LXS Antonio Gomez
Desambiguación del Amor
mixed-media by ANTONIO GOMEZ, Las Vegas
March 18 – April 5, 2019
Sixteen years ago, Las Vegas mixed media artist Antonio Gomez had to deal with the fact that his father was slowly fading away from Alzheimer’s disease and he derailed from life. It has been ten years since his father’s passing and Gomez recently learned that his mother has been diagnosed with the same horrible disease. In Desambiquación del Amor, Gomez documents his mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s. According to Gomez, a major obstacle when creating this series has been his concern with making strong statements without diminishing her or harming her dignity.
Clarifying his process, Gomez explains, “My mother is still in the early stages of the disease and I have had numerous conversations with her about her terrible predicament and the uncertain, dark future that she has been forced to face. Through these conversations, my mother and I have undertaken the challenge of creating images that depict her current state: her inability to remember things, her persisting memories of her childhood, the way she feels she is being treated as an Alzheimer’s patient, and even the feelings of despair when forced confront her reality.”
With his mother’s blessing, Gomez has created this series in an attempt to give voice to one of the most significant people in his life. It is his effort to have people hold conversations about the effects of this most horrible disease and to bring awareness to the need to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. “It is a series that connects me—a devastating love letter—my good-bye to the person who gave me life.”
Born in Mexico, Antonio Gomez started his journey as a photographer when he discovered the work of photographer Henry Cartier-Bresson while stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army. Soon after his discharge from the army, he attended the College of Creative Studies in Detroit, earning a B.F.A. in applied photography. He went on to earn a Masters Degree in Fine Art from Wayne State University. Gomez moved to Las Vegas Nevada in 2004 and holds a full-time teaching position at the College of Southern Nevada. He resides in the outskirts of the city with his wife and three children.
Gomez continues to document his environment and its people. Occasionally he travels to Mexico to continue documenting his beloved home country. In 2010, he made the shortlist for the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. Gomez has exhibited in galleries across the country and in Canada and Mexico. He has self-published four books on some of his ongoing personal projects. His latest book, “Life, Devotion, and Departure,” is very close to his heart as the work documents his parent’s devotion to each other and the hardships resulting from their retirement in Mexico. His latest project, “Charro, Portrait of a Way of Life,” is a 13-year documentary series of the struggle of the many Mexican immigrants who make it their mission to pass on equestrian precision and human nobility to the next generation.
To learn more about Antonio Gomez, or to purchase his work, go to https://www.jantoniogomez.com.
