With the support of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, the Pendleton Center for the Arts is proud to open Enrique Chagoya: Selections from the Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation. The exhibit opens on Friday, August 5 and runs through October 6, 2022. An opening reception on Thursday, August 5 from 5:30-7:00 PM is free and open to the public. 

Born and raised in Mexico City, Chagoya uses familiar pop icons to create deceptively friendly points of entry for the discussion of complex issues. Because he is rooted in both American culture and Mexican culture, he’s able to move back and forth between the two, which informs his commentary on everything from history to current events. His work juxtaposes secular, popular, and religious symbols in order to address the ongoing cultural clash between the United States, Latin America and the rest of the world. He borrows from other artists, Marvel comics, prints by the European “Old Masters”, and other sources, removes images from their original context, then re-imagines them in combinations and juxtapositions that reveal absurdity, irony, and humor. His work is said to have the subtle and sophisticated ability to make people laugh and think at the same time.