Benito Huerta “Shock and Awe” UTSA Art Gallery

Benito Huerta’s works at the UTSA Gallery are masterfully crafted and, at times, visually stunning. The downfall lies in his attempts to use shock to solicit awe. Huerta resorts to Picasso’s famous “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” and descriptions of money. Profanity, a ubiquitous image, sailor tattoos, Pop, politics, and loteria just leaving me asking, so what? Huerta’s reliance on familiarity and obscenity (both real and perceived) amount to a blunt cliché that is no longer shocking.





Benito Huerta


photos Chad Dawkins