





The production of art and culture usually requires the work and assistance of a large group of people. This is certainly the case of my latest photographic body of work and exhibition at the "Centro de la Imagen" in Mexico City. I need to acknowledge the people that helped me.
I would particularly like to thank Anthony Zepeda, Francesco Siqueiros and the Nopal Press. Friends, masters, collaborators, teachers and partners in crime in the dying field of the graphic arts and the impression. I do not see how their knowledge and craft will ever be substituted. Mario Rangel my etching and "neographics" teacher, this last show and body of work is dedicated to you. Thank you for introducing me to all sorts of artists and practices including the previously mentioned printers.
I would also like to thank all the people that helped me explore the Mayan mediterranean, Atlantis, the several promised lands, Easter Island in the empire of the rising sun, etc. Without them my last photographic project and the archeology of the globalized simulated archeology would not have been possible. Thanks to Shin Taniguchi for his invaluable help and companionship in Himeji and Awaji, the Adachi family in Fukuoka (Terumi the best cook, Joji for all the onsen, gadget and Ultraman exploration and Sauri for teaching us "imitation English"), Aurelio Asiain who tried to show me the "real" monuments in Kyoto and "Chingo" Sochu, Konstantinos Mavromichalis for his guidance in broken Japanese, Rex Yuasa for his advice, Magdalena Jitrik for driving the "milqui" Fiat 1500 across the pampas of Argentina while wired on mate in search of pyramids, castles, Roman temples, aliens and a tree that grows paintings, Julieta Ulanovsky for taking me to the "wailing wall," and the best Argentinean Tex-Mex music, Miguel Angel Merodio for logistical support in Catalan Mayan territories, Ana Pareja for a brief apparition, Pedro Romero for the good food and advice in Seville, Patrick Miller for the countless hours and patient photo service of all sorts, Glenna Jennings for her help resuscitating the UCSD photo lab, Daniel Mirer for the digital emergency line, Jesse Lerner for working on seminal projects that led to this thing and his knowledge, Roberto Tejada for the beautiful words, Estela Treviño, Juán Antonio Molina and Alejandro Castellanos for their interest on the work, etc.
Thanks for the support of the C.O.L.A. 2007 Individual Artis Fellowships, UCSD, Centro de la Imagen and Galería OMR.
Special thanks for Rhonda Ortiz for supporting and tolerating all of the above.
Labels: amigos, Argentina, arte, España, exhibitions, Japan, Magdalena Jitrik, México, Photography, Rubén Ortiz-Torres