Hugo Crosthwaite shares, “In Mexico and the Southwestern United States, the carpa—Spanish for “tent”—theater flourished during the 1920s and 1930s. The carpas, groups of itinerant performers, moved their collapsible stages from town to town, setting up in the main square or the middle of a street and presenting a program that spoke directly to their mixed-class audience.
The material presented in the carpas was highly satirical and frequently political in nature. The central character, the pelado, is the Mexican national clown. A penniless underdog, he brought the popular concerns and spirit ignored by official society into performance, improvising comic routines on such topics as the high cost of living, political scandals, and treacherous political leaders.”
Carpas was first realized with a series of twenty-six prefatory drawings, an essential first step in visualizing his large-scaled “tent” installation. Carpas will be installed at the 2013 California-Pacific Triennial mid June in preparation for its opening June 30 and on exhibit through November, 2013.
Hugo Crosthwaite is an important contemporary artist who employs the facility of drawing, charcoal washes and white paint in his mythological theatre plays. Hugo states, “I explore the complexities of human expression, everything from alienation to acceptance and even celebration.”
Hugo Crosthwaite is featured in the Richard Harris Collection, San Diego Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego. (Exclusive interview with Hugo Crosthwaite).