3 Must-See Works in Collidoscope

November 1, 2025

The Cafesjian Art Trust Museum is thrilled to be hosting Collidoscope: De la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective. This colorful, dazzling, maximalist tour de force will only be on view at the CAT for a limited time. Although the CAT has purchased three of the artworks to add to our permanent collection, everything else you see in the exhibition will only be here temporarily.

Below, Assistant Curator of Glass Linnea Seidling highlights three artworks from Collidoscope you should be sure not to miss:

Feminencia

My absolute favorite lenticular print in the exhibition is Feminencia. This monumental work features two digital collages that flip back and forth using lenticular printing technology. These digital collages are made up of photographs from the brothers’ travels, as well as from images of women copied and pasted from Old Master European paintings. The title of this work is a combination of the Spanish words for feminine (femenina) and eminence (eminencia). The brothers illustrate two different types of feminine power: in one image, the wisdom and compassion of White Tara, a goddess in the Buddhist pantheon; and in the other, the sexual power of women, overwhelming the central male figure, King Leopold I of Belgium.

Feminencia, 2020. Einar de la Torre (Mexican American, born 1963), and Jamex de la Torre (Mexican American, born 1960). Archival lenticular print in LED lightbox with resin castings and waterjet-cut aluminum frame. 89 x 65 x 4 inches. Courtesy of Koplin Del Rio Gallery.

Frijolera Clásica

This sculpture is a fantastic example of how the brothers fuse two ideas together, both in the title of the artwork and in the sculpture itself. A frijolera is a traditional clay pot for cooking beans—adding in clásica (or classic) reinforces the idea of cooking beans in a traditional Mexican way. The brothers are also using the word clásica to refer to ancient Greece and Rome, often called the Classical world. The vessel resembles both a frijolera and ancient Greek ceramic vessels. Inside the vase, which we can see through the transparent glass walls, is a statue of a woman, known as a kore, a type of ancient Greek sculpture of a standing young woman. The logs and flames are a fire for the frijolera made of columns and leaves used for decoration on ancient Greco-Roman buildings.

Frijolera Clásica, 2010. Einar de la Torre (Mexican American, born 1963), and Jamex de la Torre (Mexican American, born 1960). Blown-glass, mixed-media sculpture. 31 x 18 x 18 inches. Crocker Art Museum, gift of Patricia Grant, 2021.87.1.

Pork Belly Futures, 2016. Einar de la Torre (Mexican American, born 1963), and Jamex de la Torre (Mexican American, born 1960). Blown-glass, mixed-media sculpture. 13.5 x 19.5 x 9.5 inches. Courtesy of Einar and Jamex de la Torre and Koplin Del Rio Gallery.

Pork Belly Futures

This sculpture is part of the brothers’ tonali series. A tonali is a personalized animal spirit identified at birth in the Aztec tradition. The brothers have taken this idea in a humorous direction. This character is a representation of the economic term “pork belly futures,” referring to financial traders who try to make money by agreeing to buy and sell things at a future date. With this sculpture, the de la Torre brothers playfully imagine what a “pork belly future” might look like. This pig is a fighter, as indicated by his scars and his luchador mask, worn by professional wrestlers in Mexico known for their acrobatic moves and colorful costumes. This little piggy has fought hard to escape slaughter (he won’t be going to the market!) and have a future.

Ready to see these intriguing artworks in person? Make a reservation for a guided tour on Thursday or Friday, drop by during our Friday evening hours from 5:00—8:00, or visit any Saturday from 10:00—4:30.