Barbie de Mayo

Mexican Barbie and her chihuahua wish you all a Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

Enjoy!!!

Alebrijes

Alebrije (1977) by Miguel Linares, on display at the Museum of Man in San Diego

Over the weekend, I took a trip down to San Diego. Since I was in the neighborhood, a quick visit to Balboa Park and some of its fine museums was on the schedule. There were plenty of interesting pieces on view, but, today, let's look at a few examples of Mexican folk art, the Alebrijes, colorful nightmare creatures given form in paper mache.

Created by Pedro Linares in the 1930s, these weird creatures were inspired by a fever dream, in which the grotesque critters frolicked within a dream forest and hallucinatory clouds. Throughout the bizarre vision, the creatures kept on repeating the nonsense word "Alebrije". So, upon recovering from the illness, Linares fashioned their likeness out of paper mache, brightly painted.

The tradition has since been passed on through the Linares family and has become a popular form of Mexican folk art, especially in Oaxaca.

Alebrijes by Ricardo and Miguel Linares, on display at the Mingei Museum

Enjoy!!!

Dreaming as the Days Go By

The Chess Queens (1944) by Muriel Streeter


I recently visited LACMA's exhibit "In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States" which was an eye-opening experience. I found it so profound for two reasons. First, the works on display were exceptionally strong, powerful expressions of surrealist aesthetics.

Second, there were many "forgotten masterpieces" on display, works that should have greater prominence and fame; I'm reasonably learned in art history, but there were many awesome pieces that were unfamiliar to me. I can't help but feel that these artists have been neglected by art historians because of gender bias. The fact that some of them were from Latin America or lived there put a double whammy on them, making them beneath the notice of the male-centric Euro-centric art cognoscenti.

So, kudos to LACMA and the Museo de Arte Moderno for putting this show together. It's about time that these treasures got the appreciation that they deserve.

Detail of Celestial Pablum (1958) by Remedios Varo


Although I found the actual layout to be confusing, the exhibit was segmented along a variety of themes that pervade the works of these artists. From the use of games and chance in composing works to the conceptualization of the Self, the exhibit examined topics both philosophical and technical. Yet, it always presented the subject in a coherent and accessible manner, never drifting off into deep Art Theory or Formal Techniques territories.

Porque Cantando Se Alegran

Mexican tourism poster "Senorita and Parrot"

Well, it's that time of year again, but this time I've got a blog. ;-)

Happy Cinco, mi amigos. Don't go too hard on the tequila or cerveza. And here's a classic Mexican song:

Enjoy!!!

Eating Barbequed Iguana

The Zonkey at the Santa Monica Museum of Art

I had been intending to visit the Santa Monica Museum of Art to see an exhibit entitled: the Donkey Show. Seeing as how the exhibit was days away from closing, I finally rushed on over. It was a small show, consisting of a single room. The premise of the Donkey Show was about the two aspect of Tijuana's "Donkey" tourism.

The first aspect is about the city as a place where morals wash away in the flow of tequila, enabling all sorts of decadence to be seen and experienced, including the archetypal "donkey show" in which a lady makes a public performance of intimate carnal play with a donkey. This was explored through a solid collection of nightlife and sordid ephemera, such as photos or club fliers. There wasn't anything too risque, but the documentary material got the point across.

The second aspect is about the "donkey cart" where tourists could get their photos taken, wearing sombreros and sarapes. Given the cheap quality of the Mexican photographs, the donkey would frequently be painted with stripes to be easier to see in the photo. Thus, the zebra-donkey (ie: zonkey) was born! The collection had over 200 such photographs on display. It was a fantastic study in this very specific photographic genre.

Meanwhile, playing in the background was a great collection of Tijuana themed music. From Bix Beiderbecke's "Tia Juana" to the Kingston Trio's "Tijuana Jail" to Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio", it set the exhibit's mood. And of course, there was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass:

Also on exhibit was Al Taylor: Wire Instruments and Pet Stains. I wasn't expecting much from this show, comprise of Taylor's three-dimensional constructs and drawings. The Wire Instruments half of the show was interesting. I wasn't big on the drawings some the 3-D works had interesting spacial arrangements. My favorite was a work entitled "Station of Cross" shown below.

Station of the Cross (1990) by Al Taylor.

I was very ready to be unimpressed with the "Pet Stains" half of the exhibit, but I found myself surprisingly charmed and intrigued by the 3-D construction. Looking at them in photos, they look like ink stained plexiglass junk. However, when viewed live, the viewer can appreciate the sense of motion and implied flow of time within the dribbled and pooled paints upon the layer plexiglass. As one changes their point of view, the "pet stains" have a dynamic quality.

All in all, I'm happy that I got to see this exhibit before it closed. I had absolutely zero interest in Al Taylor's work prior to this viewing. Now, I'm interested in searching out some more of it. Good job, SanMo!!!

Finally, there was a small exhibit of some recent paintings by Daniel Cummings. It was solid contemporary abstract work. Interesting color usage and engaging surface texture, these paintings made for good viewing. Personally, the style didn't do it for me, but I can appreciate the artistry.

Although the show is over, I recommend visiting the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Their shows are always worthy of consideration. Here's a link to the website page.

Here's a link to Daniel Cummings' website.

Donkey Show was curated by Jim Heimann and Josh Kun. Here a link to Wikipedia's page for Josh Kun.

Enjoy, mi amigos!!!