March 25, 2004
Cultural imagery
comes to life in UH professor’s work
By Mike Emery
Staff writer
The
image of the American farmer will soon
have a highly visible presence on the University of Houston campus
thanks to a new addition to the campus’ collection of sculptures.
“Sodbuster, San Isidro,” by UH professor
of art Luis Jimenez, will be installed next to the Fine Arts Building
today. Standing at 7 feet tall and extending 24 feet long, the colorful
fiberglass construct depicts an ox-drawn plow driven by a white-haired
farmer.
The piece, which was created in 1981, is being transplanted
from the Irving Arts Center in Irving, Texas, and will be on long-term
loan to the university from Jimenez, who teaches courses in public
sculpture and figure drawing each spring.
“It’s very representative of my work,
and I’m happy to see it arriving at the university,”
he said. “I think it’s an image that’s very much
a part of our culture both as Americans and as Texans.”
Cultural imagery has long been an influence on Jimenez’s
work. His sculptures have blended such disparate subject matters
as wildlife and working-class heroism. “Sodbuster, San Isidro”
integrates these themes with its graphic depiction of an elderly
yet athletic farmer commanding the powerful oxen.
“The campus and system art acquisition committees
are pleased to bring a work by such an internationally known artist
to UH,” said Nancy Hixon, assistant director of Blaffer Gallery,
the art museum of UH and coordinator of university collections.
“This is a major addition to the university’s public
art collection.”
“Sodbuster, San Isidro” was originally
commissioned by the city of Fargo, North Dakota, with grant support
by the National Endowment of the Arts. According to Jimenez, there
are six versions of the sculpture located around the country, including
sites at Wichita State University and the Federal Reserve Bank of
Dallas.
Another of Jimenez’s works, “Vaquero,”
has become a longtime favorite public sculpture in the city of Houston.
The sculpture depicts a cowboy atop a bucking horse and has remained
in front of Moody Park since 1982.
Currently, the artist is beginning another project
that will be on display in Houston, a replica of social activist
Cesar Chavez for Cesar E. Chavez High School.
Jimenez’s flair for creating public sculptures
stems from his belief that art should be integrated in people’s
everyday lives. This philosophy impacts the theme of each sculpture
so that Jimenez is able to strike a chord with audiences from all
walks of life.
“I try to work on projects that function on
several levels,” he said. “I work with images that are
inspired by our culture. They’re not esoteric things that
are difficult to understand. They’re things people can relate
to.”
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