Eriberto is a Los Angeles based painter he creates work with a Latin world ethos. A confluence of European and Indigenous Indian cultures.
The term “Cosmic Race”, is brought to mind in this work, coined by Jose Vasconcelos a Mexican philosopher. Vasconcelos believed that nationality and race is transcended by Latin Americans with their Asian-descended native Americans, European and African heritage. You can see in Oriol’s work the same kind of merging of cultures.
Dante’s Inferno painting by Eriberto Oriol
Oriol provides us a reflection of the indigenous dream like state. The dreams that brought wisdom and guidance to the tribe were achieved with the ceremonial use of alkaloids such as Peyote or Ayahuasca. The skillful interpretation that Mr. Oriol achieves in his work reflects the forces of the universe as it affects our collective journey into the unconscious. At the same time the colors the painting techniques emphasize European influences.
The work is not easy. Like Picasso’s Guernica that shows the tragedy of war. The internal struggle is what is emphasized in Mr. Oriol’s work. We feel the power we have within ourselves with this work.
Many of the works are clearly phallic. Just prior to the sexual revolution in the 60’s and 70’s American art was overly affected by Christian values of the Puritans. The phallus was usually hidden not exposed as in Mr. Oriol’s paintings. The sexual revolution allowed the phallus to show up in sculptures and other contemporary art. Look at work by Louise Bourgeois and Andy Warhol. Surely, this affected Mr. Oriol a product of that time.
But let’s go back even further to pre-Columbian times where we see references to the phallus as an important cultural icon to the indigenous populations all over the world. The influences of pre-Columbian art cannot be denied in this work. The paintings are not always pleasant. They are; however, wondrous and terrifying and beautiful portraying dream likes states of mind.
As was the intention of the Indigenous their dreams were meant to help the community at large. It is the same with Mr. Oriol’s work. He may want us to see the hidden power of our animal nature. As witnesses to our hidden power in the paintings, will we be overcome the angst, the sometimes powerlessness we feel in our daily lives. The power of the phallus is in our DNA, we cannot separate ourselves from our animal nature. Contemplation is key to our understanding of our place here in the world. Mr. Oriol’s paintings help us see an inner world.
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Julie Rico is an artmuse and has had her own galleries representing many artists including: Jean Jacques Bastarache, Salomon Huerta, Treiops, Ed Big Daddy Roth, Stanley Mouse, Bill Plympton, Lama Lhanang, Mark Bryan, Dennis Larkins, Craig Stecyk, Robert Williams, Patssi Valdez, Diane Gamboa, Timothy Leary, Michael McMillan, Kai Bob Cheng, Ray Zone, Von Dutch, Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Brian Tortora and about 100 or more artists.
