Consummate artist’s magic world
March 30, 2007

Cinco grandes pinturas (Five Mayor Paintings) Works by Peter Leventhal Thurs, Apr 5, 7pm Galería Le Noir  Jesus 2A  Cocktail

I started out emulating Barroque painters and hoped to achieve the level of third rate masters of the genre. Later, it came to me that if I could be half myself, that would be enough 
Peter Leventhal

To carefully examine and admire Leventhal’s work, one cannot fail to notice the tongue-in–cheek eroticism that permeates his oeuvre. But then, all the masters of the 20th Century and past, approached eroticism in their later years. Picasso’s greatest etchings were pure erotica, all created in the last fifteen years of his life. Given the prolificacy of both Picasso and Leventhal’s sentimental success, one can only determine it must come from a lifetime of successful practice and therefore, they know what they are painting about.

In the selected works to be shown at Galería Le Noir, some of Leventhal’s exquisite sculptures will accompany a small selection of paintings, the first time the sculpture has even been exhibited in San Miguel. As much as the artist’s superb drawing and painting techniques are to be admired, his sculpture are small masterpieces. Most definitely a show not to be missed!



Correction to Atención, March 23 edition, 

The Peter Leventhal exhibit at LeNoir Gallery opens on Thursday, April 5, not Friday, March 30 as was stated. In addition, the photograph with the article is by Bill Perlmutter and is not a portrayal of Peter Leventhal’s work. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.



The wearing of Oaxaca

Juana Cata (Oaxaca, 1860–1925) was famous in her time for her extensive travels in Europe, where she sold the coveted natural indigo dyes from Mexico to European textile manufacturers. Juana Cata(lina) was also the reputed lover of President Porfirio Diaz.

In San Miguel, the spirit of Juana Cata lives on at Zacateros 50, in a new establishment of the same name opened in late 2006 by Remigio Mestas Revilla and his wife, Jorgina Perez.

Remigio Mestas Revilla, the youngest of six children, is a Zapotec Indian from the mountain village of Yalalag in the high sierra of the state of Oaxaca. His mother, a weaver, and his father, a farmer, moved the family to Oaxaca City when Remigio was five years old. As a means of survival, his father taught himself to cut and sew shirts. Much of the family’s life centered around the main market where Remigio was already selling flowers at age five.

Keen and curious, at age seven he was taken into the shop of Dolores Cruz Palacios, a well-known and knowledgeable vendor of the crafts and textiles of Oaxaca. Among the clients of Doña Dolores were some of the leading artists and intellectuals of the day such as Rufino Tamayo, Diego Rivera, Graciela Iturbide and Francisco Toledo, whose keen interest in the Mexican popular arts helped insure that up to the present day Oaxacan craftsmanship remains authentic, true to its traditions and highly sought after.

Doña Dolores became his adoptive “grandmother.” Later, he worked for her daughter as well, all the while keeping up with school. He completed university with a degree as a chartered accountant. Throughout his formative years his “grandmother” and “mother” nurtured his appreciation for fine craftsmanship and artistic creativity. When it became time for him to start his own enterprise, he decided on textiles. After conducting extensive research and going village by village to find the best weavers, he opened his first textile shop in Oaxaca in 1995 and called it Juana Cata.

Conditions in Oaxaca City brought most enterprises to a standstill in 2006, but Juana Cata continues to operate and Juana Cata II was opened in San Miguel in December.

While the styles and materials of original Mexican textiles have changed rapidly with the modern world, Remigio Mestas has followed his dream and revived lost techniques in order to maintain the ancient textile traditions of his birthplace. Colors may vary as the artisan/weavers choose, but the huipils, quechquemetls, enredos, rebozos, and cenidors are true to their historic antecedents as are the design motifs woven into the natural fiber cloth.

As a result of his knowledge, expertise and 15 years of hard work, production for Juana Cata now involves over 200 people. There are the producers of cotton, wool and raw silk of the region; those who prepare the fibers for the dye bath (cochineal and indigo as well as a wide range of other natural dyes). There are approximately 150 weavers from 22 regions of the state of Oaxaca, and the collectors who bring in the pieces from remote areas of the state. The weavers work on the prehispanic back strap loom and some of the pieces may take as much as three to six months of work to complete. Production is most often based in family units who are contracted by Juana Cata for all their output and therefore guaranteed security of income even if they only produce a few pieces in a year. Juana Cata accepts only work of the highest quality.

Investigative travels to such countries as Egypt, Morocco, Nepal, India and Tibet have convinced Remigio that the woven goods of Juana Cata are among the finest examples of contemporary work to be found in Mexico, and indeed, the world.

Textiles from Juana Cata have been featured in books, magazines and TV documentaries internationally and are treasured acquisitions of museums and collectors from around the world.

Stop by Juana Cata at Zacateros 50 and talk with Remigio. He is most happy to answer any of your questions, in English or Spanish, and is available for public talks. You will be enriched by the visit.

“Not a Lifesaving Device” is art meant to make us think

“Not a Lifesaving Device” Works by Diego Larraín and Francisca Balmaceda Sat, Apr 7, 6-8pm galería/atelier Fábrica la Aurora Cocktail reception

It is a subtle warning found printed on many plastic imports that end up in children’s hands, but could it be the most important message ever to reach them? This is the proposal of the young Chilean artists Diego Larraín and Francisca Balmaceda in their newest show, “Not a Lifesaving Device.” The young couple melds their own cultural experiences into their newest production of paintings, sculpture and jewelry to open a dialog with this town they have come to love during their past year of residence here. Their work, inspired by their sojourn in Mexico, is a call to conscience: to take life with all the seriousness and humor that is deserves.

