Mexican/Latinx multidisciplinary artist Tlisza Jaurique will give a free talk at the Figge Art Museum (225 W. 2nd St., Davenport) on Thursday, March 30 at 6 p.m.

She will discuss the museum’s “Decolonial Intervention” exhibit, which is a reexamination of the art in that space that provides a different viewpoint.

An artwork by the Mexican/Latinx multidisciplinary artist Tlisza Jaurique.

Jaurique has been a practicing artist for 37 years. She is the recipient of the prestigious Community Scholar Award from the Smithsonian Native American Awards Program at the National Museum of Natural History, and was a resident scholar and visiting artist for the Southwest Borderlands Initiative at Arizona State University. In 2020, she was the recipient of the NDN Collective Artist Grant and the United States Artist Grant. 

“In the Figge’s Spanish Vice Regal collection, my Decolonial Intervention/Action looks beyond the consequences of indoctrination by the Spanish Monarchy on the New World—evident in the paintings of Figge’s Spanish Vice Regal collection— by drawing upon the rich, complex histories, beliefs, and aesthetic practices of its Indigenous cultures,” Jaurique said in a Figge release.

“My work seeks to rename, reconstruct, recontextualize, and represent our inherited Indigenous cultural systems in order to illustrate the connections and differences which bind and separate cultures.”   

As with the Figge’s permanent collection paintings, Jaurique’s artworks are full of symbols. These symbols form a visual language with its own vocabulary that is both unique and universal, the museum said.

Jaurique combines symbols drawn from Christian, Aztec, and other cultures to illustrate, for instance, how Mesoamerican Indigenous beliefs endured the colonization of the region by Catholic Spain. Her intervention underscores how various religions and cultures used similar designs to convey important and often spiritual ideas. 

Michelle Hargrave, executive director of the Figge Art Museum, Davenport.

“As the Figge continues to diversify the permanent collection galleries and the exhibitions on view, this intervention explores the complex relationship between Indigenous cultures and Colonial governments,” said Figge executive director Michelle Hargrave. “The glittery, bold works Tlisza created in this space embody the persistence of Indigenous beliefs despite erasure attempts.”  

Jaurique’s artwork encourages visitors to look more closely at each work in order to better understand their shared complexities. Decolonial Intervention will be on view through July 9, 2023.  

The Figge is free every Thursday evening from 5-8 p.m., which includes free special programs for the public as part of the Thursdays at the Figge programming. Free admission and programs for Thursdays at the Figge is sponsored by Chris and Mary Rayburn.

For more information, visit the museum website HERE.