Art & Literature

After eight years as Los Angeles’ premier Latin music club and cultural melting pot, the Conga Room, co-owned by Jimmy Smits, Jennifer Lopez, Sheila E. and Paul Rodriguez, closed following a star-filled bash which included club fans like Eriq La Salle, Cedric the Entertainer and Larenz Tate. The evening featured heartfelt performances by legendary conguero Francisco Aguabella, L.A.’s leading Chicano band, Quetzal, and salsa master Johnny Polanco. The Conga Room’s owners plan to re-open the club in 2007 at the LA Live Entertainment Complex being built across from the Staples Center downtown.

Ford Motor Company’s Mercury brand has signed on to sponsor “Terra Nostra: Solamente Salma,” a series of actress Salma Hayek paintings by renowned film director Robert Rodriguez and accomplished muralist George Yepes. The exhibition features 16 acrylic on canvas paintings, each eight by five feet in size and will be on display at the Blue Star Contemporary Art Center in San Antonio, Texas, from April 7 until June 18, 2006.

Opera Colorado Education and Outreach Director Katherine Myers announced that Opera Colorado has commissioned Texas-born composer Robert Xavier Rodriguez and librettist Mary Medrick to create a new family opera based on Latin American themes. The new opera, entitled La Curandera (The Sorceress), will have its world premiere at the Eugenia Rawls Courtyard Theatre at the King Performing Arts Center on the Auraria Campus this coming spring. La Curandera will be performed in Spanish and in English.

In this generously illustrated book, world- renowned Yale art historian Robert Farris Thompson gives us the definitive account of tango, the fabulous dance of the past hundred years-and the most beautiful, in the opinion of Martha Graham.

From its syncretic evolution in the nineteenth century-partaking of European, Andalusian-Gaucho, and, unbeknownst to many, African [Kongo] influences-to its representations by Hollywood and dramatizations in dance halls throughout the world, Thompson shows us tango not only as brilliant choreography but also as text, music, art, and philosophy of life.

The philosophically and spiritually inspired works of Xul Solar, one of Argentina’s most important proponents of avant-garde art, are the focus of an exhibition to be shown for the first time in the United States at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Opening January 29, 2006, Xul Solar: Visions and Revelations features more than 90 paintings in oil, tempera, and watercolor, many of which have never before been exhibited, and includes Jefa (Patroness) (1923), newly acquired for the MFAH’s Latin American art collection.

Ethnic food gets turned on its ear with the release of the cookbook, Viva Mexican Food! These are the recipes of Martha Gonzalez Franco originally from Veracruz who currently lives in Mexico City.

Latin Chic: Entertaining with Style and Sass captures the best pan-Latin flavors and the unique spirit of Latin entertaining. Picture high heels, sexy women, handsome hombres, salsa music, exotic cocktails and irresistible food. Playful and practical, Latin Chic follows effervescent journalists Carolina Buia (Venezuelan) and Isabel González (Cuban-American) as they host parties in fabulous locations across Latin America.

In a bold move that reflects the growth of the Hispanic market across the country, International Galleries Inc. (IGI) launches their first advertising campaign in Spanish — targeting the Hispanic consumer instead of so-called mainstream America.

Following the success of the Maya exhibition in 2004, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco continues its commitment to showcase pre-Hispanic art at the new de Young museum, opening in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in October 2005.

The city was founded in 1706 based “on a lie”… it’s the 15th largest Hispanic market in this country and the highest metropolitan city on the U.S. mainland … many of its important civic leaders first came as tuberculosis patients… it’s a leader in high-skill employment, supporting public art, care of zoo animals and non-profit blood banking… and it’s home to the world’s biggest hot-air balloon festival.

These facts and many more facets of Albuquerque’s unique characteristics and fascinating history are covered in Albuquerque, ¡Feliz Cumpleanos! Three Centuries to Remember” by Dr. Nasario Garcia (assisted by freelance writer Richard McCord). The publisher, La Herencia, has released the book this month to honor Albuquerque’s Tri-Centennial celebration.