The Ring and I: What Appears as the Work of Carlos Amorales

103 Pages·2015·17.31 MB·English

by  Bethany L. Marrier

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Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2006
The Ring and I: What Appears as the Work
of Carlos Amorales
Bethany L. Marrier
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF VISUAL ARTS, THEATRE AND DANCE

THE RING AND I: WHAT APPEARS AS THE WORK OF CARLOS AMORALES

By

Bethany L. Marrier

A Thesis submitted to the
Department of Art History
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts

Degree Awarded:
Spring Semester, 2006

Copyright ©2006
Bethany L. Marrier
All Rights Reserved
The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Bethany L. Marrier defended on
March 24, 2006.

_____________________________
Tatiana Flores
Professor Directing Thesis

_____________________________
Adam Jolles
Committee Member

_____________________________
Robinson Herrera
Committee Member

Approved:

_________________________
Paula Gerson, Chair, Department of Art History

_________________________
Sally McRorie, Dean, College of Visual Arts, Theatre and Dance

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee
members.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank Tatiana Flores for her encouragement, guidance, and devotion to the critical study
of Latin American art; as well as Adam Jolles and Robinson Herrera for providing me
with bibliographic resources; Matthew Corey for his constant support; and Sabaa
Rehmani and Carlos Perez de Alejo for always wanting to watch Santo movies.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………v
Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………..viii

INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………….1

1. CARLOS AMORALES, LUCHA LIBRE, AND THE CROWD-AT-HAND …..…12

2. HOW THE WEST WAS WON: CLARIFYING THE “BARBARIC” SPORT OF
LUCHA LIBRE ……………………………………………………………………..…29

3. E-PRIME: A THEORETICAL APPROACH FOR MASS-INTERPRETATION OF
THE WORK OF CARLOS AMORALES ………..……………………….….………44

CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………….57

APPENDIX A ……………………………………………………………………...…87

BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………….88

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ………………………………………………………….94
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LIST OF FIGURES

1.1 Julio Galán, China poblana, 1987 ………………………………………………….64

1.2 Francis Alÿs, from the series Ambulantes I, 1995-2001 ……………………………64

1.3 Daniela Rossell, from the series Ricas y famosas, 1994-2001 ……………………..65

1.4 Carlos Amorales, film still from Anonymous Group Party, 1996 ………………….65

1.5 Carlos Amorales, film still from Anonymous Group Party, 1996 ………………….66

1.6 Carlos Amorales, film still from Ray Rosas New Workshop, 1997 …………………66

1.7 Carlos Amorales, film still from Interim Performance, 1997 ………………………67

1.8 Carlos Amorales, film still from Amorales Table Dance, 1997 …………………….67

1.9 Carlos Amorales, film still from In Conversation with Superbarrio, 1997 ……..…..68

1.10 Carlos Amorales, film still from Amorales vs Amorales in Peace, 1999 ………….68

2.1 Carlos Amorales, film still from Amorales vs Amorales in Peace, 1999 …………...69

2.2 Carlos Amorales, film still from Amorales vs Amorales in Peace, 1999 …………...69

2.3 Carlos Amorales, image of Fanzine, 1999 …………………………………………..70

2.4 Carlos Amorales, film still from For the First Time in Paris, 2000 ………………...70

2.5 Carlos Amorales, film still from Evil Wins in Paris, 2000 ………………………….71

2.6 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, Tijuana, 2001 …………………………...71

2.7 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, Tijuana, 2001 …………………………...72

2.8 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, Tijuana, 2001 …………………………...72

2.9 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, Tijuana, 2001 …………………………...73

2.10 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, Tijuana, 2001 ………………………….73

2.11 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, Tijuana, 2001 ………………………….74

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2.12 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, Tijuana, 2001 ………………………….74

2.13 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, San Diego, 2001 ………………………75

2.14 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, San Diego, 2001 ………………………75

2.15 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, San Diego, 2001 ………………………76

2.16 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, San Diego, 2001 ………………………76

2.17 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, San Diego, 2001 ………………………77

