Exploring the roots of our land
By Shannon Reece March 28, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Art Opening
Bienes Raices
Shannon Reece
Tue, Apr 1, 6–8pm
Café Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25

This body of work grew out of a reflection on the dramatically changing landscape of San Miguel and my small and not so small town of Westbank, where I grew up in Canada. Having moved here in 1994 I have seen a lot of changes, but not so many as in the last five years or so, and the same is true of Westbank.

In either place, a popular conversation topic, whether at a cocktail party or in a café, would be about real estate, the rise of property values, the cost of building materials and how long the house took to build.

As we become more and more linked to information about different places and personal stories, the world reveals its small paradises to the populace and of course, if we can, we visit that place. And then the cycle begins; more and more visitors arrive, amenities spring up, visitors remain, they buy land, they build houses, more amenities arrive, land prices go up etc, etc. Soon, the very aspects that made a place a paradise become farther and farther afield.

When I began to really look at land as real estate, I started to observe how much more there was to a piece of land. One of the first images in this series unites a shallow stream of water with a jagged outcrop of rock in northern Mexico. I left it to my pencil to find the land in between, the serrated edges of rock, placid plains of moss, with dips and valleys running into the boulders rimming the stream. Not perhaps the ideal building site, but it led to a deeper investigation of the real personality of land. How rain must travel and collect on it; how clouds travel over it, what changing face does the sun make with the plants and rocks over the course of a day, which way does the wind usually blow over the hills on it, how old are those rocks; what animals of ancient times walked over this, what has that tree seen, how is the sky on a clear night full of stars, what kind of grasses grow here during the rainy season. It amazed me that a monetary price could ever be put onto a piece of land, there was so much to consider. The 10 pieces in the show are all titled Bienes Raíces, or real estate. I hope I was successful in transmitting some of the wonderful discoveries I made about a landscape and the priceless characteristics of a piece of land.

Local artist to participate in national show
By Jan Searle

De la Fuente’s one-man show in Victoria, capital of the state of Tamaulipas, is at the Centro Cultural Tamaulipeco. This show is sponsored by the government as a cultural event and runs from May 14 to June 13.

Victoria’s cultural and convention center includes an auditorium, a library and an art gallery.

De la Fuente is a strong unique figurative painter with splendid chromatic effects. His highlights and pulsations create an enigmatic atmosphere. His art reveals a spiritual energy that allows us to penetrate the intimate ego. A world closely allied to metaphysical and emotional absolutes, his paintings recall surrealist and cubist techniques with their unique twists and messages filled with symbols.

Manhattan Arts magazine said, “De la Fuente’s engaging paintings may owe some credit to the Freudian psychology of Dali and the Magic Realism period in Italy. But his imaginative and complex symbolic imagery flows from a personal vision. Enigmatic and haunting, de la Fuente’s work submerges the viewer to the mysterious depths of the subconscious.

“In De la Fuente’s canvases our fantasies, fears and ghosts are brought out into the open to romp and play in a game of frivolity, where they can be laughed at, and with, and no longer feared. In the process he paints a universal language.” 

His work is in collections throughout Mexico, Spain and the US. He also shows at the Rainbow of Art Gallery, Ancha de San Antonio 3, Monday–Saturday, 10am–4pm. For more information, call (415) 110-3200.

Aesthetic of the feminine
By Aura Moreno Lagunes

Art Opening
Deanna Gaviola Austerberry
Thu, Apr 3, 7pm
Primer Piso
Sopeña 10, first floor
Guanajuato

Deanna Gaviola Austerberry’s work forces us to look inside; first of all, inside the rooms inhabited by her women, those rooms decorated by walls and chairs that fill the space; then she takes us to situations that they are living and accepting. For many of them, it’s a waiting that seems will not end, as in Penelope’s case.

Her women show a sensuality marked by the curved strokes of their bodies, carefully executed with the gouge on the linoleum, whether they are sitting, or inside a bathtub, standing, or reclined on a polka-dot chair.

Austerberry works a narrative aesthetic because she incites us to recreate a history, to look for a before, and to imagine what can happen after we leave the scene. She plays with us and she shows us nostalgic images which seem to come from the the mid-twentieth century. This is an aesthetic of the feminine, of the sweet being that characterizes her, of that meticulous job that only she can do.

Aura Moreno Lagunes studied industrial design and is an etcher and plastic creator. She is currently studying toward a master’s degree in modern and contemporary art in Querétaro, where she has lived and worked for over 20 years.

The story behind the mural
By José Luis Mendoza

Lecture
Quetzalcoatl & the Sala Quetzal mural
David Leonardo
Fri, Apr 4, 11 and 18, 5pm
Sala Quetzal
50 pesos

On February 5, 2003, after almost two years of intense work, one of the last great Mexican muralists in the Bajio, David Leonardo, accomplished the task of painting a mural on the Sala Quetzal at the Biblioteca Pública.

It represents a big part of the ancient cultures of Mexico cosmogony: Quetzalcoaltl the Eternal Sun. “Our parents and grandparents tell us that he created and formed us, we are his creatures: Our prince Quetzalcoatl who created the sky, the sun and the earth goddess.”

Leonardo donated this mural to the Biblioteca Pública, but mostly to the community of San Miguel. This is an invaluable piece of art that will remind future generations of our rich, profound and mystic heritage. This year, the Biblioteca celebrates the 50th anniversary in their building, and among other celebrations, