Zarco Guerrero: I Want to Bring My Art to Life!
One of the most unique things about Cultural Coalition’s festivals is the lively masked characters and puppets that accompany the performances. Calacas, Viejitos, Cucui’s, and The Serpent Quetzalcoatl are just a few of the beautiful hand made masks and puppets people see dancing and moving through the crowds and on the stages. What some people may not realize, is that all of these creations are made by Master Sculptor Zarco Guerrero, and Artistic Director of the Cultural Coalition.
Earlier this year, Zarco had a chance to speak about his craft to the Friends of Mexican Arts, and share a little about his story of how he came to love the mask.
“I want my art to breathe, to dance, to growl and to laugh! I studied portrait painting with my father, Adolfo Guerrero. The first portrait sculpture I ever did was of him. I was fascinated by his drawing and painting skills. They seemed like magic. He could capture the likeness of an individual with a piece of charcoal and a sheet of paper and turn it into a magnificent oil painting. He brought life to the painting by capturing the very essence of the person he was portraying.
As I studied with my father, he also took me on treks into the desert and native villages. One such village was Guadalupe, Arizona where I experienced mask dance rituals that take place as part of their Easter celebrations. These annual ceremonies marked my life and eventually my art. The power of the mask transformation was another form of magic to my young mind. The mask to me is the ultimate art form: sculpture, painting and incorporates music, dance and ritual. It takes a community of artists to bring the mask to life!
The next 40 years took me back and forth to Mexico, to Japan and Bali. From 1974 to 1976, I studied in Mexico City alongside Francisco Zuniga, a Mexican Sculptor and with master carver Joshua Nagasawa, in Kyoto, Japan from 1986 to 1988. Some forces that influenced me at this time were Teatro Campesino, the Chicano Art Movement, the Mexican Mural Movement, and the books of the great Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias. Above all the other media I explored like ceramic, bronze, murals, it is the mask art form that dictates my life’s direction. I see the artist as an architect of culture. The mask brings people together with a common goal to celebrate, to cultivate and to build, literally and metaphorically.
To dance with the mask is to commune with our ancestors and to honor their legacy. My life’s ambition is to see our community dance disguised as our ancestors, close to the earth!”
To see Zarcos work come to life, stop by one of our annual festivals this year! Take a look at our schedule of festivals – https://culturalcoalition.com/events/