I anticipated the recent photography show Su Mirada/Her Gaze at the Museo de las Americas was going to be good. I was wrong. I was blown away by virtuosity far exceeding expectation! Boxing was a big part of it, an unexpected bonus. We made 3 videos for an “arm-chair” visit to this exciting event.
The Museo has long been a favorite venue of ours for well-crated exhibits and events, thematically centered on all things Hispanic. Director Maruca Salazar and Megan Headley, manager of exhibitions, collected a simply fabulous group of women photographers, headlined by the famous Graciela Iturbide, whose “Our Lady of the Iguanas” is an icon. Other than Iturbide, I did not know any of these photographers. My loss. Works were diverse and loaded with story-telling about families and community that is a hallmark of Hispanic culture. I have a high regard for innovative presentation, and the physical styling and arrangement of the exhibit excelled. The window-frame like construction of hanging underlined the role of women as both intimate participants and insightful observers of their subjects.
We homed in on the portraits of women boxers. Sensation! Wonderfully posed and technically proficient by Delilah Montoya that made me want to dig deeper into the persona of these ladies on both sides of the camera. More sensation when we met “Lil’ Loca”, photographic subject and boxer in real life. As Coloradans, immersed in our multicultural community, we knew a little about how boxing is an important Hispanic thing, particularly in Mexico and Cuba. They call it “pride”. But we didn’t know we had a 2-time women’s champion in our neighborhood. Teri “Lil’ Loca” Cruz is just beautiful, poised and articulate – an artist in her chosen profession. She alternated boxing, motherhood and mentoring young girl boxers coming up. She speaks eloquently of how the physical is only one portion of boxing; the mental preparation and strategies are actually ascendant. She is an artist.
More info on Museo’s exhibits and community outreach at www.museo.org.
Visit the exhibit with me to see some of the works and hear about techniques and stories.
Explore the connection between the art of photography and the art of boxing as I interview Teri Cruz and olympic hopeful Alex Love.
Photographer Delilah Montoya joins us via Skype and talks about her portraits of “Lil’ Loca”, followed by a boxing demo with Teri and Alex.