The magic found in the people, colors and scenery of San Miguel is the inspiration for the young couple’s art. Married shortly before departing on their journey of discovery to Mexico to learn about and live in a different culture, these two young artists have been inspired by the creative energy of all the inhabitants of this rich country and especially by its artisans. What Diego and Francisca were not expecting during their stay was to find a preference for the consumption of mass-produced plastic products, particularly those from China, over the unique local hand-made Mexican craftwork. They also observed something similar happening with communal spaces; where before, people would convene in parks and churches to nurture their souls together, now they convene in lifeless shopping malls where they are subjected to the forces of subconscious consumerism. Diego and Francisca feel that our town stands at a crossroads on the brink of modernization, where a real-time changing of consciousness is taking place and each of us has to make a crucial choice between whether to buy the cheaper Chinese products or the beautiful artisan pieces, whether to take a stroll in the park, or stroll the aisles of Mega and buy things that we really don’t need, but that will force us to work harder to afford them. The choice lies in each of our hands and it is Diego and Francisca’s hope to encourage us to take the natural route, but most of all to make us realize that it is this choice that guides our cultural direction, not forces that are out of our control. We must vote with our peso and lead by example so that the next generation doesn’t lose its sense of community and culture as is happening in countless countries around the globe, including Chile, where people learned the hard way to value these intangibles and are fighting to reclaim what Mexico is in jeopardy of losing.

Diego Larraín studied architecture at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago, Chile and later went on to study painting and sculpture at the Universidad Finis Terrae also in Santiago. It is his special combination of studies coupled with the extensive spectrum in his color palette that allows Diego to search with his paintbrush for a better understanding of the spaces that make up society and their subsequent impact on the human conscious. He aims to make his viewer more conscious of the object’s space, of its presence and how this effects our every day lives—whether it is our home, the mall, a commercial center, the supermarket, a school or whatever space we inhabit. Diego’s art is a dialog to help us realize how, everyday, man is more enclosed in these spaces, provoking a final estrangement with his own nature.

Francisca Balmaceda also studied art at the Universidad del Desarrollo, where she combined her art degree with a pedagogy degree. There is a sensibility in her art influenced through her understanding of child psychology.

Francisca’s painting of a bobbing head armadillo toy commonly sold at the artisan market makes the viewer feel a child-like solace, but its bright eyes also remind you of an awareness that everything can change at any moment.

A close-up of the head of an inflatable plastic trinket that is sold in the Jardín by the balloon salesmen sets the undertone for the show. The images of both artists are juxtaposed on the gallery walls, creating a narrative that requires thought and observation to understand their relation or non-relation to each other. It is too easy to superficially coin the show as kitsch because of its childlike colors and images; it is a well thought-out dialog that has an important message about the present.

It is the bright colors and the narrative composition which the artists hope will encourage the presence of children, as much as adults. This is a show whose message is aimed at both future and present generations. Several public and private schools have been invited to bring their students to view and dialog with Diego and Francisca about the show during the three weeks it will be hung at galería/atelier. If anyone is interested in sending a group of students to have a special talk with the artists, please contact the gallery at 044-415-151-8665 or email info@galeriaatelier.com. 

San Miguel through the eyes of kids

Photography exhibit & sale Fri, Mar 30, 5pm Patio Biblioteca Pública Insurgentes 25

Axel Chacon

Carlos Ontiveros

San Miguel through the eyes of the tourist and the professional photographer is more than well documented; but how is it seen by its own children? Tonight you can see San Miguel through the lens of 12 talented young photography students. After meeting twice a week, learning about photographic composition and developing their skills under the guidance and encouragement of photographer Elizabeth Rosas the work of the kids will be on public display. 

This exhibit is their first and will hardly be the last as local residents Carlos and Linda Soberman will continue the digital photography workshop when Elizabeth Rosas returns to the US. 

San Miguel sculptor, Sekigawa, shows in Merida

Well-known sculptor Yoshiyuki Sekigawa, who has been in San Miguel for the past 25 years, was invited to Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Atened de Yucatan (MAYAC) in Merida Yucatan, to exhibit his work. Sekigawa showed 17 stone sculptures in the same museum two years ago. This year the museum has planned an outdoor show along the Paseo de Montejo inviting many artists.

Sekigawa presents his large piece of work, “La Nariz del Chac-Mool” (The Nose of Chac-Mool). Opening on April 2, the show runs for one year. Sekigawa has been associated with the Instituto Allende for the past 25 years, decorating its garden with his beautiful and powerful stone sculptures.

Drawing with the colors of wool 

Textile/Art exhibit Sun, Apr 1–Mon, Apr 30 Galeria Santa Ana Biblioteca Pública Insurgentes 25

The Spaniards introduced the spinning wheel and the vertical frame loom here very early. In the first quarter of the 17th century, thriving industries in weaving and embroidering had been founded. Embroidery began to develop in order to decorate priestly vestments. Both crafts reached their height in the 1700s when more than 300 looms were registered in San Miguel el Grande.

Like so many things in San Miguel, these crafts declined in the 19th century. Embroidery has enjoyed a small revival in the town in recent decades, however. Weaving, after being almost dormant for a century, has had a major revival in the last forty years. 

Some sources claim that the sarape is neither Spanish nor an Indian product originally. The Bajío region was once the pasture land for vast herds of sheep, so wool and hides for tanning were economically vital to the town. Old sarapes seldom show any influence of Indian lore or religion. Traditional San Miguel patterns include the interlocking diamond, the trenzas (braids), ducks, and the copas (cup) motifs. 

Maria Mendieta (Master of Arts) shows her work, a sample of contemporary art in textiles, at the Santa Ana Gallery.