Latest news with #MichaelTracy:TheElegyofDistance
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Faith, pain and danger: See the art of late Texan Michael Tracy in San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO — Has there ever been another Texas artist like the recently deceased Michael Tracy? The sculptor, painter and maker of rare objects — as well as sometime magus who oversaw fantastically staged rituals — lived his life as an expansive art project, especially since 1978, when he established sprawling studios and residences in tiny San Ygnasio, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border. "He was big, much bigger than life," says retired graphic artist Lorne Loganbill, who got to know and admire Tracy during the 1990s. "His art was big, his opinions were big, his passions were big. His studios and living spaces were full of sights, sounds and smells that were overpowering, earthy and exciting. Art, religious iconography and crumbling relics of different cultures accented his panels, canvases, bronzes and over-sized mesquite furniture, and created a warm and welcoming environment — with an edge of danger." We'll get back to that "edge of danger" soon. More to do in San Antonio: Do visit the Pearl District, a jewel among the city's tourist sites Now admirers and detractors, veterans and rookies alike can experience a slice of Tracy's visions through "Michael Tracy: The Elegy of Distance," a right-sized exhibit at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio through July 17. Originally from Ohio, Michael Tracy earned degrees from St. Edward's University and the University of Texas at Austin. In 1978, he set up sprawling studios in San Ygnacio, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border. This is Tracy at the Zaragosa Dominguez Studio, Jan. 21, 2015. What will we see at the McNay Museum? The McNay — a former residence that sites atop a gorgeously landscaped hillside that has been expanded during the past decades to include modern galleries and other amenities — is the natural venue for this show, in part because the museum was the first to give Tracy an exhibit in 1971. In addition, while Tracy's former home base in San Ygnacio lies 200 miles south in Zapata County, San Antonio is a natural cultural gateway to South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. Michael Tracy's expansive work draws from ancient traditions, especially Catholic iconography. In the foreground at the McNay Art Museum is "Resurrection" (1980-2000). This is by no means a comprehensive retrospective. Many of the pieces installed in the six galleries at the McNay date from this century. You will not stumble on any photographic or video evidence of his startling performances, for instance, or see any of his truly monumental work, which could encompass the entire village of San Ygnacio. Instead, "The Elegy of Distance" satisfies a hunger for his densely saturated art in confined, but not crowded spaces. If you access the McNay through the main lobby and walk past the "Sport and Spectator" exhibit, you are faced with a choice of entries. Each preliminary room — one introduced in Spanish, the other in English — instantly confronts the viewer with sensory overload in the form of multiple paintings grouped in series. The first thing one notices are the colors. Lots of colors that, in a knee-jerk way, might remind one of India, Mexico — or maybe a counterculture festival in the 1960s. Look a little closer to see the vast topographies of accumulated acrylic paint on wood panels. One can't help wondering how Tracy manipulated the paint so that it resembles sculptural clay. It might take a few seconds to focus on the faint images of objects and symbols hidden in the mounds of paint. Take the time. More on San Antonio Meet me in San Austin: It's time to explore the idea of an Austin-San Antonio 'mega-metro' The next three rooms are devoted mostly to Tracy's sculpture, some of which has been mixed with other elements for muscular, aggregated works of art. Here the artist's Catholic iconography is not subtle. Altars, hearts, medals, relics and architectural remnants pile up, often pierced by knives, spikes, scissors or swords. Rarely overstated, Tracy weaves in references to border policies, forced labor, social justice or environmental disaster. This is our invitation to the artist's "danger zone": A type of faith that is obsessed with death, pain, blood, sacrifice, guilt, fear, decay, martyrdom and bodily harm. At the same time, one absorbs the baroque beauty of it all, the layers upon layers of feeling and visions materialized. He once wrote: 'To carve an aesthetic out of realization of pain, suffering and death — can one live doing that?' The final room functions like a devotional chapel. The lighting is low and the walls are dark. Directional lighting picks out paintings and sculpture, but also two benches hewn from mesquite and backed by the instantly recognizable Tracy grillwork. Spend time here. Echoes of Houston's Rothko Chapel are unavoidable. But while the viewer is invited to contemplate the unseen infinite within Mark Rothko's finely graded fields of color, one is more likely to peer deeply into Tracy's images to engage actively with the religious symbolism. Tracy has absorbed an immediate, heavy, visceral form of Catholicism, or in some cases, Hinduism or Indigenous spiritual traditions. Intense, electric colors saturate Michael Tracy's paintings, informed in part by his travels in South Asia and Latin America. Although the thickly encrusted paintings look entirely abstract from a distance, they contain ghostly images of real objects and religious symbols. Who was artist Michael Tracy? Although Tracy was discovered and rediscovered by art commentators from the East and West Coasts, this