“En Dialogo” with Cheech & Einar and Jamex De La Torre

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Unidos En Diálogo Series

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Session 1: En Diálogo with Cheech Marin and Einar & Jamex De La Torre

Featuring Cheech Marin, Einar De La Torre and Jamex De La Torre

Moderated by Eduardo Diaz, Director, Smithsonian Latino Center

En Diálogo Series

In lieu of our gala planned for fall 2020, we are launching a series of diálagos with exceptional Chicano artists across the rich variety of art forms they represent. These events will be held virtually through Zoom with the purpose of not only raising funds for The Cheech but to provide a glimpse into the type of programming which will take place at The Cheech when it opens in fall 2021.

Our first Dialogo will be with Cheech Marin himself and the exceptional artists Einar and Jamex De La Torre whose artwork form part of Cheech’s collection and will be featured at The Cheech. Please join us for a sure to be exciting, insightful and fun-filled session as we come together to raise funds for the one-of-a kind premier programming that is being planned for The Cheech!

About Cheech Marin

Best known as one half of the hilariously irreverent, satirical, counter-culture, no-holds-barred duo CHEECH AND CHONG (now on tour), Cheech Marin is a paradox in the world of entertainment. Cheech is an actor, director, writer, musician, CHICANO ART COLLECTOR, ART EXHIBITOR, and humanitarian … a man who has enough talent, humor, and intelligence to do just about anything. He is truly a multi-generational star.

Cheech is recognized today as a preeminent Chicano art advocate. In the mid-1980s, he began developing what is now arguably the finest private collection of Chicano art. Much of it formed the core of his inaugural exhibition Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge, which broke attendance records during its groundbreaking 15‐city tour during 2001‐2007 to major art museums across the United States. He states, “Chicano art is American art. My goal is to bring the term ‘Chicano’ to the forefront of the art world.”

Furthering his goal to introduce Chicano art to a wider audience, Marin has entered a partnership with the City of Riverside and Riverside Art Museum to create The Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture, and Industry. Slated to open in 2021, The Cheech will become the permanent home for his more than 700 works of Chicano art, including paintings, sculptures, and photography; collectively, the most renowned Chicano art collection in the United States. More information on Cheech Marin at https://cheechmarin.com/bio/

About Einar and Jamex De La Torre

Curator Selene Preciado writes, “Einar and Jamex De La Torre were born in Guadalajara, México, 1963, and 1960, respectively. They moved to the United States in 1972, and they both attended California State University, Long Beach; Jamex obtained a BFA in Sculpture in 1983, while Einar decided against the utility of an art degree. Currently the brothers live and work on both sides of the border, with studios in San Diego, California, and in Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico. They work using an array of materials and techniques that range from the mastering of glass blowing, to the more recent practice of lenticular printing—both mediums and everything in between signal to an appreciation of traditional crafts as well as to an interest in technology and popular mass-produced objects. Their use of lenticular printing signals to an evolutive step of their work, since the method of layering and overlapping and collaging of images and objects becomes translated into the process of digital layering.“

More information on Einar and Jamex at https://www.delatorrebrothers.art/

About Eduardo Diaz

Eduardo Díaz joined the Smithsonian as the director of the Smithsonian Latino Center in 2008. Previously, Eduardo was the executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He oversaw the operations of a 16-acre campus that offered year-round programming in the visual, performing and literary arts as well and youth and family activities. Before joining the NHCC, Eduardo managed a private consulting firm that served arts institutions and agencies, statewide advocacy groups and community-based organizations. In 2001, Eduardo co-founded the International Accordion Festival, a free outdoor music celebration, in San Antonio.

From 1981 to 1999, Eduardo served as the director of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Antonio. He is currently a member of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. Eduardo earned a law degree in 1976 from the University of California at Davis, and a bachelor’s degree in 1972 in Latin American Studies at San Diego State University.

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