This beautiful painting comes from an artist by the name of Agustin Airola. Airola is a Yaqui Indian, born in Topolobambo, Mexico, who has lived in Barcelona, Spain, for the past 15 years. As a youth, he studied under artists in Finland, Holland, Rome and Madrid, but none of these contacts has erased the instinctive remembrance of Aztec carvings and Toltec murals from his work, or subdued the inherited impulses and cultural experience which brought these carvings and murals about.
Airola's heritage filters into his work, that borders on dream stuff. His animals are anteaters, armadillos, or “squirrel-hole” owls––figures known to every child of northern Mexico but strange to Europeans: Yet he redesigns them with the naive freshness of Paul Klee; bejewels them with real coins, burnished to an ancient patina, or with glowing line pulled in a gossamer web over shell, hide or skin, endowing them with the quality of myth, something unbelievable believed.
Some see his work tingles of old superstitions, treated lightly but respectfully, and vague remembrances of colonialism, “black” Catholicism and pagan rites. And there is also much of the native craftsman in it, not only in his richly surfaced cathedral portals, but in the “spun gold” hair of his little Meninas, and the fresco blues which seem to have come straight from the lining of the wayside shrines one sees along every Mexican road.
This piece is a very unique one for Airola, as it features a figure. The figure, which is presumably female, appears to be inspired by Neolithic depictions of women. She carries something on her head—a basket? A hat? A creature?—it’s definitely open to interpretation. Another thing that makes this piece so striking is the use of color. Not only are the colors beautiful, but they add a very interesting texture and feel to the piece. A final detail to note is that in the bottom righthand corner, the artist signs his name, “Airola ’61.” 20” x 17”
Exquisitely framed by Castelli Art Framing in Los Angeles.
