guatemalan textiles and are embroidered in Mayan tradition, harkening back to Favela’s ancestry. In the centre of these is the piece that was put together through community involvement, designed after colourful, woven Mayan belts. Woven textiles are very culturally significant to Mayan women. The belts served a practical function, but they were also a way to express creativity and demonstrate technical skill.
Textiles were as much an art then as they are now, as in Favela’s exhibit. Favela demonstrates that these textiles can be a symbol of ethnic identity. His art connects him to his heritage, and especially his relationship with his grandmother. It also serves as a legacy, continuing ancient traditions.
For Favela, this practice is also a commentary on colonisation and globalisation. According to The AGG’s website, Favela seeks to explore ancient history, interwoven legacies, and the history of migration. These themes are most plainly represented in his cartonera work. Cartonería is a traditional Mexican craft, more commonly known in English as piñata-making.
In this style, Favela takes his own spin on art and themes that are evocative of community and the melding of disparate cultures across time. Most commonly, his work riffs on landscape paintings by the famous Mexican artist José María Velasco, although he also has a variety of statement pieces focused on the semiotics of modern culture. The Las Vegas sign sculpture featured in the Gallery is a great example of this.
At the workshop held on Sept. 3, participants had the opportunity to meet the artist and contribute to the site-specific installation. Visitors were given creative liberty to create their own design for what would become a patch in the pattern, using craft paper provided.
The end result is an eclectic harmony of the inspirations and ideas of people from a variety of backgrounds, all connected by their passion for art and their belonging to the Guelph community. This piece illustrates clearly the greater themes of the exhibit, and also stands out among the other works as something uniquely ours.
Favela’s artwork has appeared in numerous exhibits across the United States, such as in Iowa and Texas. They have also been shown in the UK, specifically in Belfast and Dundee. This is Favela’s first time exhibiting in Canada. Favela is the recipient of the 2018 Alan Turing LGTBIQ+ Award for International Artist as well as the 2021 Joan Mitchell Fellowship.
To find more information on this exhibit or the others on display at the gallery, be sure to visit artgalleryofguelph.ca. The gallery is open six days a week, and there is no admission price. The current exhibits will be gone soon, and this will be your only chance to see this piece of collective work from the greater Guelph community.
Don’t miss the opportunity to explore the creative works of Favela, and consider thinking about how your own cultural identity has shaped the way you perceive the world.