RENO.- The Nevada Museum of Art presents Margarita Cabrera: Hummers. Mexican-born Cabrera creates vibrantly-colored sport utility vehicles that challenge viewers to engage in debates about immigration, border relations, and the politics of the American Dream. Hummers will be on view at the NMA July 19 through November 9, 2008.

Made from pliable, vinyl fabric with visible, hand-stitched threads, Cabrera’s Hummers pay homage to the thousands of laborers working in multi-national assembly plants near the U.S.-Mexico border—where engine parts for Hummer vehicles are made. Cabrera re-envisions the Hummer as a flaccid, vulnerable object that implicitly questions the power, excess, and wealth that, to some, signifies the American Dream.

Until recently, perhaps, large-scale vehicles such as Hummers have symbolized prosperity and success in a global market that is influenced by American culture and advertising. Ironically, these same vehicles are also widely used by U.S. immigration officials to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to curb the number of laborers fleeing poor working and living conditions in Mexico to seek a better life in America.

Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, Cabrera moved to the United States with her family at a young age. The move created a cross-cultural perspective for Cabrera, which has inspired much of her artwork. Cabrera focuses on the political, social, and emotional experience of being from two distinct, yet closely entwined cultures. She now resides in El Paso, Texas.

Cabrera’s work has been exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Dallas Center for Contemporary Arts; and El Museum del Barrio in New York among others.