2013
California-Pacific Triennial
Curated by Dan Cameron
Orange County Museum of Art
30 June - 17 November
featuring CARPAS by Hugo Crosthwaite

LAS CARPAS  |  installation  |   press  |  statement

EL PELADO  |  MISS BALA  |  LA NARIZONA

La Narizona translates as "Big Nose", i.e., someone who lies. It also hides the word Arizona, the United States border state directly north of the state of Sonora, Mexico, where carpas theaters flourished during the 1920s and 30s. The subject matter is a play on the myth of the Wild West that also satirizes the gun and immigration laws in this state. Jan Brewer, the current governor of Arizona, appears as both the “Corrupt Cop” character, as well as Annie Oakley, fastest gun in the west.

The canvas imagery is similar in aesthetic to 1950’s pulp men’s magazine covers, with lurid imagery and scandalous text. The imagery is of a police “round up” of illegal immigrants, as they are threatened and shot at in a manner that mimics the childish game of cops and robbers. The canvas presents a society overreacting in fear and violence against perceived foreign invaders, and in so doing violating its own notions of justice and fairness.

On the one hand, the painting is a comment on the state laws that entitles Arizona citizens to carry concealed guns in bars or restaurants, while on the other hand it criticizes the xenophobic stance that recent immigration laws, such as Arizona SB 1070, appear to embody for many of those most affected by them. It also presents Governor Brewer as a propagator of fear on the subject of crime related to illegal immigration, as evidenced by the false campaign statements made by her about decapitated bodies being found in the Arizona desert by law enforcement agencies.
Hugo Crosthwaite, 2013 California-Pacific Triennial
"La Narizona" - CARPAS, 2013
acrylic, graphite on canvas, 12 x 9 feet