FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Teresa Parker Farris 504.314.2406 / [email protected]

HECHO EN MÉXICO: NEWCOMB ART GALLERY PRESENTS THREE EXHIBITIONS SHOWCASING THE ART AND ARTIFACTS OF

(, LA) The Newcomb Art Gallery at Tulane University is pleased to announce De Ser Árbol featuring the drawings of acclaimed Mexican artist Sandra Pani. Two companion shows, Las Delicias: The Drawings of William Spratling, Artist and Entrepreneur and Treasures of Darkness: Spanish Colonial Silver from the Middle American Research Institute showcase works borrowed from Tulane’s distinguished collections of Latin American art and artifacts. The three shows will be on view from January 17 through March 3, 2013.

Sponsored in part by the Consulate General of Mexico, New Orleans, De Ser Árbol, translated as “of being a tree,” creatively expresses the process of dissolution, reintegration, and the emergence of new life. Pani explains that although the drawings trace a personal map expressing her identity, “They are not only about me, nor for me. They are at once profoundly personal and archetypal.”

In each of the drawings, references to the body and the tree are veiled but still speak to the fact that living creatures share universal designs, in spite of adaptations and permutations. The artist cites as examples the ethereal lightness of the capillarity of a leaf and the veins of a hand as well as the verticality of the human spine and the trunk of a tree.

Accompanying the exhibition will be Las Delicias: The Drawings of William Spratling, Artist and Entrepreneur, a selection of silver design sketches curated by Newcomb College alumna and jewelry designer Mignon Faget. The show features works from the Latin American Library at Tulane University and underscores the entrepreneurial legacy of Spratling and the generations of artisans involved in the silver industry. Finally, Treasures of Darkness: Spanish

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Colonial Silver from the Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University presents a selection of mixed-media objects, both sacred and profane.

The exhibition opens next Thursday, January 17 with a festive gathering featuring the music of El Mariachi Jalisco and Latin-inspired food and drink from Rox. The event is free and open to the public.

EXHIBITION EVENTS Opening reception, with music of El Mariachi Jalisco Thursday, January 17, 6-8 pm Woodward Way Breezeway

Exhibition walk-through, with Sandra Pani Friday, January 18, 1:30 pm Newcomb Art Gallery

Piñata-making workshop Saturday, January 26, 10 am Woodward Way Breezeway

ABOUT THE GALLERY The Newcomb Art Gallery is dedicated to enriching the cultural and intellectual life of the Tulane University and New Orleans communities and to sustaining the creative spirit of Newcomb College. Free and open to public, the gallery is located in the Woldenberg Art Center on the Tulane University uptown campus. Hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 to 5 and Saturday and Sunday 11 to 4. For more information, please call Teresa Parker Farris at 504-314-2406 or visit www.newcombartgallery.tulane.edu.

Funding for the gallery and its exhibitions and programs are provided in part by Tulane University’s School of Liberal Arts and Newcomb College Institute. Additional support comes from John F. Clemmer Fund, Elizabeth Jane Moody Fund, Elise Levy Steiner Fund, Jane Whipple Green Art Fund, Evelyn Burton Shaddock Murray Art Fund, Ruth Dermody Sterling Art Fund, and Carol Weiner Sandfield Art Fund.

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Images: Sandra Pani, Cuerpo árbol II [detail], 2007. William Spratling, Long Jade Tubes and Gold Beads Necklace with Blue and Green Jade Discs Collar, c.1955. Spratling-Taxco Collection, The Latin American Library, Tulane University.

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