2.18 Carlos Amorales, film still from My Way, San Diego, 2001 ………………………77

3.1 Edouard Manet, Mademoiselle V. Meurent in the Costume of an Espada, 1862 …...78

3.2 Pablo Picasso, Corrida: La mort du torero, 1933 …………………………………..78

3.3 “The Saint, the Silver-Masked Man,” Publication for El Santo’s retirement, 1982 ...79

3.4 DVD cover image for Santo y Blue Demon contra Drácula y el Hombre Lobo (“Santo
and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolf Man”), 1972 ……………………….79

3.5 Rubio and Frankie working out ……………………………………………………..80

3.6 Lourdes Grobet, Crypt Containing the Mortal Remains of the Silver-Masked Man, El
Ángel Mausoleum, Mexico City, 2002 …………………………………………80

4.1 Carlos Amorales, film stills from the “tele-journeys” catalogue, Amorales vs.
Amorales (El Olympico and Amorales), 1990-2001 [sic] …………….…………81

5.1 Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas, 1939 …………………………………………………81

5.2 Pablo Picasso, Self Portrait with a Palette, 1906 …………………………………...82

5.3 Salvador Dalí, L’Invention des monstres, 1937 ……………………………………..82

5.4 Demián Flores Cortés, Arena México, 1999 ………………………………………...83

5.5 Victor Gastelum, Santo Jr., 1996 ……………………………………………………83

5.6 Xavier Garza, El Santo (The Saint), 2003 …………………………………………...84

5.7 José Lozano, Héroe/Hero, 1991 …………………………………………………….84

5.8 Francisco Enrique Delgado, Libertad, 1998 ………………………………………...85
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5.9 Francisco Enrique Delgado, Llanta, 1999 ……………… …………………………85

5.10 Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Family Portrait, 1990 …………………………………...86

5.11 Matthew Barney, the artist as her Giant, from Cremaster 5: her Giant, 1997 ……..86
vii
ABSTRACT

This thesis examines the work of contemporary Mexican artist Carlos Amorales dealing
with the theme of lucha libre, professional Mexican wrestling. It assess the critical
literature on the subject and offers new avenues of interpretation. Specifically, I relate
Amorales’ lucha libre works to critical theories on the spectacle, performance art,
wrestling, and the semantic framework E-Prime as a means of clarifying
misinterpretations in the surrounding discourse on the artist. In this vein, I pay close
attention to the sport of lucha libre itself as a historical and cultural entity in Mexico and
propose a method for broadening the artist’s interpretive audience.

viii
INTRODUCTION

I want work that looks Mexican: I want to see pyramids, jungles, Mayan
temples.1

When an editor of an Italian art magazine voiced the above statement to cultural
critic Rubén Gallo, he or she clearly lacked any comprehension of the contemporary
cultural scene in Mexico. Despite the level of ignorance evident in this remark, the
words have an overwhelming implication: when the contemporary Western art world
speaks, the bright-eyed, emerging artists listen – and they listen well. But to what
degree? Would an artist modify his own portfolio according to the current trends in
contemporary art, even so much as to drastically switch to a subject “closer to home”?
The thought of an “undiscovered” Mexican artist, at this moment, promoting himself to a
gallery with a portfolio full of modernist Mayan temple paintings in the hopes of striking
it big seems a bit disheartening, even fantastic. But perhaps even more fantastic is
believing that this would never happen; to what degree do artists cater to market
pressures? Could it be that art is tailor-made? Assume for a moment, as a young artist
from Mexico, you have come across the following quote by Cuauhtémoc Medina from
2002, “There is no doubt that Mexican art is caught up in the cyclical current through
which every five years, a given country… is suddenly incorporated into – and rapidly
discarded from – the geographies of global culture.”2 Would you assume that your future
hinged on these mere five years of which Medina writes? For an artist with an entire
career ahead, would five years of Mayan temple paintings be considered a compromising
of talent or a carefully crafted strategy?

Historicizing Contemporary Mexican Art

1 Qtd. in Rubén Gallo, New Tendencies in Mexican Art (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2004) 19.

2 Qtd. in Gallo 12.
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