DILUVIUM (2017) (detail)
At the time of writing this, it's been little more than a month
after Hurricane Harvey hit us in Texas. The level of destruction and flooding
here in Houston had no description, you just had to see it for yourself. At
this moment, we are still seeing not just the aftermath of Harvey, but of two
others, Irma and Maria. This year has seen some major destructive
hurricanes within just a month and hurricane season just started! My closest
family in Florida were affected by Irma. Maria has caused tremendous devastation
in the island of Puerto Rico. My hometown of Aguadilla was not spared from it
and my childhood home and studio destroyed. A considerable amount of artwork
from my early stages till recently are now gone forever. Over 30 years of work erased in the blink of an eye. These storms have affected so many of us in so many different levels. And even though my
family is ok... for now, I still haven't heard from many of my friends and fear
for their lives. Maria has now become a major humanitarian crisis with a
shamefully slow response from the U.S. government. Let's be reminded, this is
an American colony and the people from Puerto Rico are American citizens. It is the responsibility of the U.S. to take care of it's territories and peoples, otherwise let them be free.
SANTA JUSTICIA (2017)
Oil and gold leaf on panel 11.5 x 23.5 inches by Patrick McGrath Muñiz
These three catastrophic events
have hit me in a deeply personal level but Im also painfully aware of the
"natural" disasters occurring in Mexico, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh.
This all has had a powerful impact on me as well. Climate change is real and it
is affecting us all. And yes, I know we've always had hurricanes but the fact
that these are intensifying and becoming more and more common because of warmer
water and air conditions is a direct consequence of climate change. As
unregulated transnational corporations keep polluting and our dependence on
fossil fuel and rampant consumerist habits grow, we can only expect things to
get worse, a lot worse.
BRENDAN (2017)
Oil and gold leaf on panel 11.5 x 23.5 inches by Patrick McGrath Muñiz
As citizens of this world we
can no longer be immune or indifferent to the effects and most importantly the causes
of climate change. As an artist, a talented person with an extra
sensibility it would be totally unforgivable . Artists are story tellers, myth
makers and hope bringers. Our impact and influence on how the rest of us think
and feel should never be underestimated. We are potential agents of change. But art can also transform our understanding and
perception of history, nature, culture and even ourselves ultimately deciding
the Zeitgeist or collective spirit of the times and the course we take.
PLEGARIA (2017)
We could either despair and
loose hope in the future or we could get up and do something about our current
environmental crisis. Nothing good has ever come out of doing nothing so it's
worth giving action a chance, resist and fight back for a better world with
social and climate justice for all. Everyone can make a difference depending
on their abilities and gifts. Some celebrities have lots of money so they
donate their money to help others. Others work in politics and can put pressure
and challenge the establishment elite. The media could be doing a much better
job at investigating and communicating the root causes of climate change.
We, artists have our talents and art at our disposal in order to bring
awareness of the most important issue of our time: Climate Change. Do your research, learn from others, tell your personal stories and create art that educates and opens minds. Enough with modernity's obsession with individuality, progress, commodities and consumerism. Make art that's ecocentric, not egocentric. No more time for excuses, time to get to work !
