Visually loud, with loaded iconography and aggressive colors, the de la Torre brothers’ art is confrontational, humorous, and ironic. Born and raised in Mexico, Einar and Jamex de la Torre moved to Southern California in 1972. Dada and surrealist elements abound in their work, and they intentionally incorporate and re-interpret pre-Hispanic and Catholic motifs with a Dadaist or surrealist slant.
Detail of Like Moths to a Flame by Einar and Jamex de la Torre
The background photograph of Like Moths to a Flame, a mixed-media panel, was shot by the brothers at the St. Roch cemetery and chapel in New Orleans, and later manipulated in Photoshop. It shows the many offerings left by individuals to thank St. Roch (the patron saint of health) for their healing or to aid in their healing. The work, with furnace worked glass and found objects, references the centuries-old struggle between faith and reason. (2013.5.104, H: 76.2 cm, W: 121.9 cm, D: 24.1 cm.)
Like Moths to a Flame, Einar and Jamex de la Torre, San Diego, CA and Baja California Norte, Ensenada, Mexico, 2013. H: 76.2 cm, W: 121.9 cm, D: 24.1 cm. (2013.5.104)
Like Moths to a Flame, Einar and Jamex de la Torre, San Diego, CA and Baja California Norte, Ensenada, Mexico, 2013. H: 76.2 cm, W: 121.9 cm, D: 24.1 cm. (2013.5.104)
View the full collections record: http://www.cmog.org/artwork/moths-flame