“En Cada Arbol una Cruz” by Einar and Jamex de la Torre, 2000, blown-glass, mixed-media sculpture, 28 by 21 inches. Photo courtesy of Einar and Jamex de la Torre and Koplin Del Rio Gallery.

By Karla Klein Albertson

CORNING, N.Y. — Glass is a basic material that we handle in utilitarian form everyday. But, in the hands of artists, this material bursts into colorful, elaborate and humorous forms. A perfect example is the “Collidoscope” exhibition of around 40 works, spanning almost three decades, by contemporary masters Einar and Jamex de la Torre, currently on view at the Corning Museum of Glass.

The twists and turns of the brothers’ distinctive technique stems from the unusual conditioning factors which shaped their lives. Einer de la Torre was quoted in the Corning’s opening statement: “The complexities of the immigrant experience and contradicting bicultural identities, as well as our current life and practice on both sides of the border, really propel our narrative and aesthetics.” Among other influences, the pair mentioned religious iconography from many sources, German expressionism and Mexican vernacular arts.

The travelling show is a collaboration between the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino (Washington, DC) and The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum (Riverside, Calif.), where it opened in 2022.

A wide view of the “Systems and Cycles” grouping. From left to right: “Melancoholia (Melancholy),” “Examen del Conejo (Rabbit Test),” “El Monstrua Tuerto (One-Eyed Monster),” “Especies invasivas (Invasive Species),” “El sueño de Trotsky (Trotsky’s Dream),” “Baja Kali, Ya Sabritas (You Know Already)” and “Transdiferenciación 2 (Transdifferentiation 2).” Photo courtesy the Corning Museum of Glass.

Tami Landis, the Corning’s curator of Postwar and Contemporary Glass, spoke with Antiques and The Arts Weekly: “This project started about seven years ago with the brothers. Cheech Marin was heavily invested in that moment and a collector of the brothers’ work. He said, ‘if we’re going to be opening this museum, I want the de la Torre brothers to be the first exhibition that we launch.’”

She continued, “Our museum signed up to receive 40 mixed-media sculptures and we could decide where and how they were displayed with some guidelines from the Smithsonian.” The Corning, however, is the only location where glass makers have the facilities to actually create work on-site. The exhibition opened May 18 and, during the two weeks leading up to that, the brothers were in the Amphitheater hot shop, where visitors and staff observed them making their works in real time.

The curator explained, “They’re known for the finesse and charisma they bring to the hot shop. They have this beautiful relationship and language — the pieces are heavy, the work is challenging. Their process is additive, meaning the material and the ways and means.”

“Feminencia” by Einar and Jamex de la Torre, 2020 (Side A), archival lenticular print with resin castings and waterjet-cut aluminum frame, 89 by 65 by 4 inches. Photo courtesy of Koplin Del Rio Gallery.

Walking through the show she said, “‘Feminencia’ is a really dynamic piece; that’s the first display that greets people as they walk into the exhibition. It was made in 2020, and the brothers had come off some extensive European travels at that time. Some of the projects were responding to times and places that influenced them — appropriate themes from different ages and cultures.”

“The brothers like to collide influences and cultures. They don’t just stop with the art. Titles can be a play on words, thus ‘Collidoscope.’ ‘Oxymodern’ came to life around 2000, a nod to ideas about time and calendars. The brothers use the heart a lot in their work. There is dark humor and you always see the play between life and death in their work.”

This show is on display in the contemporary art and design wing, which is not the museum’s usual rotating exhibition space, so Landis feels this puts this work in direct conversation with other glass works produced over the last 20 or 30 years. “The brothers are exceptional at bringing layers of meaning to sculpture, let alone glass. Often people associate glass to a simple vessel or sculpture, but the singular technique of the brothers of fusing multiple layers to create something that has essentially a never-ending breadth of stories.

“The brothers want people to approach their work from any angle of life and to bring their own lived experience to the work. They want people to take them as they are. It’s a joy to have works that speak so directly to the human experience. And that’s not surprising because when we spoke to them, they were so smart and clever and hilarious, and they were inspiring teachers in the hot shop as well.”

“Oxymodern (Aztec Calendar)” by Einar and Jamex de la Torre, 2002, blown-glass, mixed-media wall installation, 120 by 120 by 12 inches. Photo courtesy of the Cheech Marin Collection and Riverside Art Museum.

