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So since my last post was an exhibition review, (not that I ever want to be an art “critic”) I figured I’d give another review of another great exhibit.  Ok, these aren’t “reviews”, they are my blurbs about great examples of rebel art and telling you all about it so you could check it out if you haven’t already/ create your own if you haven’t already.   This show, Santerians, is curated by Edgardo Miranda of Somos Arte and hosted at an organization very dear to my heart, the NYC-based Franklin H. Williams Caribbean Cultural Center/ African Diaspora Institute founded by Puerto Rican powerhouse/ warrior woman, Dr. Marta Moreno Vega.  For those not familiar with the center, for decades it has been the organization daring to celebrate and educate others on the rich and beautiful African heritage of Latinos.  They also highlight the necessary links between African-Americans, Cubanos, Boricuas, Jamaicans, Colombianos and on and on,  any and all of us who are born of the Diaspora. 

 So the Santerians exhibition features the work of Joe Quesada, raised in the melting sancocho pot of Jackson Heights, Queens.  Quesada, editor-in-chief for Marvel comics chose to pay homage to his late Cubano father in a new graphic novel entitled DareDevil: Father.  Within it, he pays further tribute to his Cuban heritage by introducing five superheroes infused with the powers of the Yoruba orishas Eleggua, Ochun, Chango, Oya and Ogun.  Santeria is the fusion of Catholicism with the faith of enslaved Yoruba people from West Africa.  The orishas (like Catholic santos) are intermediaries between humans and a Supreme power (God in Catholicism or Olodumare in Yoruba.) The orishas were sometimes human, like Chango, the 4^th kind of the city of Oyo, who upon death were blessed with special powers.  Quesada takes the characteristics of these five orishas to build the heroes of his Santerians series.    The exhibition featuring this new, exciting series is designed to showcase Quesada’s sketches and painted images, introducing each character.  Hosted in the venue that knows its African history, each superhero is presented in the corresponding colors and characteristics associated with their respective orisha:    Eleggua (or Nero as he’s called in the book) is painted in the orishas colors of red, black and white.  The wall is painted in these colors.  Eleggua is the orisha of the crossroads.  He helps open paths and doors and also has the power to close them and create confusion if necessary.  Eleggua grants permission for all major undertakings, which should never happen without his blessings.   Ogun, The orisha of war and iron is presented on a wall painted green, onto which the character has been painted, life-size, in black.  As the warrior that he is, Ogun has some serious, steel toe looking boots on, letting you know he could use them as a weapon if he needs to.  Always recognized by his colors red and white, Chango is the orisha of fire, thunder, lightning, passion and masculinity.  Again, Quesada paints his image with these colors on the walls of the gallery.   Ochun, The sweet goddess of love is painted in a gold outline on the yellow surface of the wall.  These are ochun’s colors, gold for the riches she promises, yellow for the sweet honey associated with her. As the goddess of love, beauty and sweetness she has the more standard female superhero gear of the bikini top and bottom, showing off her curves.  But what I like about Quesada’s image of Ochun is that she has these cool spectacles, hat and boots.  So although she’s cute, she still comes off as intelligent and bottom line is she could still kick ass if she needs to. Her cape also takes away from the sexy outfit and brings the emphasis back to how savvy she is.  For me Joe Quesada’s Ochun superhero is Bella meets bad-ass.   Oya, The warrior woman whose force lies in the winds is painted on a beautiful maroon colored wall in a metallic brassy-colored paint.  Like the brass bracelets representing the orisha, her figure rises out of the wall in an outline of this same color. The lines that encircle her body bring to mind her forceful winds that can be nurturing as a breeze or as destructive as those of a tornado.   The importance and “rebelarte” nature of a show like this is that the artist is presenting these orishas from the Yoruba faith in a dignified, powerful, beautiful light.  Imagine the empowerment young people can find in having superheroes hailing from the secret religion mami and papi practiced that the European colonizer said was evil, that the media said was devil-worship.  Partnering with scholor Marta Moreno Vega, Quesada presents these characters in truth and celebrates our history and heritage by tackling a theme that others might be afraid to. 

The show is on view through July 30^th, 2007 at the Caribbean Cultural Center, 408 W. 58^th Street, NYC

 For more information on Santerians:http://www.santerians.com/index.html 

For more information on Santeria:

The Altar of My Soul: The Living Traditions of Santeria by Dr. Marta Moreno Vega

One World Books, Ballantine Press