“Spiritual Visions” at Bihl Haus Arts
By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor –
Artist Richard Arredondo has deep roots in Texas soil. His great-great grandmother was born in this area in 1823, he says proudly, and he is a devout Roman Catholic who at one point in his life considered becoming a priest. So, it seemed only natural for him to choose the historic San Antonio Missions as the subject of his “illustrations” to mark the city’s Tricentennial last year.
“I have a close affection for San Antonio and for the city’s Catholic past,” he said. “San Antonio was founded by Catholics.”
His illustrations “exploring spiritual visions of the 18th century missions” is currently on view at the Bihl Haus Arts gallery though August 31. Though he had a similar show at the Mission Library in 2018, Arredondo produced a new series of images for the current exhibition, incorporating some suggestions that visitors to the original exhibit suggested.
Working with pen and ink, and then with magic markers on mylar, Arredondo looks at the missions’ buildings and immediate surroundings as sacred places suffused in colors of sepia, sage and gold, and filled with a golden light that spills out of their doors and windows. He first drew the mission churches with closed doors and windows, he said recently, but opening them up, transformed the images and the viewer’s experience. Indeed.
Not surprisingly, Mission San Jose is the most frequently depicted church but this writer loved the forlorn Mission Espada, standing on the snow-covered ground like a last chance for… what? – hope, civilization, salvation…
Several illustrations show the Mission San Antonio de Valero (the future Alamo) with 18th century human figures in front, such as three women huddling together on the edge of the golden light’s reach, or Indians performing their traditional funeral rituals in another. In addition to mission illustrations, there are several original renderings of Biblical scenes, mostly dealing with water, as in Moses’ parting of the Red Sea, for instance. These are bold and dramatic in contrast to the serene and mystical mission scenes.
The City of San Antonio purchased five of Arredondo’s works at the Mission Library show to install at City Hall last year. His drawings/illustrations of his parish church, the San Fernando Cathedral, are available for sale at the cathedral’s gift shop. And Bihl Haus Arts sells both the displayed illuminated illustrations as their prints.
See the exhibit and then revisit the missions, to see them perhaps in a different light.
Bihl Haus Arts, 2803 Fredericksburg Rd., 78201; Friday-Saturdays 1-4 p.m. or by appointment; call 210-383-9723