Free Denver Art Museum Essay Example

I saw many stunning, attractive, and thought provoking works of art on my trip to the Denver Art Museum. Many collections flowed together so nicely it was as if you were in a maze, or a different dimension. While I saw many pictures, those from the museum’s “La Cocina” collection, a celebration of contemporary Mexican art, were very captivating. The collection specifically focuses on Mexican cooking and cuisine. In particular, I found “Xictomatl” by Oliverio Balcells to be the most engaging of all the pieces. While it appeared plain at first, after I examined it further, it was one of my favorite pieces.
When I say it was plain to begin with, I am not lying. The portrait is very simply. At the top, it says, “Xictomatl”, the painting’s name, which is the Spanish word for “tomato.” At the bottom it has the word, “Jitomate”, which is another word for “tomato.” These words are in a deep, almost blood red color, with a sandy, beach colored background. It draws the viewer’s eye to the center of the painting. The center of the painting has different flags from around the world bordering it, including the United States, China, Germany, and France. Above each flag are written the name of the language and the word for “tomato” in that language, simply, and in black. The middle ground of the piece features an ornate design of tomatoes, as if they are being gazed on from above it. They are a deep, luscious red, making them look ripe enough to pluck off the canvas. The detail is not extraordinary, but the work itself is still great. Tufts of stems peek out from the tops of the tomatoes and vines wrap their way around the four that are depicted. This texture gives the idea that they are being looked at as if they are lined up in rows in the garden. A large, almost comical tomato takes up the forefront of the piece. The method ensures that anybody could guess what the words on the canvas mean, even if their language were not included. The tomato looks so comical it is almost as if Balcells plastered a child’s sticker onto the piece.
While the piece does look initially plain, but it stirred me, emotionally. The word, tomato, is so simple, and there are many words for it. Each language has its own way of saying it but the longer I stared at the piece, the more I understood that it was not about the languages or the separation that the differences in languages represent. Though each word is different, they all mean the same thing. The tomato looks the same in each country, no matter what you call it. It feels the same, is the same shed of red, and grows the same, no matter what soil you are standing upon. I realized that no matter what word I call a tomato, or a xictomatl, it would taste the same. I can use it the same in any recipe and it will still be delicious. Perhaps Balcells intention was just to make a piece about how there are many words for a tomato. However, as I looked at it, I realized that we focus too often on what makes us different, and not often enough on what makes us similar. It seems so simple and insignificant, but the truth is that barriers, whether language or otherwise, are not always as high as we make them out to be. That is how I felt as I looked at the piece.
“Xictomatl” and my trip to the Denver Art Museum overall showed me to look deeper into art, even when it appears plain. At first glance, Balcells work would have bored me, and if I had not been attempting to inspect things further, I would not have given it a second thought. I am glad I gave it a second look. If I had not, I may had never realized that, though we are different in many ways, at the end of the day a tomato is the same to all of us. We are not very different. I never thought I would walk away from a painting of a tomato with so much to contemplate.