Closer look: Tucson Museum of Art's 'History of the World'

The Tucson Museum of Art’s collection of Latin American art is extensive and top-notch.

The museum’s curator of the collection, Kristopher Driggers, zeroes in on one piece to give us a closer look.

The art: “History of the World” (Tree of Life), ceramic, 60- by 45- by 18-inches, undated.

The artist: Tiburcio Soteno Fernández (b. 1952), one of the best-known members of a family of ceramic artists from the town of Metepec in the state of Mexico in Mexico. The Soteno family has been making works in clay since the beginning of the 20th century. Tiburcio’s particular specialty is creating trees of life that emphasize religious and historical themes, especially at large scale and made from rich, unpainted brown-red clay.

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Significance: Artists have been making decorative trees of life for decades, but with this tree, Soteno is especially ambitious in evoking a broad sweep of human history. Scenes on the left side of the work represent key moments from the Old Testament: Viewers might recognize Adam and Eve expelled from paradise, the Tower of Babel, and the Tables of the Law. Scenes from the life of Christ appear on the right side, but here we are also brought into the space of modernity, with images of military abuses injecting a shock of violence into Soteno’s history. Soteno treats all of his scenes expressively, using amplified gestures and building up sweeping lines to convey the pathos that characterizes his vision of the human story.

What demands a closer look: Though the sheer quantity of details on this work can overwhelm any viewer at first, Soteno has created a composition that is in fact highly organized and ordered. God appears at the top of the work, the earth occupies the center, and a watery space with demons is situated below. After noting how these large scenes are arranged, there is a lot of pleasure to be had in allowing your eye to travel from scene to scene. Looking closely, note how winged angels bear baskets laden with abundant foods; how human figures move solemnly across the composition, downcast; how the Virgin Mary bows her head in a gesture of exuberant mourning. From there, visit the other trees of life in the gallery to see how Soteno’s approach differs from those taken by other artists.

Where to see it: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays through Sept. 8 at the Tucson Museum of Art, 140 N. Main Ave., 624-2333, tucsonmuseumofart.org. Admission is $12, with discounts available.