From: paullpd@aol.com (PaulLPD)
Newsgroups: alt.books.reviews
Subject: REVIEW: Hispanic Art
Date: 8 Apr 1995 22:10:58 -0400

Here is review of a new book on traditional Hispanic art:

"Charlie Carrillo: Tradition & Soul" by Barbe Awalt (Albuquerque: LPD
Enterprises, 1995) 128 pages, 293 color, 7 black-and-white photos.
Softcover, $39.95.

The northern New Mexico Hispanic tradition of devotional art (santos) has
recently become the new focus of the art community. Both Sotheby's and
Christie's auction houses in New York report staggering prices for
historic retablos (flat images on ponderosa pine) and bultos (three
dimensional carved images carved from cottonwood root). Collectors made
their annual feeding frenzy appearance at July's Spanish Market in Santa
Fe.

One of the artists who has led the rediscovery of this art form and who
always sells out at Spanish Market is Charlie Carrillo of Santa Fe. He
defies any preconceived notion of what a Hispanic New Mexican artist or
santero should be. He is a Doctoral candidate at the University of New
Mexico, a national exhibited artist with a long list of awards and honors,
and as evidenced by the Resource Guide in the back of "Tradition & Soul",
a widely published author and lecturer.

"Charlie Carrillo: Tradition & Soul" is the first book to document the
artistic development and career of a santero, one who carves and paints
devotional images of saints in the Northern New Mexican tradition. Charlie
learned by studying the works of masters like Molleno, Aragon, and
Fresquis who are represented in the collections of museums like the Museum
of International Folk Art or Taylor Museum. These artists and teachers of
the 1800s traveled from village to village in New Mexico sharing art for
churches and home chapels as well as telling stories and news from the
outside world.

Charlie Carrillo is a modern-day santero who relies on personal contact,
classes, and media publicity to spread the word of the Hispanic
traditions. Tradition & Soul clearly shows that Charlie Carrillo did not
start out creating masterpieces.  It is a sixteen-year odyssey of artistic
discovery that puts on each page multiple images of similar themes to
compare and contrast. The art work in the book comes from private
collections, museum vaults, the artist's archives, and from the churches
of New Mexico. The early pieces are simple and at times garish; it can be
seen how a personal style takes over and the depth of story, that Charlie
Carrillo is known for, shines through in later pieces.

What the reader or researcher will enjoy about "Tradition & Soul" is that
the authors have taken the time to find out the personal stories and what
Charlie was thinking about many of the pieces in the book. That
information is with each plate. Another first for this type of publication
are the Lenten and Christmas stories told by Charlie to the authors. For
anyone who grew up in a traditional household the stories are similar but
the local color is very different.

"Charlie Carrillo: Tradition & Soul" is a beautiful book that makes you
want to meet Charlie so he can tell you the stories personally. Inside the
front cover is a black and white photo of Charlie carving in his studio,
the smile tells it all.