Untitled

Dr. Gilberto Cárdenas founded the Galería Sin Fronteras in East Austin—then a predominantly Mexican American neighborhood—to promote emerging Latinx artists and sell prints from Self Help Graphics. Austin artist José Treviño designed this poster for the gallery’s inaugural exhibition in 1986. It features a complex figure that is simultaneously an Aztec warrior, contemporary artist, and civil rights activist. The figure’s eagle pendant shows his allegiance to the United Farm Workers labor union, while he holds the tools of his trade. Below him, a partial globe of the Earth rests at the center of converging rows of footsteps, a type of pictographic writing the Aztec used to signify travel and direction. Here, all roads seem to lead to "ollin", an Aztec sign associated with the energy involved in the creation of the universe.