Beláustegui’s profane party of color
By Erika Corral, July 7, 2006

Sebastián Beláustegui will be opening his show this summer with “Carnival,” a series of photographs taken in Brazil, Bolivia and Trinidad and Tobago.

Beláustegui’s photographs not only capture time in its stillness, but they are trapped in the essence of eyes, of women, of children and in the moving spaces within the stillness of a second that narrate one of life’s endless stories. His photos capture the minute that speaks of someone, somewhere, celebrating life; a minute within a story, printed on an exquisite photographic image, moving and vibrant. Beláustegui’s work takes us to that far away place, through the flitting openings of time and space of a lens, into the windows of the world. 

In his current show, one can see the blurring colors of Carnival, moving in a spiraling dizziness; bodies covered in purple glitter and gold; faces painted; feathers, flowers…. One photo shows a child with dark, hidden eyes, staring at the camera from behind the redness of a veil.

In another photograph, four monumental women are adjusting last-minute details, dressing against the reflection of a car’s window, in glorious glittering outfits. As Beláustegui says in one of his statements, “Carnival converts itself into a profane party; a sacred ritual of body and spirit, where one expresses the most intimate and wild side; the animal side, the Nahual. Carnival is the sacred journey of the body and spirit.”

Beláustegui has been an independent documentary photographer since 1991 and has dedicated himself to the photography of his native world of Latin America. In 2003, he published a book called Guardianes del tiempo (Guardians of Time), which includes portraits of the spirit of Latin America. The preamble of the book was written by José Saramago, a winner of the Nobel Prize Winner for literature. The book is available at Galería Le Noir.

His work has also been published in magazines such as National Geographic, Camera Art, Planet and Gatopardo and in the Los Angeles Times and the Sunday Times, among other newspapers. Currently, he is working on his new editorial project, called “Africa in America,” documenting the heritage of Africa on the American continent.
Photographs by Sebastián Beláustegui
Friday, July 7, 7:30pm, Galería Le Noir, Jesús 2A


One man’s trash, Freeman’s treasure

“Show me your trash and I’ll tell you about your life.” This quote by an anonymous garbage collector is the essence of Janice Freeman’s summer exhibit at Galería del Centro, Pozos, Guanajuato. The artist, in her own words, takes us through the evolution, inspiration and justification of this new body of work including assemblage, paintings and mobiles. “Sometimes I feel that trash has gotten a bad name,” says Freeman. “The same goes for junk and garbage. So, immediately I want to stand up and speak for it. In fact, I want to adopt it.

I want to take it home, nurture it, paint it and dress it up. I want to give it a new life. I suppose it’s part of my maverick way of wanting to turn the tables on people and their preconceptions. If they decide that something is useless, even dirty and disgusting, they throw it out in the trash pile. Well … I’ll take it. And I might even make art with it.

“If this kind of switcheroo isn’t reason enough for using junk and trash to make art, then what about the sheer beauty of some of the stuff? I have found rusted tin cans that are every bit as beautiful, in their delicate patina and their springing rhythmic shapes, as any classical sculpture. And a carefully arranged grouping of burnt plastic bottles can be, it seems to me, every bit as subtle and challenging as any Josef Albers painting, maybe more so. The bottles have found their second life; subtle echoes of their previous, more prosaic existence resonate in the finished piece.

“If pressed, I confess that this show is probably as close to a self-portrait as I could ever manage. It’s not that I set out to say anything about myself at all. In fact, my recognition of a connection between the work and my own life began to emerge only after the work was well underway. At some point, it dawned on me that collecting damaged and discarded objects from streets and trash piles, rearranging them and bringing them back to life in works of art, mirrored important changes in my own life.

“As I look at these old containers—soup cans, juice bottles, oil cans, etc.—some open, others still sealed, I cannot escape the metaphor they offer. In recent years, every day has been a time of profound change for me, a breaking out and an opening up of lifelong issues. It hasn’t always been pretty, but I have pried open the cans of my soul, let out the proverbial worms, and left behind the no-longer-needed containers, my old defenses. In making junk art I have discovered a promise of hope and renewal.”

Freeman’s exhibit opens Sunday, July 9, at Galería del Centro, inside Hotel Casa Mexicana, Pozos, Guanajuato. The exhibition runs through September 16. Transportation to Pozos is available by reservation for groups of six or more. For additional information call Teresa Martínez at 01-442-293-0014.
Art Opening, works by Janice Freeman
Sunday, July 9, 1pm, Galería del Centro, Hotel Casa Mexicana, Pozos, Guanajuato


Bellas Artes July Calendar of Events

Art opening: Political cartoons during the time of Juárez
Collection of Rafael Barajas, “The Busybody”
Friday, July 14, 7:30pm
Sala de Arte Mexicano, Bellas Artes
Hernández Macías 75

XXVIII Festival de Música de Cámaradel 29 de julio al 12 de agosto
28th Chamber Music Festival
July 29–August 12

Exhibit of paintings and drawings
“The Judgment of the Eyes” by Juan Carlos del Valle
Sala Principal, through July 23

Permanent exhibit
Mural: The Life and Works of General Don Ignacio de Allende
By David Alfaro Siqueiros

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 10am to 5:30pm
Sunday 10am to 2pm
Calle Dr. Hernández Macías 75, Centro, 415-152-0289 152-0936
bellasartessma@hotmail.com