{"id":7627,"date":"2014-02-20T11:31:51","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T17:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artorg.info\/?page_id=7627"},"modified":"2014-03-06T12:08:17","modified_gmt":"2014-03-06T18:08:17","slug":"grupo-soap-del-corazon","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/artorg.info\/?page_id=7627","title":{"rendered":"Grupo Soap Del Coraz\u00f3n"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Grupo Soap del Coraz\u00f3n was founded in 2000 by Xavier Tavera and Douglas Padilla to celebrate Latino artists and culture and the Latinization of Lake Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. Grupo Soap started its efforts with an inaugural exhibition at Gus Lucky\u2019s Gallery on Lake Street in Minneapolis entitled \u201cSoap del Coraz\u00f3n\u201d. In that show each artist addressed, visually, the questions: What is \u201csoap of the heart? What cleans the heart?\u201d<\/p>\n

A year later the group went on to create a major exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art\u2019s Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program (MAEP), \u201cFrontera Lake Street\u201d, which showcased the work of six local Latino artists. A highly attended exhibit, \u201cFrontera Lake Street\u201d, generated both publicity and critical acclaim. And it brought color and passion, politics and spirit to the Minnesota art world.<\/p>\n

In 2002, Grupo Soap created a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) exhibition and celebration, \u201cUn Dia con los Muertos en Lake Street\u201c. The exhibit focused on nine 8\u2019x12\u2019 murals on the Lake Street side of the empty Minneapolis Sears building, an ofrenda for the dead nearby, performance\/ritual by local Aztec dancers, and a party\/celebration at alternative Latino institution ArTrujillo Gallery\/Studios.<\/p>\n

For Dia de los Muertos 2003, Grupo Soap spotlighted the 370 plus disappeared and murdered women of Juarez, Mexico, with an exhibit and installation, \u201cNi Una Mas\u201d (\u201cNot One More\u201d). It again added performance, music and food to the show, which took place at Mira Gallery\/El Instituto de Cultura y Educaci\u00f3n at El Colegio in south Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

In 2004, the artists of Grupo Soap del Coraz\u00f3n joined forces with Highpoint Center for Printmaking to create a workshop on silk-screening and an exhibition, \u201cGr\u00e1fica Politica\u201d, that exhibited both Minneapolis and Chicago artists. The prints made in \u201cGr\u00e1fica Politica\u201d were entered later that year in a community wide group show at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, entitled \u201cThe Art of Democracy\u201d.<\/p>\n

In 2005, Grupo Soap mounted two exhibitions in Valparaiso, Chile. The first show, \u201cEl Otro Americano\u201d (\u201cThe Other American\u201d), took place at El Instituto Chileno Norteamericano de Cultura and described the Latino\u2013American experience. The second show, \u201cPolitica Ex-Carcel\u201d, took place at Centro Cultural Ex-Carcel, a former prison under the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. In that exhibit, Grupo Soap del Coraz\u00f3n artists joined the long history of Latino political artists by stenciling\/photographing posters on the walls of neighborhoods and barrios in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Valparaiso, Chile.<\/p>\n

In 2006 Grupo Soap del Coraz\u00f3n created \u201cArtsourcing, An International Consortium of Outsourcing Artists\u201d at The Soap Factory in Minneapolis. In that exhibit Grupo Soap, by publicly outsourcing the labor for all the individual projects, confronted issues of globalization and capitalism as they pertain to Latin America and the United States. By highlighting the work of those that actually do the manufacturing, Grupo Soap brought a measure of honor, recognition and profit to the almost 100 workers, from Tijuana, Mexico, to West Saint Paul, Minnesota, that participated. Finally, in the fall of 2006, Grupo Soap del Corazon joined with ArtOrg, a Northfield, Minnesota based arts non-profit, to create \u201cNorthfield Dia de los Muertos\u201d, celebration that joined together the resident Anglo community of this college town with recent Mexican immigrant factory workers. The event evolved around a 104\u2019 banner printed with a steamroller on 4\u2019x8\u2019 woodblock prints created with Day of the Dead themes by a group of 14 Latino artists from Northfield and the Twin Cities. Additionally, paper prints were made of those woodblocks and exhibited in a show at ArtOrg\u2019s Moving Walls Gallery. Later that year, Grupo Soap and ArtOrg brought those same 4\u2019x8\u2019 prints on paper to an exhibition, \u201cNorthfield Muertos\u201d, at the California Building Gallery in Northeast Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

In 2007 Grupo Soap del Coraz\u00f3n partnered with Art Jones Gallery to create \u201cNuestra Frida\u201d, a response to the exhibition \u201cFrida Kahlo\u201d at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. For our \u201cFrida\u201d, Grupo artists created a magnificent show of painting, photography, installation, sculpture, drawing, and performance that was attended by well over 1000 people during it\u2019s run. It added a panel discussion on Frida Kahlo with the curator form the Walker and several academics and an artist that was attended by almost 100 people.<\/p>\n

For 2008, Grupo Soap took to the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul with \u201cGrafica Politica #2\u201d. For this art intervention, artists from around the world sent political poster art to the Twin Cities to be displayed on telephone poles and buildings and fences around town during the Republican National Convention. Thus, an artist team in New Zealand, an artist from NYC, an artist from St. Paul – all had the opportunity to expose their thoughts the community during an intense week of civic participation in the American civic process.<\/p>\n

For 2009, Grupo Soap once again partnered with ArtOrg from Northfield, Minnesota, and created 4\u2019x8\u2019 steam roller prints to celebrate Dia de los Muertos. This time the printing was sponsored by and took place at the Plains Museum in Fargo, North Dakota. It was followed by a group exhibition of the work and opening celebration at the Museum.<\/p>\n

In 2010, Grupo Soap participated in a number of exhibitions, including shows of the Northfield and Fargo steamroller prints at St. Olaf and colleges. Grupo Soap del Coraz\u00f3n also participated in the Minneapolis Monarch Festival, assisting ArtOrg in doing steamroller printing for almost 300 kids at Lake Nokomis in South Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

In 2011 in celebration of its 11th year anniversary, we stayed true to it\u2019s purpose: to encourage and exhibit \u201cSoap del Coraz\u00f3n\u201d, art that cleans the heart. It has showcased the work of 50+ artists. Well over 100,000 people have seen its art. It has pulled the people of Minneapolis \u2013 St. Paul and Minnesota into deeper community. So, in celebration, Grupo Soap will create an exhibition at Intermedia Arts in South Minneapolis the summer of 2011 entitled \u201cEl Milagro \u201d. \u201cEl Milagro\u201d (The Miracle) will address the religious, mystical, cultural, political, psychological and historical nature of miracles and the miraculous, especially amongst Latin Americans.<\/p>\n

In 2012 Grupo Soap del Coraz\u00f3n will opened with a show at the new Franconia in the City @ Casket Gallery in Northeast Minneapolis. \u201cLos Cuatro Ases\u201d (The Four Aces) and featured two- and three-dimensional art by four well known international artist members: Alonso Sierralta (Chile), Peter Mart\u00edn Morales (Guatemala), Douglas Padilla (Minnesota), and Xavier Tavera (Mexico). For the show Padilla, who is primarily a painter, and Tavera, who is primarily a photographer, joined Morales and Sierralta, both primarily sculptors, in creating two- and three-dimensional art. <\/p>\n

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Founders<\/h2>\n