SAN ANTONIO, TX.- The City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture unveiled the first retrospective dedicated to Chicano artist and activist, Rolando Briseño. The exhibition, “Dining with Rolando Briseño: A 50-Year Retrospective,” debuted yesterday at Centro de Artes Gallery in Historic Market Square and runs through February 9, 2025.

“So much of culture revolves around food – what we eat, how it is prepared, who is at the table, and what is discussed around the table” said Krystal Jones, Executive Director of the Department of Arts & Culture. “This retrospective captures the breadth and beauty of Rolando Briseño’s work, which seamlessly blends art, culture, social causes and food traditions to tell the story of Mexican Americans over the past 70-plus years. It’s a visual testament to what has been lived, fought for and celebrated.”

Rolando Briseño is a San Antonio-born Mexican American artist, Chicano activist, cultural adjustor and culinary historian. His story aligns with that of many Americans: growing up amidst conflict and racism, but also amidst a culture of love, art and traditions (especially culinary traditions).

"My work represents a reconciliation of nature and culture that include macro/micro natural elements,” said Briseño. “Tables and food are depicted as manifestations of culture, symbolizing the cosmic forces all around us."

Raised amidst social injustice, Briseño joined local Chicano arts movements helping to create numerous Latino arts organizations that still exist and bring arts to the masses today. He went on to study in New York, Mexico, and abroad, and found a niche in crafting art focused on the Mexican culinary story. He reflected his homosexuality in his art and attained success as a public artist, with many of his works featured in museums across the Americas. Pivotal life-altering experiences also influenced his artistic focus, with much of his work lost in a devastating home and studio fire. He started over, found a life-long partner in artist Angel Rodriguez-Diaz, and remained steadfast by his side through his passing last year.

“Briseño utilizes food as artistic building blocks: he erects model buildings out of dough and corn tortillas and varieties of chiles serve as pigments,” said curator Ruben Cordova. “Food developed by indigenous Americans transformed the world. It enabled people in other areas to have adequate nutrition for the first time and the variety of these foods enabled the advent of national cuisines.”

“Dining with Rolando Briseño” features more than 75 drawings, lithographs, paintings, photographs, public artworks and pieces that survived his home and studio fire. His retrospective is free and open to the public.