artistic "maximalist," as Glasstire digital magazine aptly called him in a tribute article, remained for much of his career a Texas phenomenon. A native of Ohio, Tracy earned his first college degree at St. Edward's University in Austin. After study back in Ohio at the Cleveland Institute of Art, he picked up his MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. Residences in Galveston and other charismatic spots — as well as travels to South Asia and Latin America — seemed to lead indirectly to his studio, home and party life in San Ygnacio, a town of 500 or so souls on the Rio Grande. More on San Antonio: Not the Alamo: Fields near San Antonio yield evidence of deadliest battle in Texas history Although he devoted much of his later life to preserving the historical fabric of that town, while bringing artists from around the world to work there, not all locals liked him, especially when masses of his admirers gathered to take part in rituals such as "The River Pierce: Sacrifice II" in 1990, which included nude participants covered in mud, or the ritual burning of the artist's cross-like "Cruz: La Pasión" (1982-1987). Tracy soaked it all up, missing almost nothing about his stretch of the border. 'Living on the 'northern' edge of the Rio Grande, on what officially is the edge of Latin America has had immeasurable impact on my life and work," Tracy wrote. "I have had a front-row seat in the ongoing drama of two distinct cultures hemorrhaging into each other; the physical migration itself, the cultural nullity, the sociological angst and despair, and the legal miasma. The monstrous political cynicism has infected my soul and heart, and probably my body.' For those who have followed Tracy's career — which faded in the 21st century, I'm not sure why — you will be delighted to know that the McNay team, led by curator René Paul Barilleaux, has assembled many pieces that have never before have been exhibited in public, displayed side-by-side with older works. Part of me, of course, longs to see a more comprehensive exhibit, that the visitor could absorb bit by bit over the course of months. That might happen in the future with help from the Michael Tracy Foundation — and the related River Pierce Foundation — both directed by Christopher Rincón. On the other hand, I'm grateful for the highly selective show at the McNay, which is just about the right size to absorb such overwhelming art on a pleasant spring afternoon. "Although the artist withdrew from the museum and gallery ecosystem for years, the issues his work addresses have become increasingly urgent," Barilleaux says. "The McNay's exhibition will bring attention to this significant American artist's work, introducing a new generation to him." Michael Barnes writes about the people, places, culture and history of Austin and Texas. He can be reached at mbarnes@ Sign up for the free weekly digital newsletter, "Think, Texas," at One room in the Michael Tracy exhibit at the McNay Art Museum combines the Texas artist's paintings, sculpture and furniture, which one can use for contemplation. 'Michael Tracy: The Elegy of Distance' When: Through July 27 Where: McNay Art Museum, 6000 North New Braunfels Ave., San Antonio Tickets: Up to $20 (multiple discounts available) Info: This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texan Michael Tracy's legacy lives on at McNay Museum in San Antonio
Forbes
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Rediscovering Michael Tracy At The McNay Art Museum In San Antonio
"Michael Tracy: The Elegy of Distance" installation view at McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. 'Michael Tracy: The Elegy of Distance' at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio shares more than the artist's work, it shares his world. San Ygnacio, TX, where Tracy (1943-2024) lived and located his studio beginning in 1978. The Texas-Mexico borderlands. Mexico City, where he also had a studio, spending a great deal of time there beginning in the 1970s. India, where he traveled regularly for two decades, making jewelry. 'It's very much an environmental experience,' exhibition curator René Paul Barilleaux told about the presentation. 'It a complete immersion into a world that he conceived.' Sights, sounds, and smells converge across six galleries. Yes, smells. The exhibition features bespoke aromas. 'It was always going to be an incense scent,' Barilleaux remembers. 'We had discussions about whether it's the kind of incense used in Roman Catholic ritual, a kind of frankincense incense, or if it (was) going to be incense like you find in India. In the end, we decided to focus on the scent you would smell in India. It has a more floral scent to it, and it's pumped out of a little diffuser that's in the gallery that wafts into the air.' Barilleaux began working with Tracy on the exhibition in late 2023 all the way through the artist's death in June 2024. 'The Elegy of Distance' marks the final presentation of his work Tracy was directly involved with. As such, the show takes on his personality in a way posthumous exhibitions typically can't. 'He was certainly strong willed and had very specific opinions about everything, but that was helpful because we came to understand what he wanted out of this project, the kind of imagery he wanted to show, the mood he wanted to set,' Barilleaux said of the notoriously cantankerous artist. 'His personality was really helpful to me in formulating what this show would look like.' And sound like. The exhibition features an original soundscape by musical composer Omar Zubair, who Tracy was acquainted with. '(Zubair) created five different soundscapes that alternate through the space. As you move through (the exhibition), you hear different kinds of sounds,' Barilleaux explained. 