I like the styrofoam hummer.
Posted on 06/30/2006 4:37:46 PM PDT by robowombat
New Mexico artist crushed by own sculpture
14 Jun 2006
Luis Jimenez, a Latin American sculptor whose work adorns public places across the U.S., has died after being crushed by his own sculpture. Part of the sculpture fell and pinned the 65-year-old artist against a steel support while it was being moved with a hoist at Jimenez's studio in Hondo, New Mexico, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff's office.
Jimenez was pronounced dead at a nearby medical centre.
His death is being termed an industrial accident and is under investigation, authorities said.
Jimenez, a native of El Paso, Texas, was often controversial because he crafted sculptures that touched on hot political topics.
"It is not my job to censor myself," Jimenez once said, according to the Associated Press. "An artist's job is to constantly test the boundaries."
His 1969 work Man on Fire was a sculpture of a man in flames that drew its inspiration both from Buddhist monks in South Vietnam who immolated themselves and the Mexican story of Cuahtemoc, set afire by Spanish conquerors.
That work was displayed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. His work has also been seen at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and is on display in public sites at the University of New Mexico and Albuquerque's Martineztown.
His 1996 sculpture Fiesta Dancers, in front of the El Paso's Fine Arts Centre, is a colourful fibreglass work that depicts fiesta dancers. Several Jimenez sculptures are civic landmarks in his hometown.
Works spurs arguments
Jimenez often reflected on Latin American history and culture with sculptures of a mourning Aztec warrior, steelworkers and illegal immigrants. He liked to portray people in their everyday lives.
It was work that often started arguments and spurred emotions.
"I think Luis shared this border region with the world. Those images will continue to live on," El Paso art gallery owner Adair Margo told the El Paso Times. "You look at the images he left us, you realize he was a voice that mattered, that gave form to this region and communicated it with people."
Jimenez learned to paint and fashion large metal images in his father's sign shop in El Paso. He studied fine arts at the University of Texas in Austin and spent time working in New York.
Recently, Jimenez completed a mud casting of firefighters with fibreglass flames as part of a memorial for the City of Cleveland. He was working on a piece destined for Denver International Airport.
"Luis Jimenez's loss to the United States, to New Mexico, to the Chicano community is great," his friend David Hall told Albuquerque TV station KRQE. "He was an icon, he was a very famous and well-respected artist. ... We will dearly miss him."
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/06/14/luiz-jimenez-obit.html
It's Snuff Art!
Mustang Sally, better slow that Mustang down...
I think Woofie may have pinged the group on this before.
In any case, you have great pings, but for the next month let Woofie or Sam Cree know. I'm away on a tour of southern battlefields for the month and although I may be checking on FR posts when I have internet, I won't be up to reliably ping the list.
I'll be back Aug. 2. "See" you then!
cruel
I did post an article on this ....I met Luis a few times..he was always a wonderful guy ...I miss him already. Sculpture aint for sissies
Have fun roaming about
What is the Smithsonian Institute?
Poetic, and appropriate.
Gravity can be a real B!tch sometimes.
Bump
At first I thought this was gonna be a Sante Fe, but this guy was actually from a "good" part of New Mexico.
Hondo is on the way to Ruidoso from Roswell. Along with Lincoln (of Billy the Kid fame), Capitan, and the Mescalerro Indian country, this is truely a beautiful little spot of the world. I shot my first Mule deer atop Arabella Pass justa few miles down the road from this guy.
-- be about Sante Fe --
Wow, that's great! I don't think I'll be doing a NAPL ping on this one - the world is poorer for losing this talented man.
Weird. What is it supposed to be? A wolf? It's not something I'd want on the coffee table.
A sad thing. I hadn't seen the previous post, somehow. Very nice work.
True. This is the part of the world I consider home.
susie
I like the styrofoam hummer.
That's the one over at UNM that name at the base is misspelled. It says, "Fiesa dancers"
Personally, I think it is pretty ugly.
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