el santero

A vince Campos art/RETABLO exhibit

SEP 2023

Vince Campos of El Rito, New Mexico has been practicing the tradition of retablo making for over twenty eight years. While Campos keeps to traditional methods of retablo production, his depictions of Santos do not. He creates Images in a fun and whimsical way, placing them in modern New Mexican settings to better relate traditional devotions. His depictions and use of muted natural pigments found in Northern New Mexico have grown in popularity among surrounding communities. Through these modernized retablos, Vincent believes it has revitalized an interest in the Spanish Colonial Arts for a new generation of viewers. This new found interest helps keep this native to New Mexico art form alive.

*Some Santero, I don't know by Vince Campos*

El santero: Artist Statement

After The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 much of the artwork that was brought from Spain and Mexico City to Northern New Mexico was destroyed. After the reconquest of 1692, The Spanish Colonists were forced to utilize the world around them to decorate their homes and churches. Hand axe and hand adze tools were used to create wooden panel planks, gypsum and rabbit skin glue for gesso, chicken feathers for paint brushes, and water soluble pigments for paints. These crude tools were used to recreate religious iconography seen in Mexico City. These images were often altered slightly, to better connect the viewer with the image. Items like Saint Joseph’s walking staff of Lilies was now a staff of Hollyhocks (a local flower). Just like the Santeros of past, I use a traditional medium and take traditional iconography and alter it to tell a story, provoking the viewer to ask questions. Northern New Mexico is primarily used as a setting for many images, everything from rolling hills to the your neighborhood cholos, all to tell the story of the Santos.

-Vince Campos