By Don Krim and David Russell
The drawings are brilliantly colored with furiously colliding yet harmonizing archetypal patterns, some ancient and some modern, evoking for me furious history becoming the baffling present and raising questions that all individuals, people, and great nations must repeatedly ask in order to evolve and continue to develop.
Their creator, artist Alberto Lenz, describes his new series of drawings “MEXICO” as expressing his vision of the country in these troubled years marked by a great crisis in three fundamental aspects: economy, health, and security. This creates a scenario in which many aspects of national life are questioned and in which it is not yet clear whether the country will move towards a better future or go back in history.
“My work explores the use of logic-based systems in the process of design and creation. These systems may be derived from mathematics, geometry, or game theory. In terms of form and artistic language I have two main sources of inspiration: pre-Columbian art, mainly Mayan architecture and sculpture, and Western constructivist and reductive art. Thus, my work is a blending of antiquity and modernity. My work includes sculpture, painting, and jewelry design all linked with geometric art and constructivism.”
The furious power of the images brings to mind the myth of the original Furies, the Greek “Erinyes,” who ferociously persecuted any who were faithless with friends, family, or community; especially parents to children, the vigorous to the aged, hosts to guests, the rich to the poor, and governments to dependents and suppliants–punishing such crimes by relentlessly hounding the culprits with physical disease, emotional despair, public tragedy, and terror. The myths teach us that the Furies can be tamed if the guilty gain protection by repentance, and then heed the reasoned counsel of Apollo by working with the cunning judgment of Athena, to bring out the positive aspect of the Furies called the “Eumenides,” the “Gracious Ones,” who project justice rather than vengeance and break the cycles of blood vengeance and power driven oppression.
Education is not only the single most important driver of socio-economic mobility and development but also the font of the work of the Eumenides. At Jóvenes Adelante we envision a twenty-first century Mexico that will depend upon a compassionate, highly educated, and competitive work force to meet challenges nationally and globally, a population that succeeds economically while transforming the Furies into the Gracious Ones.
Acclaimed local artist Alberto Lenz has been donating 50 percent of sales of recent works to Jóvenes Adelante students suffering financially during the pandemic. His “México” series is no exception. To be a part of that vision and future and to view and consider “México,” visit our website www.jovenesadelante.org