Aún los Gallos Lloran (even roosters cry)

Date/Time

09/04/2022 2:00pm

Location

Mass MoCA (1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247, North Adams MA)

Nationally acclaimed artist Armando Guadaloupe Cortés activates his installation Castillos — on view in the exhibition Ceramics in the Expanded Field — with a performance exploring his Mexican roots, while using the traditional sport of cockfighting as a metaphor for the rituals of masculine bravado and the relationships between men.

Cortés’ works engage the stories embedded in objects and materials, honoring the traditions and folklore of Mexico, as well as his own memories of Urequío, a small farming town in Mexico where he was born. In his new installation Castillos (2021), Cortés envelops the gallery’s columns in a wood and adobe structure.

Artist Armando Guadalupe Cortés will perform at the opening of Ceramics in the Expanded Field, a new exhibit at Mass MoCA. — Artist Armando Guadalupe Cortés performs to activate his installation in Ceramics in the Expanded Field, a new exhibit at Mass MoCA.

Armando Guadalupe Cortés’ 'Castillo' honors the people and the land in his native Mexico with vividly bright seeds as well as stones, feathers, figurines and more, at Mass MoCA. — Armando Guadalupe Cortés’ ‘Castillo’ honors the people and the land in his native Mexico with vividly bright seeds as well as stones, feathers, figurines and more, at Mass MoCA.

Armando Guadalupe Cortés’ 'Castillo' honors the people and the land in his native Mexico with alabaster and grinding stones as well as feathers, figurines and more, at Mass MoCA. — Armando Guadalupe Cortés’ ‘Castillo’ honors the people and the land in his native Mexico with alabaster and grinding stones as well as feathers, figurines and more, at Mass MoCA.

Armando Guadalupe Cortés’ 'Castillo' honors the people and the land in his native Mexico with clay and gold, as well as obsidian and stones, feathers, figurines and more, at Mass MoCA. — Armando Guadalupe Cortés’ ‘Castillo’ honors the people and the land in his native Mexico with clay and gold, as well as obsidian and stones, feathers, figurines and more, at Mass MoCA.

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Reaching across both time and distance, the materials reference the traditional clay-based buildings of Mexico and how they are often adapted with the wood construction introduced by German immigrants (who farmed cedar) in the former Northwest of Mexico (today’s American Southwest). This physical and metaphorical framework supports a collection of sculptural objects—many made with clay—that, like the hybrid architecture, reflect a mix of cultural influences.

A mask made from an armadillo and worn for Las Posadas (pre-Christmas celebration), bottled folk remedies for snake and scorpion bites, and a crown of thorns speak to both Indigenous and Catholic rituals and traditions, expressing the complexity of post-colonial cultural identities.

Cortés’ adobe structure also functions as a proscenium for a stage. The platform’s circular form is repeated throughout the installation: in an alabaster grinding stone (a material historically used for windows), clay discs embellished with gold and obsidian, traditional mezcal bowls, and brightly colored feather balls (referencing Meso-American creation stories).

The stage is inspired by the shape of a cockfighting ring. Cortés likens the bravado and posturing of a cockfight, a sport that has a long history in Mexico, to the exaggerated masculinity performed in the culture. This national pastime is also the inspiration for a performance in which the stage can be seen teetering from side to side, forcing the artist and his brother, Juvenal, to enact the precariousness and balancing act of relationships—the awkward dance between men.

The artist wears hand-hewn leather sandals which boast a blade like those attached to a fighting cock’s dew claw. The artists’ movements are recorded in the dusty layer of clay that covers the platform surface. With each successive performance, more marks are left behind, creating a palimpsest of these ephemeral events, layered and blurred like memories.

This performance is free with museum admission.

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