Perspectives shift over time, creating a wealth of possibilities that make us uniquely human. Nowhere is that more apparent than within the cultural stratification of so-called minority societies. The month of May will present an opportunity to explore these shifts in cultural identity when Nopalitos Galeria hosts the Crossing Borderlines exhibition, opening Friday, May 2.
Pueblo, Colorado artist Tonio LeFebre thinks a lot about boundaries, cultural and otherwise. Born of mixed Pueblo and Hispanic heritage, he spent a lot of his early years living between cultures. As an adult he has dedicated his art to breaking down those boundaries to reveal the humanity underneath. He found a focus within the Chicano culture prevalent in Pueblo.
“My family moved from Las Cruces in the late 40s to work at the steel mill here,” he said from his Colorado studio. “We often went back and forth to visit family. My family is Piro and Tewa, so throughout the years we kept our ties to the native community, but living here in Pueblo, it seemed so far away from all that. The Chicano community here is very inclusive, embracing people from all cultures who don’t feel like they have a place in society. That’s the environment I grew up in.”
It was during one of those trips to Las Cruces to visit family that the idea for the Crossing Borderlines exhibition was born. It started when a waitress recognized him as he and his wife Wanda were dining at Nopalitos restaurant on Mesquite Street.
“She introduced me to the owner Victor Gallegos, and he said he was interested in maybe hosting a one-man show,” LeFebre recalls. “I said yes to the opportunity, but after looking at the gallery” an historic 1600 square foot adobe house with four bedrooms, built in 1920, “I realized right away that I didn’t have enough of my own work to display, so I asked him if he would be interested in me bringing some of my fellow artists from Pueblo to display their work with me.”
Victor agreed, and LeFebre returned to Pueblo and started connecting with artists he knew in the area. That process opened the project up to a variety of possibilities and mediums and showed him the wide-ranging implications of such a show.
“My first thought was to put together a Chicano-themed show, but the artists I talked to come from various age groups and experiences,” he said. “We all have different perspectives of what it means to be Chicano. Me and the older guys we grew up when activism and La Raza were part of the civil rights movement, while the younger people, they grew up in the lowrider and cholo version of the culture. So, instead of having the Chicano-themed exhibition, we would just do a Chicano artist exhibition, that way we can all exhibit our different perspectives on how we feel about our culture.”
Joining LeFebre in this show are muralist Eric Sarracino, who grew up in California and Gallup and is now working in watercolor; Jimmy Sanchez uses chalk to envision images of cacti and hummingbirds and also makes beautiful dreamcatchers; Dave Sanchez is more of a traditional Chicano artist, with lowrider and Dia de los Muertos elements; Victor Lucero is a professional muralist and painter who was born in Las Cruces and now lives in Central California; Celeste Santistevan is an illustrator who uses bright colors to talk about community; and Amanda Santistevan creates expressive portraits in a stylized graphic way to express cultural identity. LeFebre himself is a painter who uses Native American and Chicano subjects to express marginalized society, and whose work has been seen in shows at the Branigan Cultural Center.
Because the group has been working on their art since December, the show includes what LeFebre calls, “fresh art.” He said he’s expecting to have close to 150 pieces in this show, in order to utilize all of the rooms of the galeria. The opening reception on May 2 will also be making use of the outside patio, with music provided by Las Cruces group The Sons of Soul and Buffalo dancers from the pueblo, who will open the show with a blessing ceremony. Additionally, Nopalitos will supply a patio menu so attendees can order dinner.
“I really think the pieces will create a lot of conversation, which is what we want,” LeFebre said. “There are a couple of more political pieces, but mostly it’s about culture and beauty. We’re not there to tell anybody how to think, we just really want to make it a celebration of art and culture.”
Crossing Borderlines will run through the entire month of May at Nopalitos Galeria at 326 S. Mesquite St. in Las Cruces, with an opening reception from 5-9 p.m. on Friday, May 2, and a closing reception at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 31. For more information on the exhibition, visit the website at TonioLefebre.com
