Contemporary Hispanic Market in Santa Fe reinvents cultural traditions

Discover the artists and artisans who are reinventing Hispanic cultural traditions for the 21st century at the Contemporary Hispanic Market in Santa Fe.

Now in its 39th year, the market offers an alternative to the Traditional Spanish Market, which takes place on the same weekend — Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27.

“We contemporary artists could never have a chance to get into that market, because we don’t do traditional work,” said Ramona Vigil-Eastwood, who has been the president of the Contemporary Hispanic Market since 2006.

This year’s Contemporary Market features 124 artists in 18 categories, ranging from painting and sculpture to textiles to ceramics to found object art. It bills itself as the largest contemporary Hispanic market in the world.

“There really is something for everyone,” Vigil-Eastwood said.

“One gentleman, Joseph Galvan, does Lucite cut art,” she said. “It’s really nice, because it’s three-dimensional. He cuts into the Lucite, and then, with the light behind it, it looks realistic.”

“Then we have David Santiago, who does really lovely drawings,” Vigil-Eastwood continued. “And his father, Joe Santiago, actually exhibits with us, as well. He does mixed-media fountains with turquoise and crystals.”

Vigil-Eastwood mentioned several other highlights, including chainsaw-cut furniture and crocheted wedding gowns.

One of the newer categories at the Contemporary Hispanic Market is writing, and the Taos-based polymath Roger Martínez will be offering books as well as paintings in his booth. Martínez writes fiction and nonfiction, sometimes blending the two in works of historical fiction that explore New Mexican history and mythology.

“Everything I do is cultural,” Martínez said. “When I wrote ‘Tales of an Enchanted New Mexico,’ some of the stories were not my own, but I’ve written them as culturally and historically accurate as possible, adding in the flavor of the dialog and a good storyline.”

“Tales of an Enchanted New Mexico” (2021) features five short stories, ranging from a historical fiction story about the Comanches’ interactions with Pueblo and Spanish communities in the late 1700s to unique retellings of legendary folktales like the ghostly La Llorona to the deadly chupacabra.

“I read books about mythology and psychology,” Martínez said. “And there’s a lot of overlap there, the way I read it.”

One of Martínez’s other books is about the Hacienda de Los Martinez Museum in Taos.

“I volunteer at the Martinez Hacienda. It’s a historical museum of how people lived 200 years ago, and they’re part of my family,” Martínez said.

Martínez’s love of New Mexican history and culture is infectious. His paintings are deeply rooted in history, too, and they range from traditional retablos to abstract geometric compositions.

“I call it contemporary traditional, or contemporary with traditional content,” Martínez said. “For my abstract art, I use traditional colors in a contemporary way.”

“I was inspired by (Piet) Mondrian, who uses the primary colors,” he continued. “But I use Indian red, Indian yellow and three shades of turquoise.”

Even Martínez’s retablos are too contemporary for the Traditional Spanish Market, he said, because he uses acrylic paint.

“For the Traditional Market, you have to follow this narrow line, and you can’t waver from it. There’s no creativity in that,” he said. “The Contemporary Market offers that creativity option.”

Vigil-Eastwood acknowledged that some artists do straddle the traditional and contemporary worlds.

“I’ve had some folks that have been in the Contemporary Market, and then they decided to go on to the Traditional Market, and then some come back the other direction, as well,” she said. “Sometimes when they’ve been in the Traditional, they feel stalemated, because they have certain strict guidelines over there. We’re more free with the art.”

The Contemporary Hispanic Market will host a silent auction, as well.

“It starts on Saturday and closes on Sunday at about 1 o’clock,” Vigil-Eastwood said. “It helps the market, and there’s some really nice pieces in there.”

The Contemporary Hispanic Market in Santa Fe reinvents cultural traditions