An Archetypal Wheel for a Neo-Colonial Age

This past Thursday February 9 was the opening to my solo show Mcolonial Citizens at Petrus Gallery. Many visited the exhibition, reason for which I am grateful to all my friends, colleagues and art lovers that came by for the opening.   The level of professionalism of the gallery staff, the media coverage and public attention and response surpassed my expectations for which I am eternally thankful. At this exhibition I have a few paintings that brought up some questions that deserve answers concerning the meaning of some of these pieces. One of these was The Archetypal Neo-Colonial Wheel, a rotating piece that I created with oils on panel 28” x 28” and that I will briefly explain.

The Archetypal Neo-Colonial Wheel (2011-12)

Oil and Gold Leaf on Panel 28" x 28"

The idea started from a creative exploration departing from Tarot Imagery and particularly the imagery of the Mantegna Tarot. For this painting I was inspired on the card # 10 or Arcana Major 10 of the Tarot of Marseille which shows a wheel that is known as “the wheel of fortune”. The Tarot more than simply being a divination tool could be considered an encyclopedia of archetypes. The archetypes are universal energies that manifest themselves through art, religious iconography, mythology and in the end all aspects of human culture as well as in nature.  Astrology refers directly to these archetypes through the study of the planetary influences over humanity. There is a wheel in astrology also, known as the “Zodiac wheel” where all the twelve zodiac signs are distributed diametrically. The study of this material has been an inspiration for my work.

Arcana Major 10 from the Rider Waite Tarot

The Archetypal Neo-Colonial Wheel consists of four parts:

A central disk containing an image of the Virgin Mary and Jesus holding the Sun, the Moon and   the Earth.

   A second disk containing monochromatic images of twelve saints from the Catholic pantheon.

A third external disk containing images of the twelve neo-colonial characters represented 

in the Mcolonial Citizens series.

A support panel that depicts the four fixed zodiac signs at the corners and that also represents four aspects of our contemporary world.

Between the saints and the colonial citizens there are direct correspondences that are also connected to the archetypes discussed in the Tarot and Astrology. The following table describes briefly the selection and position of the characters on the Archetypal Neo-Colonial Wheel.  

Astrological Archetype	Tarot	Christian Iconography	Mcolonial Citizen Character	Represents:
Mars in Aries	Knight	Santiago Matamoros	Officer	Force
Venus in Taurus	Merchant	Saint Isidro Labrador	Consumer	Body, food, Consumption
Mercury in Gemini	Page	Santo Niño de Atocha	The Media	Transmitted Information
Moon in Cancer	Servant	Virgen de Regla	House wife	Maternity, Home
Sun in Leo	Artesan	Virgen de las Mercedes	Artist	Creation, Light
Mercury in Virgo	Beggar	Saint Lazarus	Beggar	Service, Lessons
Venus in Libra	Queen	Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre	Celebrity	Beauty
Pluto in Scorpio		Saint Francis	CEO	Corporations
Jupiter in Sagitarius	Duke	Saint Cristopher	Inmigrant Worker	Work, Inmigration
Saturn in Capricorn	Emperor	Saint Barbara	Politician	Government
Uranus in Acuarius		Saint Pantaleón	Protester	Revolution
Neptune in Piscis	Pope	Saint Peter	Pastor	Religion

As an artist I feel that the creative act has the purpose of finding correlations and reinventing the myths and doctrines that we have inherited in order to make them relevant and meaningful to our current world and daily lives. In my research I have found many common denominators between politics, religion and mythology and this has led me to be interested in learning more about the underlying archetypes that are expressed in all of these aspects of our global culture.

The collection of paintings from the Mcolonial Citizens series can be seen at Petrus Gallery and will be on display there until February 29 2012. For more information on this work and the exhibition you can contact the gallery at 787-289-0505 e-mail: infor@petrusgallery.com  Petrus gallery is located at Calle Hoare #726, Esquina Calle Las Palmas, Miramar, San Juan, Puerto Rico.