'Sometimes nature. Sometimes more like a ritual sound. Sometimes it's the sound of bells chiming, all these different kind of sound experiences, sometimes it's just silence.' "Michael Tracy: The Elegy of Distance" installation view at McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. A moody, darkened, meditative gallery recalls a chapel. Tracy was raised Roman Catholic in the midcentury with all its attendant repression. Even more so for Tracy, who was gay. His artwork is flush with references to the church. 'Even from the beginning, he was borrowing from the kind of theater and pageantry of Catholic ritual,' Barilleaux said. 'Things like processionals, the various kinds of sacred objects, he was fascinated by all of that, so he incorporated that into his work. Drawing on liturgical vestments, garments, he even designed liturgical vestments, all of that theater you find in Catholicism, he was drawn to that.' Art history as well. As perfectly stated by Texas-centric arts publication Glasstire, '(Tracy) incorporated the dramatic sensuality of European baroque painting and the vivid pageantry of Catholic ritual.' This particular elongated gallery has benches on either side for visitors to sit, recalling pews. 'Michael designed furniture, designed jewelry, and did a lot of other projects that helped sustain him over the years when he was not selling his paintings so rapidly; we wanted to bring that into the show,' Barilleaux said. 'That was one of the other things about Michael's process, he worked with a lot of crafts people who would make things to compliment what he was working on and to incorporate in his environments.' "Michael Tracy: The Elegy of Distance," installation view at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. Most museum goers won't be familiar with Tracy unless they were similarly engaged with contemporary art, particularly in Texas, in the 1970s, when Tracy was a rising star. Poetically, in 1971, the McNay, then the Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, hosted Tracy's first-ever museum exhibition, 'Seven Gold Paintings.' Tracy was a big deal then, fresh out of the University of Texas at Austin with a master's degree in studio art. Avant-garde. Bold, maximal artworks challenging religion and American intervention in Latin America. Provocative performance art pieces. He had a major presence in San Antonio at the time with devoted collectors and dealers, leading to the first McNay show. Tracy then made the unusual choice of unplugging from the art world, moving from Galveston to tiny San Ygnacio, population under 1,000 along the Rio Grande, a town as much Mexican as American. His self-imposed exile slammed the breaks on his ascendant career. 'He was interested to get out of the urban environment he was in in Galveston and Houston and the crazy art world that was coming to be there,' Barilleaux explained. 'He was looking for solitude. He was looking for a place where he could just focus on his work. Someone took him to (San Ygnacio) and he fell in love with it. He was particularly interested in migration, and the people who were migrating through, crossing the border, the stories you would hear, the people you would meet.' In a passage from Tracy's 1992 book 'The River Pierce: Sacrifice II, 13.4.90,' he states: 'Living on the 'northern' edge of the Rio Grande, on what officially is the edge of Latin America, has had immeasurable impact on my life and work. I have had a front-row seat in the ongoing drama of two distinct cultures hemorrhaging into each other; the physical migration itself, the cultural nullity, the sociological angst and despair, and the legal miasma. The monstrous political cynicism has infected my soul and heart, and probably my body.' Mostly forgotten, even in Texas, when Tracy resurfaced and reconnected with McNay officials, what they found was astonishing. 'The bodies of work that we saw had not been seen by anyone,' Barilleaux said. 'It was like this operatic crash of works that needed to be seen. We felt this energy that needed to be exposed and that we needed to bring forth to the public.' Surveying the second half of Tracy's six-decade career through more than 50 objects, 'The Elegy of Distance' is anchored by large paintings hanging nearly ceiling to floor. The works, many of which Tracy selected before his passing, are made of thick paint, discarded supplies, sand and other materials referencing the desert landscape around San Ygnacio. The vivid colors and cultures of Mexico and India as well. 'Some of the same things he's drawn to in Mexico (attracted him to India); the street theater, the color, the climate, the sense of spirituality that's hanging over everything, the smells, the smell of incense, all of those sensual things,' Barilleaux said. 'The palette of his paintings is influenced by all those things he saw.' Mexico and India are a world apart, but share a fervor for vibrant public spectacles centered on religion, festivals and rituals Tracy found intoxicating. Tracy could go dark as well. Seven paintings from his 'Speaking with the Dead' (2013-2015) series ooze with varying shades of charcoal and black acrylic, thickly layered on the canvas to communicate the relationship between decay and preservation. Cruz de la Paz Sagrada VII (1980), a bracketed cross that stands more than 70 inches tall, is composed of heart-shaped Milagros, hair, swords, rosaries, human hair, spikes and scissors. Also included are sculptures and mixed-media objects from the artist's personal holdings alongside artworks on loan from other collections. These powerful works, rich with layered paint, found materials, sand and other organic elements, invite contemplation on themes of faith, ritual, immigration, and the environment. 'Michael Tracy: The Elegy of Distance' can be seen through July 27, 2025.
