Opening Reception on 3/15/2013, 6:00 PM at the Latino Cultural Center
The annual Maestros Tejanos series features the work of living Texas Latino artist Margarita Cabrera. Cabrera first became known for her soft-sculptures of commercial products such as coffeemakers and blenders manufactured at US-owned maquiladoras in Mexico to serve as reminders of the labor involved. In time, Cabrera's concern for the role of laborers who build American products outside the United States outgrew her interest in the objects themselves, and she began to organize projects that involved the work of artisans from immigrant communities. Cabrera's cross-cultural perspective allows her artistic practice to involve the political, social and emotional aspects of two distinct, yet closely connected cultures.
Margarita Cabrera is a Mexican-American artist, activist and organizer whose objects and activities address timely issues related to border relations, labor practices and immigration. Turning crafts and their manufacture into the vehicle for socio-political consideration, she questions con-temporary applications of post-NAFTA Latin American labor. Drawing upon local communities, Cabrera orchestrates the manufacture of soft, vinyl sculptures resembling backpacks, bicycles, potted plants, domestic appliances, pianos, and full-sized automobiles. Throughout the process, she works with displaced immigrants – organizing workshops and ad hoc corporations to close the gulf between third world production and first world consumption.
Opening reception is free and open to the public
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