Opening Reception: All Cylinder Saints

All Cylinder Saints: New Works Arthur Lopez
opening reception: Friday, July 26, 4-6 pm
on view: July 26–August 10, 2024

Christ kneels by his 1954 patina lowrider Chevy Truck as a billboard rises from the background proclaiming ‘Praise the Lowered’ in Arthur Lopez’s new body of work titled All Cylinder Saints, opening at King Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico Friday, July 26, 2024.

Traditional New Mexican carvers always have a tool belt full of saints and symbols to use in their work. For contemporary carver Arthur Lopez, though, this tool belt can be reimagined and created anew—with a whole new set of images and objects to work with—without losing the historical and religious connotations.

Lopez was brought up in the traditional Northern New Mexico tradition of carving santos, although he is one of the few contemporary carvers who incorporates imagery from contemporary street and popular culture. All Cylinder Saints is focused on carved religious figures in cars.

“Faith doesn’t have to be deadly serious,” says Lopez. “It can put a smile on your face to get the same point across. As always, I am working in the long tradition of New Mexico santeros and my pieces come out of my faith. But my faith is contemporary. I feel that what’s important is the strength of your faith, and not whether or not it conforms to strict Catholic doctrine.”