Jamex and Einar de la Torre have collaborated together their entire lives in some form or another, but their foray into artistic synergy began decades ago. Together, they brought to life the “Southern Exposure” work of art at the Phoenix Convention Center’s North Building.
“Our work is better because we work together,” Einar de la Torre said.
The brothers work with mixed media with an emphasis in blown glass, de la Torre said. They own two studios in Baja and San Diego, California and their work can be seen at galleries across the nation. 
Southern Exposure, located at the Washington Street entrance to the PCC’s North Building, was created in preparation of the opening of the new building during the Convention Center’s expansion in the early 2000s.
The two, large-scale sentry-like sculptures stand about 15 feet tall and are set upon stacked boxes fitted into welded forms created from metal, plate glass, blown glass and resin. The transparent boxes themselves contain blown glass objects, found objects and cultural artifacts that reflect contemporary southwestern culture and the history of the state of Arizona. The artwork is based on the columnar atlantes of the ancient civilization of Tula, Mexico.
“We really wanted to give it a nod to it facing south,” de la Torre said. “Arizona is a border state to Mexico and this southwest region has a long history of trading with the Mesoamerican cultures. We wanted the art to reflect seeing the area as a region rather than just as one place.”
The brothers worked on the artwork together, but it was Jamex’s expertise in resin castings that shaped the face, arms and feet of the “Southern Exposure” sentries.
“We overlap a lot,” de la Torre said. “Nothing happens without the other one. I think that the way we specialize is minimal, we are really always looking over each other’s shoulders.”
That there are two sentries could reflect the duos brotherhood, but also reflects the protection the sentries offer the facility.
“We wanted them to flank the door,” de la Torre said. “You have two of them you have to pass to enter. They are sentries, they are the security of the Convention Center.”
The work of the de la Torre brothers can be seen across the country, but most recently in Texas at San Antonio’s McNay Art Museum, presenting the new exhibition "de la Torre Brothers: Upward Mobility."
To find more of their work, visit their
website.