Toros de Fuego: a photo exhibit at the CCA Santa Fe
Mario Benedetti's poem viceversa delineates my current state:
"estoy jodido (I'm fucked)
y radiante (and radiant)
quizá más lo primero (perhaps more the former)
que lo segundo (than the latter)
y también (and also)
viceversa. (viceversa.)"
The past few weeks have been of intense work to put together Toros de Fuego, a photo exhibit that gathers some of the work I have produced since I began documenting the pyrotechnics tradition in the town of Tultepec, México.
Since 2019, I've only shown my burns and a few photos on my phone to people who ask about my work. Having these photos on a wall is huge!
The show will open on Oct. 22 at the Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe, a space that I have loved for a long time. Needless to say, I am elated. I also constantly have to pinch myself while I sing inside my head, "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"
This dream began many moons ago when the lovely Jaime Herrell saw my photos and said: "One day I will exhibit your photos, Gustavo!" Jaime is the kind of person who will keep a promise no matter what. A few years later, and after losing track of her, she texted me to tell that the time to show my photos had arrived.
After working in galleries all over, Jaime had returned to Santa Fe with the mission to transform and revive the ailing institution. First as board chair and then transitioning to the codirector role (along with the lovely Matt Cannella), she is opening the CCA's doors to local artists at all stages of their careers to show their work.
It was flattering that Jaime thought years ago that my work in Tultepec deserved a show. It's mind-blowing to be just days away from hanging the work and getting ready for the opening. Here's the blurb we drafted for the event:
Opening reception: Thursday, Oct. 22, 5-7 p.m.
Every March 8, the town of Tultepec, México, known as the country's pyrotechnics capital, sets itself on fire. For the feast of St. John of God, the artisans' patron saint, generations of fireworks makers build towering papier-mâché bulls packed with thousands of fireworks, then carry them into the streets and burn them in a night of celebration and renewal.
Since 2019, photographer Gustavo Martínez Contreras has returned to Tultepec each year, capturing the fleeting geometry of each explosion and the people dancing inside the flames. His photographs and video turn a volatile street festival into something mythic: an archive of smoke and light honoring a community's pride and resilience, even as urban growth reshapes the region that fireworks have long sustained.
The work is part of a larger documentary project still in progress. 100% of every photograph purchased from the exhibition directly supports its completion.
Join us to celebrate the opening. Free and open to the public.
Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe
1050 Old Pecos Trail
#TorosDeFuego #Tultepec #CCASantaFe #SantaFeArt #DocumentaryPhotography
I want to thank everyone who has helped, supported and championed my work. Especially Jaime, Dr. Fátima van Hattum, Master Erika Owens, Liliana Huerta, Edwin Solano, my mom María del Carmen, Armando Sáenz, and all the compas in Tultepec who open their doors every time I show up with my camera and questions.
Muchas graxias and see you on Oct. 22!