EINAR AND JAMEX DE LA TORRE (Einar, b. 1963 and Jamex, b. 1960) are collaborating artists and brothers who live and work in México and California. The duo express their clever take on the Latino experience and American culture through humor combined with critical earnestness. Due to their binational and bicultural background, their work is mostly interpreted through the lens of border art. They use a chameleonic-kaleidoscopic process to create art that explodes into a myriad of layered images and meanings to convey concepts such as identity, mestizaje, Latinidad, hybridity, globalization, and biculturalism. High and low culture, the sacred and the profane, and the esoteric and the pop collide in the works by the brothers who have collaborated closely as artists for 20 years. Although they started working in glass, shaping figurative work that often borrowed themes from their Mexican roots, they have moved toward larger sculpture and installation work. Both received Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees from California State University, Long Beach. Their work has been shown in numerous exhibitions, including the nationally touring “Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective” and is in many private and public collections, including The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum.

Blown glass sculptures, shrunken heads, palm trees, grapes, colonial soldiers, organic shapes, gold chains, and pendants make up the ‘scenery’ of this sculptural work by Einar and Jamex de la Torre. The de la Torre brothers use their blended skills to combine cultures and carefully chosen objects with humor, vibrant color choices, and exaggerated expressions. The artists label the work as “multi-layered Baroque,” with influences ranging from religious iconography to German expressionism while paying homage to Mexican vernacular arts and pre-Columbian art.

"At the center of the two panels are Olmec colossal heads with headdresses that label the two avatars; Cabrón is on the left, while Pendejo is on the right. Both avatars carry numerous motifs. Elements of desire and nature surround Cabrón, including models of nude women lying in erotic poses, gold chains, coconut trees, and a heart. Pendejo is also flanked by items, such as grapes, pineapples, and dice. His crown holds a token to Ganesha, an elephant-headed Hindu deity. Above and beneath Pendejo’s head sit full-bodied Mesoamerican figures. The collocation of the religious figures points to a culturally syncretic composition." - Glasstire writer, Christopher Karr