Celia Alvárez Muñoz
"Ella" y "El"

"Ella" y "El"

© Celia Alvárez Muñoz

"Ella" y "El"
"Ella" y "El"
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • "Ella" y "El"
Date1990
PlaceUnited States
MediumMaple cabinet, silver dye bleach photographs, letterpress type, fabric, ribbon, buttons, dijos, and found objects
Dimensions31 3/4 × 54 1/8 × 3 7/8 in. (80.6 × 137.5 × 9.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of The Barrett Collection, Dallas
Object number98.720
Non exposé

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Object Type
Description

“Ella” y ‘El’  is a significant example of the work of Celia Alvárez Muñoz in the early 1990s, offering an essay on coming of age and the rites of passage marking such events. Muñoz began the piece by creating altar-like arrangements of clothing and artifacts, which she lit and photographed. As the titles printed beneath each image suggest, the panels are divided along gender lines. The “ella” panel features a little girl’s red dress, surrounded by romantic charms and images of the Sacred Heart; 'el'  features a boy’s christening gown in front of a sun god and surrounded by knives and Day of the Dead skeletons. The cabinet doors open to reveal additional text and a collection of objects that complement and reinforce the front panel imagery. Muñoz created the piece to honor the marriage of her friends; as such, “Ella” y ‘El’ celebrates the union of male and female.


 


ProvenanceBarrett Collection, Dallas; given to MFAH, 1998.

Exhibition History"1991 Whitney Biennial," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, April 2–June 30, 1991.

“Crossing State Lines: Texas Art from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, September 23, 2000–March 18, 2001.

"Between Play and Grief: Selections from the Latino American Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 16–September 8, 2019.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscription: There is a label on the back of the cabinet: "Whitney Museum of American Art / 945 Madison Avenue, New York, New York, 10011 / BI. 91. 192.1 / Celia Alvarez Munoz / Ella y El, 1990 / Mixed media installation / 32 x 54 x 4 / The Barrett Collection / 1991 Biennial / April 2 - June 30, 1991".
The assemblage is signed and dated in pencil, recto, beneath the lower right photograph: "Celia A. Muñoz '89".

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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