By Mason Fujikawa
The Tipping Point is a two-story installation at the Laguna Art Museum by Einar and Jamex de la Torre. The de la Torre brothers, glassblowers by trade, are prolific mixed-media artists who have exhibited internationally for over thirty years. Born in Mexico and raised in the United States, they work between Baja and Alta California. Their distinctly playful, maximalist style refers to classical and pre-Columbian sculpture, Catholic iconography, American pop culture, and more. In this exhibition, the de la Torre brothers examine civilization at a cultural, political, and environmental tipping point.
More than a collection of artworks, The Tipping Point is a world of its own. The gallery is adorned with wallpaper, furniture, and taxidermied animals dressed in top hats and gold jewelry. In addition to the blown-glass sculptures and lenticular photomurals, the brothers incorporate found objects. The subversion of these objects gives the exhibition its eccentric character: it’s like an antique store come to life.
The exhibition begins with a series of sculptures about the Spanish conquest of the Americas: Nueva España, Octolmec, and Plunder of Catholic Kings. These works draw a parallel between the exploitation of the New World by European empires and the exploitation of the world today by the wealthy.
At the center of the gallery, borrowing a visual metaphor from Mexican surrealist Luis Buñuel, an extravagant banquet table with a white lace tablecloth and gilded chandeliers hosts a feast. However, the dishes are replete not with food and wine but with blood, organs, and the corpses of children. The bottom of the table, highlighted by a mirror, is lined with intestines. The brothers make no attempt at subtlety. It’s so gory it’s absurd.
The Jungle, a diptych of prints, replaces immigrants crossing the border from Mexico into the United States with meat. They enter raw and leave processed and packaged, ready to be consumed. The title references the 1905 novel by Upton Sinclair, which brought attention to poor working conditions in meatpacking plants through the story of a family of Lithuanian immigrants.
The exhibition touches on just about everything in the zeitgeist, from artificial intelligence to food waste. As a result, not every subject is afforded the same depth. Instagram de la Muerte, a blown-glass sculpture of “Death” scrolling through social media, is a miss. The concept is trite, and the critique is shallow, especially compared to the rest of the exhibition.
The Tipping Point is strongest when the brothers combine their practices. Oedipus Christi, for example, is a lenticular photomontage that appropriates various Madonna and Child paintings from the Northern Renaissance. The severed arms of plastic figurines are fused to the surface, the glue dripping down like blood. A blown-glass portrait of Jesus crowned with thorns looks out at the viewer. The swollen, bloody visage with its jet-black hair and bulging green eyes clashes with the pristine baby Jesuses. It’s three-dimensional, mixed-media, and uniquely de la Torre.
In The Tipping Point, Einar and Jamex de la Torre assemble disparate symbols, stories, and materials to create an orgy of excess. It’s a funny, disturbing, and ambitious installation that must be seen in person to be fully appreciated.
The Tipping Point by Einar and Jamex de la Torre
August 1–January 24
Laguna Art Museum
307 Cliff Drive
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
