Enrique Alférez was born in Zacatecas, Mexico in 1901, but his artistic and cultural legacy transcended both national borders and the ephemeral nature of time. Life and art took him to Louisiana, where he spent almost 70 years producing sculptures that, among other sources of inspiration, drew from his personal life experiences and Nahua influence. Undoubtedly, Enrique Alférez created a lasting imprint in the architectural and public art landscape of New Orleans, and author Katie Bowler Young explores this and Alférez’s life-long oeuvre in her most recent book, published by The Historic New Orleans Collection.
Join the Cine Club, along with Katie Bowler Young (author of the book Enrique Alférez: Sculptor), Professor Jerónimo Duarte-Riascos (Latin American and Iberian Cultures, Columbia University), and Deborah Moreno Ornelas (Art History and Economics student, Columbia University) for a conversation about art that knows no borders and has multiculturalism at its core. After an introduction to Alférez’s life and art, we’ll explore the artist's sculptural body of work through the thematic lenses of migration, Nahua influence, and Mexico-US relations. We’ll reflect upon the power of art in public spaces and the intimate relationship between social and political conditions and art-making as a source of historical memory.
