Revisiting Llort: Salvadoran Costumbrismo and the Influence of "0La Semilla de Dios"

• In Event: Optimisms of the Will: Central America Beyond the Image of Crisis

Abstract

One of the most well-known visual artists of El Salvador, Fernando Llort, passed away on August 10th, 2018, leaving both a legacy and archive of “folkloric art” central to the forging of Salvadoran identity and selfhood for the past forty years. Llort popularized the iconic La Palma style of Chalatenango starting in the 1970s through the creation of La Semilla de Dios, an artisan workshop that taught townspeople the practice of creating and selling artisan works. La Palma style celebrates colorful images of landscapes, villagers, adobe houses, and animals, to capture lo cotidiano of El Salvador. In this essay, I ask, how can we read Llort’s images and their subsequent mass reproduction, not solely as integral to Salvadoran costumbrismo, but also as a contribution to representations of isthmian ways of life? Today, Llort’s legacy remains visible through prints, beach towels, and trinkets, and are often found as decorative pieces in the homes of Salvadorans, Salvadoran-Americans, tourists, and more. His art has influenced many others, and his iconic style is often replicated beyond the borders of El Salvador, often referenced in murals abroad to promote a sense of Salvadoran-ness, sometimes standing in for Central American-ness as well. Despite the history of violence and civil war that has permeated the Salvadoran imaginary, Llort’s art is generally considered apolitical, allowing us to imagine a flourishing, peaceful, and humble Central America, a view counter to mainstream projections of a region in perpetual crisis.

Author

• Mauricio E Ramirez, University of California Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz)