Arthur Lopez is one of the leading Santos carvers in New Mexico.  This piece is entitled “Our Lady of the Highway“.  This is a large and complex piece. The car door handles opens a drawer.  Below the Lady of the Highways is a complex carved scene with cards, roads, and a New Mexico landscape.  The detail and intricacy of this piece is simply extraordinary! 

 Arthur said of this piece:

“Our Lady of the Highway is a version of the Virgin Mary who protects drivers. She is the patroness to pilgrims and travelers who use motorized transportation.  She can help individuals stay safe and protected on their journey and find the right path in life.  There is an “Our Lady of the Highways” shrine that is part of Route 66 in Raymond, IL. There is a universal appearance to her, with the clouds on her dress and the stars on her shawl. The miniature cars were each hand-carved.  ”

His current show, “All Cylinder Saints” combines carvings of cars with saints.  We wrote of this show:

“I first started carving Saints in cars in 2001.  I don’t normally carve many cars because carving cars is much more time-consuming with all of the details that make each one unique and identifiable. And when you add a figure in the vehicle, it’s more challenging carving the wood so that the two pieces will fit together in a natural-looking way.”

Lopez was brought up in the traditional Northern New Mexico tradition of carving santeros, although he is one of the few contemporary carvers who incorporates imagery from contemporary street and popular culture.  All Cylinder Saints is focused on carved religious figures in cars.

“Faith doesn’t have to be deadly serious,” says Lopez. “It can put a smile on your face to get the same point across. As always, I am working in the long tradition of New Mexico santeros and my pieces come out of my faith.  I feel that what’s important is the strength of your faith.”

For Lopez, the phrase running on all cylinders refers to working and creating at one’s peak level of performance and maximum potential. “The subjects in the show range from ‘Praise the Lowered’, a fun play on words depicting a devout but unorthodox image of Christ kneeling by his 1954 patina lowrider Chevy truck, to Saints and Sinners,’ a hilarious rendering of the Devil and an Angel outside the iconic Saints and Sinners Liquor Store in Española NM.”

The process for Arthur’s work is bound in tradition.  After the piece is carved, it is covered in gesso (a glue made from rabbit hide), which is allowed to dry and then sanded.  It is painted with both natural and watercolor pigments.  Natural colored pigments, such as brown, are derived from black walnut hulls.   These are the time involved and historic foundations for his work.  

We are pleased to present this amazing body of work from one of the leading Santos artists in the country.  Arthur’s artistic expression continues to break through the history of Traditional Spanish Colonial art in New Mexico. Each piece demonstrates his expressive ideas by utilizing and honoring traditional techniques to arrive at his uniquely contemporary one-of-a-kind creations. Consistently, Arthur has pushed the boundaries of the New Mexico Santero tradition that has placed him at the forefront of his craft.

Arthur’s work is found in numerous museum and public collections, including Albuquerque Museum of Art & History,  Denver Art Museum,  Freedom Museum (911 Memorial at Ground Zero), Harwood Museum of Art, Museum of International Folk Art,  Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, and the State of New Mexico Permanent Art Collection.  Most recently he received the New Mexico Governor’s Award for the Arts in 2022!