UCLA’s Fowler Museum Director Marla Berns describes the
dizzying array of candles, statues and other ritualistic items that
make up a re-creation of an authentic Los Angeles botanica as
“visually seductive.”
“Botanica Los Angeles: Latino popular religious art in the
city of angels,” was created by visiting professor and
curator, Patrick Polk. The exhibition introduces botanicas to an
audience who might overlook or even fear this quintessential
element of Los Angeles cultural diversity. Although not very
straight-forward, a botanica can best be described as part
spiritual center, part religious supply house, and part alternative
health-care facility, but the whole is greater than the sum of its
parts.
Polk has been able to capture the mystifying ambience of a real
botanica in the Fowler Museum by using an interactive approach; his
botanica, which is surrounded by a taco shop and Latino party
supply store, must be walked into to view.
Through this approach, Polk has been able to place audiences in
an environment they might have once feared or would have never
experienced; thus, his art is energized not only through its
eye-catching colors and shapes, but also through the human energy
produced by those new to botanicas.
In addition to the recreated store front, Polk has several
shrines and altars in the back of the store, some of which were
created and designed by local botanica owners. These altars are
like finger prints of their creators, as they each are unique in
the spirits they worship and their connection to the
worshipper.
“With faculty from the world arts and culture department,
we are able to show that it is not just the Fowler,” Berns
said. “There is more than one unit participating in the year
of the arts.”
It’s a fitting image, as botanicas are based around the
idea of unity. They began opening in the United States in Miami and
New York during the ’50s and ’60s with most of the
items deriving from African religion. But by now, botanicas have
exponentially grown in number, and are found mainly in cities
heavily populated with people of ethnic backgrounds, including Los
Angeles.
Botanicas serve as areas of multi-purpose; they are mercantile
and ritual sites and sites of spiritual congregation. One of the
most important characteristics of botanicas is their
non-exclusivity. Their products and rituals often reflect many
religions, beliefs and traditions. In some of the altars seen in
Polk’s exhibit, various religious beliefs and spirits are
present in the same shrine, expressing the botanica’s idea of
unity. In fact, botanica owners are constantly searching for new
representations of the divine to include in their stores.
In the back of Polk’s recreated botanica, there are five
altars, including some that were created by botanica shop owners.
One of the most notable is the Elegba Altar by Felipe and Valeria
Garcia Villamil. The altar is presented in an environment that
exudes nothing but a sense of wealth, feast and happiness. There
are plenty of colorful fruits and exotic drinks that compliment
Elegba’s story as a spirit who enjoyed life.
Other shrines and altars in Polk’s exhibition are
dedicated to female spirits and African-derived religious spirits.
Another altar that illustrates the beauty of diversity and unity is
the Puerto Rican Mesa Blanca Altar by Ysamur Flores-Pena. In this
altar there are various religions and beliefs presented; there is a
mixture of Afro-Cuban beliefs and Catholic tradition. This
exemplifies the ancestry of the creator. As a Puerto Rican he
relates to Afro-Cuban spirits, as well as modern-day
Catholicism.
To compliment Polk’s unique and intriguing work, the
Fowler Museum has opened another botanica exhibit, “Infinito
Botanica: L.A. by Franco Mondini-Ruiz.” Mondini-Ruiz has
created many site-specific botanica exhibits in various cities
throughout nation, using a variety of objects to illustrate
characteristics of that city. In addition to presenting a
contemporary take on botanicas, Mondini-Ruiz also uses his
botanicas to express ideas of race, identity and class issues. When
first viewed, his work may seem erratic and even random, but a more
careful eye will soon begin to see the relevance of certain colors
and items used.