On the Minnesota Museum of American Art’s floor lies the head of the 16th-century Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.
The piece is called “Tio,” the Spanish word for uncle. The San Diego-based Colombian artist Carlos Castro Arias recreated the bronze head of a monument that was toppled in Bogota in 2021. Here, it’s covered in colorful beadwork, inspired by the traditional beading of the Inga people of Colombia.
“The repercussions of the public murder of George Floyd rippled out throughout the world. They start toppling down monuments and this is one of them” said Xavier Tavera, a Minneapolis artist who was born and raised in Mexico City.
The sculpture is one of dozens on view for the new exhibition “Hilo de la Sangre,” or “Thread of the Blood,” now open at the St. Paul museum.
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
An embroidered photography installation by Minneapolis artist Maria Christina Tavera featuring the patio chair of her grandmother from Mexico City who recently died.
Courtesy Xavier Tavera
Tavera organized the exhibition with Grupo Soap del Corazón, an art collective he started 20 years ago with fellow Minneapolis artist Dougie Padilla. Both have work in the show, joining artworks from 13 more artists from the Latine diaspora. Other Minnesota artists include Alonso Sierralta, Maria Cristina Tavera and Luis Fitch
“The theme is ‘the thread of the blood,’ and artists took it from hyperviolence to heritage to something very personal to something very conceptual to representational and whatnot,” Tavera said.
Tavera says that the idea of blood is a strong theme in many Latine cultures, whether it is linked to colonization and conquistadors, or religion, bloodlines and immigration.
A drawing by artist Roberto Lopez-Rios is on view for “Hilo de la Sangre.” Curator Xavier Tavera says the artist completed it in 2024 before he was released from the Stillwater Minnesota Correctional Facility after 24 years incarcerated.
Courtesy Xavier Tavera
“So it is within us, from Native Indigenous practices to Catholicism to the present time, and portrayed in art is as important for us,” Tavera says. “It’s something that we don’t talk about enough. There’s no solid conversation about blood — violence, menstrual cycle, you name it.”
“Hilo de la Sangre” runs through Dec. 1. There will be an opening reception Aug. 1 and an artist panel on Oct. 13.
