Local Tucson artists Michael Cajero and Alice Leora Briggs combined their individual art to create a common vision of a 21st century purgatory.
"Purgatorio" is their expansive mixed media installation currently showing at the Joseph Gross Gallery.
The product of this joint effort is a piece that highlights the socio-economic problems of the working class. Cajero, a former janitor, identifies with the working class and used that inspiration to develop his concept of "Purgatorio."
"Labor is treated like crap. They work these dumb jobs, and there are a few people on the top and the rest are not," he said.
"I know these people well, and that's what this is about: the people that do these jobs," Cajero said. "I find them very interesting. I told the director to invite the janitors. They might get a kick out of it ÷ homage to the janitor!"
Briggs further explained the meaning behind the exhibition's name.
"We are going to hell," laughed Briggs, who is also an adjunct instructor for the School of Art. "'Purgatorio' is a form of limbo. It is like waiting for sins, assets and liabilities to be assessed. That's how I see the situation with contemporary culture."
"Purgatorio" succeeds in delivering a very powerful social and political message about the current state of the world. The installation's efficacy coems directly from its uniqueness. The size and the artistry of the exhibit combine to deliver a powerful message of social suffering and stagnation. The expressive papier-m‰chŽ and Briggs' architecture are a refreshing alternative to standard 2-D art exhibit.
Emily Jantzen, a studio arts and women's studies freshman, found a message in "Purgatorio."
"The point was to bring awareness to society about the conditions today and how the past caused it to build up to that point. If everyone would stop and smell the roses, you would find out that there are no roses."
The exhibition is arranged to give the viewer a glimpse of different domestic scenes. The set, designed by Briggs, contains several rooms with aluminum siding and wallpaper with stock quotes. Briggs said her work had a modular feeling.
"I take it apart and put it back together like a set of tinker toys. I build new components every time. It gets bigger and bigger and bigger," she said.
The installation is an architectural structure designed by Briggs to provide a stage for Cajero's haunting papier-m‰chŽ figures.
Briggs' architecture provides an eerie, sterile setting for the figures sculpted by Cajero. The papier-m‰chŽ is manipulated by Cajero to give the figures a weightless, kinetic feel. The result is disturbingly lifelike.
While purgatory is halfway between heaven and hell, at "Purgatorio," you'll feel like you're a bit closer to heaven.