Artist Ruth Buentello’s ‘Back in the Day’ (left) depicts family photos and Latino family life. Her ‘Sex Doll No. 1’ (right) mocks the stereotype of the Mexican calendar girl. [Courtesy photos]

WHO: Ruth Buentello, 23
 
MEDIUM: Acrylics
 
BEST KNOWN FOR: Representational narrative paintings that document the shared Latino experience, from home life to language to clothing to San Antonio cultural traditions. “I like the idea of rescuing or capturing images that have the possibility of getting lost or forgotten,” Buentello said. She added that her work straddles traditional and contemporary Latino art: “They both inform each other. We have to keep coming up with different ways of representing images and ideas. You have to make it relevant to today's world.”
 
CURRENTLY: Her work on display at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Galería Tonantzin includes “Back in the Day” and “1982,” paintings based on family photos, as well as “Sex Doll No. 1,” which mocks the stereotype of the Mexican calendar girl. Her piece “Codex Ruthonicuz” at Bihl Haus Arts is an accordion-style piece that relates past and present experiences in Buentello's life. Although the work is modeled on ancient Mayan and Aztec codices, she used a graphic, comic-book style of storytelling.
 
BACKGROUND: A South Side native, Buentello began working on San Anto Cultural Arts murals at 16 under the tutelage of artists such as Alex Rubio and Cruz Ortiz. She finished up her BFA at School of the Art Institute of Chicago in December and returned home, partly for family and partly to give back to community organizations that taught her about art, including San Anto, the Guadalupe and the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center. Experiences with the Chicago Public Art Group have also inspired in her a desire to create innovative public art in San Antonio.
 
DAY JOB: Buentello is a mobile art teacher for the Southwest School of Art and Craft.
 
CHECK HER OUT: The group show “Alma Indígena: Tierra, Raiz y Sangre” runs through April 18 at Galería Tonantzin, 723 S. Brazos St. “Yellow Roses: Emily Morgan and the Mythic and Historic Women of Texas,” also a group show, runs through March 22 at Bihl Haus Arts, 2803 Fredericksburg Road. On Second Saturdays, Buentello does live art with an artists' collective in a studio space at 1906 S. Flores St.

Jessica Belasco | 210SA contributor