蜜柚直播

Instead, words on the walls have brought thousands of visitors to the ongoing exhibition at the Etherton Gallery in the Old Barrio downtown.

The exhibit includes a collection called 鈥淓l Sue帽o de Raz贸n,鈥� or 鈥淭he Sleep of Reason,鈥� by Alice Leora Briggs, and an untitled array of text art by Kitty Brophy. All 45 pieces display or represent words, and visitors can鈥檛 help but feel the power of language 鈥� especially when magnified by art.

The show will run through Nov. 25, and gallery owner Terry Etherton is delighted with the response so far.

鈥淚n many ways these artists are very different,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he work on the wall doesn鈥檛 look anything alike. But from other perspectives, there is overlap and dialogue here. Both of these women are fearless. They鈥檙e dealing in areas most people aren鈥檛 comfortable with, and they鈥檙e letting us into very private worlds. They鈥檙e baring their souls, in a way.鈥�

Visually, the two sets of works are strikingly dissimilar. The sgraffiti by Briggs are images scratched through black to shades of grey. The offerings from Brophy are big and bright, with black words popping from a brilliant red background.

Briggs鈥� selections illustrate the book she co-authored with Juli谩n Cardona, 鈥�,鈥� or 鈥淎lphabet of Juarez,鈥� which was published by the University of Texas Press last year.

At its heart, the book is a lexicon of the Spanglish slang that evolved in the criminal world that so dominated life in Juarez the first two decades of the 2000s 鈥� particularly during the presidency of Felipe Calder贸n.

Briggs and Cardona 鈥� an award-winning photographer and journalist best-known for his images of Juarez 鈥� identified more than 200 words. Many are brought to life by Briggs sketches, others by Cardona鈥檚 interviews.

鈥淭he book doesn鈥檛 have a standard format,鈥� Briggs said. 鈥淵ou can open it anywhere and see words that became part of a city鈥檚 language. Then they explode into a story. It鈥檚 a minefield of language.鈥�

Many 蜜柚直播ans may remember that Briggs collaborated with the late Charles Bowden, the well-known author and journalist who chronicled the violence along our southern border. Briggs illustrated one of his most iconic books, 鈥�,鈥� which was published in 2010.

Both were absorbed in their own projects in Juarez when Briggs鈥� husband suggested a possible partnership. 鈥淢y husband had never met Chuck, but he thought my images looked like Chuck鈥檚 writing.鈥�

Interestingly, 鈥淒reamland鈥� includes several sketches Briggs had made before they met 鈥� and before he started writing the book. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how closely our stuff dovetailed,鈥� she said.

It was Bowden who introduced Briggs to Cardona 鈥� at the Etherton Gallery in 2007. After completing 鈥淒reamland,鈥� Briggs began working with Cardona on 鈥淎becedario.鈥�

The book became a labor of love, and then 鈥� when Cardona died of Parkinson鈥檚 in 2020 鈥� a product of heartbreak. In the end, Briggs was both author and illustrator, working from the interviews and reporting provided by her friend.

Briggs and Brophy both consider themselves artists rather than writers, yet 鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e written my whole life,鈥� Briggs said. 鈥淚 wrote for the Reader in Chicago and the Salt Lake Tribune when I worked at Utah State.鈥�

Brophy majored in creative writing at UC-Santa Cruz.

鈥淕rowing up, I was one of those weird kids who read dictionaries and did spelling bees,鈥� she laughed. 鈥淚鈥檝e always loved language. I鈥檝e always loved words.鈥�

One of her pieces on the wall at the Etherton is evidence of that. 鈥淚t鈥檚 2020, Bi***鈥� shows a random assortment of words that caught Brophy鈥檚 attention during the early stages of the pandemic.

鈥淚nstead of writing an essay about what I was feeling, I just wrote down words 鈥� words that jumped out at me when we were all trapped at home. Between the pandemic and the election, there was so much coming at us. People were making up new words just to describe it all.鈥�

Because all of us remember the experience, and each of us weathered it in different ways, no two people will be drawn to the same words in Brophy鈥檚 鈥�2020.鈥�

Similarly framed yet differently presented is another new Brophy offering: 鈥淭he Book of Female Don鈥檛s.鈥� This time we see sentences 鈥� advice and cultural cues that girls and women hear throughout their lives.

鈥淚 grew up with four sisters and five female cousins who lived next door,鈥� Brophy said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e all talked about the messaging girls get from the media, from movies, from people we know. Sometimes I catch myself repeating these things because they鈥檙e so ingrained. I鈥檓 63 now, so imagine how much of it I鈥檝e heard.鈥�

Again, no two women will be drawn to the same two sentences in Brophy鈥檚 鈥淏ook.鈥�

Although Briggs and Brophy both live in 蜜柚直播, they hadn鈥檛 met until introduced by Etherton before their show opened last month.

Now 鈥� well, let鈥檚 hope this isn鈥檛 their last two-woman show. The writing is already on the wall.

FOOTNOTES

Author Kianna Alexander will be featured at the Pima County Public Library鈥檚 this Sunday, Oct. 22, at the Loft Cinema. The event will go from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and include a conversation between Alexander and the library鈥檚 Jessica Pryde. Alexander鈥檚 latest books are and Learn more at .

Sharon O鈥橞rien has been named the new executive director at . Hers is a familiar face there. She has headed the program since the organization was founded in 2011. O鈥橞rien replaces Matt Tarver-Wahlquist, who resigned last November.

Novelist Shelby Van Pelt will be the featured guest when the unveils its first list of authors who will take part in the festival in the spring. The program will be Dec. 3 at the University of 蜜柚直播, but details have not been finalized. Van Pelt authored one of the summer鈥檚 most surprising hits, 鈥�.鈥