Local and global
‘Borderless’ book celebrates Luis Tapia’s cross-cultural artwork
Luis Tapia’s artistic legacy is vast. For nearly 50 years, the New Mexico artist has elevated the art of polychrome wood sculpture. His work is also the focus of the book “Borderless: The Art of Luis Tapia.”
Tapia will be the guest for a book signing on Saturday, Dec. 2, at the National Hispanic Cultural Center Art Museum.
Along with the book signing will be a panel discussion of Tapia’s book and his body of work.
The panel consists of Dana Gioia, Charlene Villaseñor Black, Lucy R. Lippard, Denise Chávez, Edward Hayes and Tey Marianna Nunn.
The six also contributed to the book. “I’ve been so fascinated with Luis’ work because I am passionate and active how New Mexico artists are treated and how they are typecast and often dismissed by larger art markets,” Nunn says. “Many of my colleagues across the U.S. often forget New Mexico artists. When they are dealing with New Mexico, the artists are looked at as folk artists.”
Nunn is the director and curator of the NHCC Art Museum. She also curated Tapia’s current solo exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican American Art in Chicago.
Tapia’s work is also a medium for social and political commentary.
Many of his pieces speak to the multilayered Latino/Hispano/Chicano history and contemporary cultures.
While rooted in a folk art tradition established in 17th century New Mexico, Tapia’s work both honors and transcends its origins, reinterpreting