JOSE VARGAS
CURATOR / ARTIST

The 2005 El Corazón Exhibition was curated by JOSE VARGAS, a Dallas art photographer who has been coordinating the annual El Corazón and La Virgen de Guadalupe art exhibitions for the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs for the last 14 years.

Mr. Vargas, an active visual artist himself, has displayed his works extensively in local and regional venues. Mr. Vargas is currently exhibiting a series of mixed media photographs in a show at the Ursuline Hall Gallery at the Southwest School of Art and Craft in San Antonio, Texas.
LINK TO URSULINE HALL GALLERY WEBSITE

CURATOR'S STATEMENT

The heart is the connector between Spirit and Earth.
Working with the (human) heart icon allows artists the opportunity to express their feelings and ideals about our emotional state or lack there of.

All persons have feelings/emotions. Artists express/convey these feelings/emotions into visual display for the rest of us to view, enjoy, and experience from a spectator stance, at times making a connection to these visual, symbolic expressions.

El Corazon is a show about hearts, passionate, humorous, unstable, broken or otherwise; color, texture, design; emotions such as joy, sadness, love, unrequited love and the rest of the wonderment felt by our human senses and conditioning.

The first El Corazon Art Exhibit was held at Club Dada in 1993. Afterwards all of the shows have been held each year consecutively at the Bath House Cultural Center, (except for one year when the facility was closed for renovation; no exhibit was held that year).

The idea for the show is based on a card (#27) from the Loteria, a Mexican bingo game. I am not sure, but I think that the game was started sometime in the 1930’s. I have never played the bingo game, but I enjoy looking at the images printed on the various (colorful) cards. There was something about that card #27 (El Corazon) that caught my eye immediately. The bloody red heart, floating in mid-air, with an arrow shot through it! Now, that is ART!

The exhibit features a large number of local artists from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, as well as some regional artists from the Austin/San Antonio area. The artwork on display is innovative and diverse. Both professional and emerging artists are involved. Mediums represented include: paintings, photography, sculpture, and a variety of mixed media.

The El Corazon show focuses on the Heart, a popular and recurring theme in the Latino and Mexican-American cultures. The exhibition provides a visual nourishment to the community and an encouragement to the participating artists.

It’s one of my favorite exhibitions! I get to meet with some really interesting artists. It’s always a pleasure to work with such individuals. I feel fortunate to have such great talent participating in my El Corazon shows. It’s a lot of hard work, but well worth it!
I wish to thank all of the artists that have participated in ALL of the El Corazon Exhibits. I also would like to thank the City of Dallas, Office of Cultural Affairs, and the staff at the Bath House Cultural Center for their assistance. And thanks to all of you that come out to see the art and show your support!