Justin Favela and Emmanuel Ortega have known each other for 10 years. In that time, Ortega has been a part of the development of Favela’s art career – work which he says is representative of his friend’s grief and burnout.
“(Ortega) brings both deep scholarly expertise and a personal understanding of the artist’s practice, offering unique insights into the layers of meaning within Favela’s vibrant paper-based sculptures and installations,” Brenda Lichman, the associate director of education said at the scholar talk hosted on Sept. 12.
Ortega works at the University of Illinois-Chicago, teaching art history.
Ortega and Favela co-hosted a podcast called “Latinos Who Lunch,” in which they discussed the frustrations and ideas that they had been dealing with in the art world and issues of identification.
“The career of Justin as an artist, my career as a scholar, they clash in the podcast,” Ortega said. “The expectations of such partnership weighed heavily once our politics became evident.”
Ortega said the expectations to conform with preconceived identity labels was part of the reason Favela is ready to take a step back from the art community.
At his talk at the Ulrich Museum of Art on Sept. 12, Ortega delved into how people often misinterpret Favela’s art, and deeper into the meanings and intricacies behind them.
“Part of the process of Justin to deal with the violence of some of these (art) institutions is by way of humor, and that’s also a cue for a lot of people to misinterpret his work,” Ortega said.
Ortega spoke about a negative Wall Street Journal review of Favela’s 2017 installation, “Family Fiesta: Double Negative.” Ortega said that the review said the installation was overall a critique of Michael Hizer’s work, “Double Negative.” Ortega said it doesn’t delve into the deeper meaning of Favela’s installation.
“This happened to him over and over and over again,” Ortega said.
Ortega’s talk dealt with themes of authenticity and how that can harm an artist’s work. He cited the example of one of Favela’s first big installations, in which he created a collage of the work of two Mexican artists who are symbolic to Mexican identity, and included an image of “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” The installation was titled “Fridalandia” and was on display in the Denver Art Museum in 207.
“The noise of authenticity obstructs a call for action, and it sinks us into the perils of visibility and representation … authenticity aims to fix meaning away from the constantly fluctuating gradations that encompass our presence in any given culture,” Ortega said. “ When (Favela) was putting this together, the curator comes in and looks at the painting … she said ‘Oh, I just want to make sure that your iconography is right,’ … she was trying to teach him how the proper image of the vicinity of Guadalupe was supposed to be… authenticity is always a problem of all of his work.”
Ortega closed his presentation with a brief Q&A and thanked the Ulrich for allowing Favela to grieve through his art.
“It’s a way to regenerate your energy,” he said.
Favela’s exhibit will be open until Nov. 15, when he and community members pull down and break open the piñatas used in the exhibit, for the Ulrich’s Makers and Masterpieces: Justin Favela’s Family Fiesta. Favela and his family will celebrate with food, dancing and music.
