Michael Tracy: The Elegy of Distance
The McNay, San Antonio
March 1 — July 27, 2025
Flower Sacrifice, 1988
Gilded wood, swords, brass milagros, silk, and fresh flowers
Courtesy of Michael Tracy Foundation
Many never-before-seen paintings, sculptures and mixed-media objects anchor an exhibition that does what artist MICHAEL TRACY did for his six-decade career: challenge us to think deeply about those things we hold dear.
More than 50 objects welcome visitors in Michael Tracy: The Elegy of Distance. The works promote critical thinking, empathy, thoughtful exchange and healing as viewers consider faith, ritual, immigration and the environment. An original soundscape by musical composer Omar Zubair will complement the presentation.
“Although the artist withdrew from the museum and gallery ecosystem for years, the issues his work addresses have become increasingly urgent,” said René Paul Barilleaux, the McNay’s head of curatorial affairs. “The McNay’s exhibition will bring attention to this significant American artist’s work, introducing a new generation to him.”
Spanning nearly floor to ceiling, large canvases coated in thick paint, discarded supplies, sand and other materials evoke the desert landscape around Tracy’s studios in San Ygnacio, a small Texas border town along the Rio Grande. Seven paintings from his series “Speaking with the Dead” (2013-2015) ooze with varying shades of charcoal and black acrylic that are thickly layered on the canvas to communicate the relationship between decay and preservation. The heavy texturing suggests the works want to escape the canvases that hold them as they implore the viewer to commune.
Michael Tracy’s works blur the lines between international and metaphysical borders. “Cruz de la Paz Sagrada VII” (1980), a bracketed cross that stands more than 70 inches tall, is composed of heart-shaped Milagros, hair, swords, rosaries, spikes and scissors. The sculpture is a poignant juxtaposition of sacred and secular. Viewers can also see studies for the “Golmuhar” series (2005-2010) and finished acrylic paintings that reflect the yellow, orange and chartreuse blooms on the trees native to India. Michael Tracy routinely made semi-annual trips there to make jewelry.
“Para los olvidados (For the forgotten ones, 1989),” reportedly induced gasps from the audience when the pyramid-shaped work, stuffed with fragrant white flowers and covered with human hair, was first exhibited in Mexico City. The work is believed to pay homage to the unnamed heroes in the Aztec wars.
“In the decades since his last significant solo exhibitions, which garnered national attention, society has evolved its thoughts around issues like climate change, religion and traditional beauty standards. Michael Tracy’s exhibition at the McNay will allow visitors to revisit his work with fresh perspectives framed by societal evolution that reflects an increased awareness of the urgency of the issues addressed in his work,” said René Paul Barilleaux.
Programming for scholars and community members draws parallels between Tracy’s work and modern-day concerns about the environment, religion, border policy, immigration and societal definitions of beauty. A free poster-size publication includes images of artworks in the exhibition and a reflection on the artist by Christopher Rincón, president of the Michael Tracy Foundation and director of the River Pierce Foundation.
“Given San Antonio’s diversity and its proximity to the U.S./Mexico border, the McNay has the opportunity to present an impactful exhibition to a large audience acutely affected by issues represented within it,” said Matthew McLendon, Ph.D., the McNay’s director and CEO. “An exhibition of Michael Tracy’s work at this precise moment, so close to his passing, is especially poignant as it will serve to honor his lifelong dedication to his artistic practice and reinforce his critical contributions to social justice and the visual arts, squarely placing him as one of the leading American artists known to grapple with these issues and help us, the viewers, understand, process and confront them in an informed and thoughtful way.”
Michael Tracy, an Ohio native, earned a bachelor’s degree in literature and art at St. Edward’s University (Austin, Texas), studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art and earned a master’s degree in studio art from The University of Texas at Austin. In 1978, he established his studio in San Ygnacio and turned more of his attention to the Texas town as his national and international fame waned. Despite his creative success, San Ygnacio’s population of less than 1,000 people did not fully embrace the artist. Many of the residents were descendants of the area’s original settlers and were off-put by some of Tracy’s gestures, including “The River Pierce: Sacrifice II,” a 1990 Good Friday ritual burning of Tracy’s “Cruz: La Pasión” (1982-87), a cross-like object. Approximately 200 people joined Michael Tracy for the processional inspired by the city’s annual Via Dolorosa.
“The McNay has a long tradition of elevating lesser-known, marginalized artists working outside of the mainstream art world,” René Paul Barilleaux said. “In Michael Tracy’s case, the McNay recognized him both at the beginning of his career and, perhaps more importantly, now at the end of his career when the mercurial winds of the art world have shifted away from the once lauded artist.”
Fifty-three years ago, McNay Art Museum mounted Michael Tracy’s first-ever museum exhibition, “Seven Gold Paintings,” at what was then the Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute.
Surveying approximately two decades of Tracy’s career, “The Elegy of Distance” debuts many objects from the artist’s personal holdings alongside artworks on loan from other collections. The exhibition is organized by René Paul Barilleaux in collaboration with Christopher Rincón.
McNay Art Museum
6000 N New Braunfels Avenue, San Antonio, TX 78209