Viewing the de la Torre creations in person or through photographs is a complex experience — not a 30-second “I get it!” flash. So, fortunately, the exhibition is accompanied by a vividly illustrated catalogue with a 3-dimensional cover available from the museum bookshop and online. As a publication, the volume — in its own way — is as unique a creation as the glassworks themselves. Perusing it before or after a visit is almost a must.

For those not lucky enough to be in the hot shop as they worked, there is a chapter written by the brothers titled, “Manifestus,” in which they share some of the motivations behind their process. In the section on “Identity,” they return to cultural influences. “We have always taken advantage of our migratory experience and our current multinational identity to nurture and outside read on culture, at our convenience, of course.” Although there are certainly themes that reflect Mexican culture and archaeology, influences from European art and Eastern religion pop up as well.

Another section deals with both why and how they do it. They write about “Crafty_Art,” “We have always been rooted in craft process; our making is an integral part of elaborating ideas. Yet, we have always felt that if art is the intent, one needs to have a dialogue with anti-craft as well. We like to say if you work in the love and service of a material, you are a craftsman; an artist is less sentimental, the material must work for art’s pursuits…. The truth is we do not hide our love for such an exquisite material, taking great joy in manipulating hot glass.”

“La Reconquista” by Einar and Jamex de la Torre, 2009, archival lenticular print in LED lightbox, 50 by 114 inches. Photo courtesy of Einar and Jamex de la Torre and Koplin Del Rio Gallery.

Landis spoke of the work as “additive.” There is the overall effect of a distance view, but looking up close, visitors will see tiny leaves, flowers, human faces — colorful ornament filling every centimeter. And that is the de la Torre brothers having fun working the glass.

In addition to input from the artists, the catalogue presents several essays from art historians and cultural experts that shed further light on the fusion between art and craft. Keeping in mind that some of the exhibits are not “pretty” in the usual fine art sense, Monserrat Sanchez Soter titled her chapter, “Transcultural, contemporary and ugly,” where she writes that the brothers have “…the freedom of practicing in a medium that presents specific challenges and scale limitations, from its beginning as pulverized materials, the necessary speed for its correct execution, and its process of assemblage, sculpture, and blowing….

“Through a broad repertoire of techniques, they manage to push these limits further with installations and public art commissions. Using glass as a talisman, which allows them to explore the international art scene and offer workshops in universities and specialized glass centers around the world, they have moved within the exclusive guild that is dedicated to this medium and, by exploring all its artistic potential, they have received important accolades that coincide with the acceptance of craftwork into museum spaces, with the validation of glass’ inherent merit, and of its expanded scope within contemporary art.”

“¡2020!” by Einar and Jamex de la Torre, 2020, mixed-media, blown-glass sculpture with resin casting, 33 by 22 by 14 inches. Photo courtesy of Koplin Del Rio Gallery.

The actual exhibition display is divided into four thematic sections, all of which feature a play on words like the show’s title. For example, “Hybrid Dislocations” includes some works referencing the Southern border, such as the 2014 “Garden of Earthly Delights.”

Another theme is called “Histerical Vignettes,” and it contains an exhibit which will satisfy viewer looking for a simple blown vase, although “Frijolera Clásica” (2010) also has a double meaning. The ancient reference is evoked by the colors — black, orange, and white — of classical Greek vases. Indeed, there is a maiden inside, similar to marble examples found on the Acropolis, as well as acanthus leaves and ancient coins. But the shape also reflects traditional Mexican clay bean pots. And yes — two human hearts appear as “handles” to bring it up to the impressive height of 31 inches.

In the final analysis, the relationship of a viewer to the works of Einar and Jamex de la Torre is extremely personal — a surge of memory, a response to color, confusion, pleasure — being fused to the spot in analysis. No art historical commentary or even explanations by the artists supersede these responses. And that’s why “Collidoscope” is such an appropriate title for its sensory impact.

The exhibition will continue to travel after closing at the Corning on January 5. The West Coast will be able to view the glass again when it is on display at the Crocker Art Museum (Sacramento, Calif.), February 9 through May 4. The show then moves back to the East Coast for a run at The Mint Museum (Charlotte, N.C.), June 7 through September 21.

The Corning Museum of Art is at 1 Museum Way. For information, www.cmog.org or, to learn more about the artists and their other works, www.delatorrebrothers.art.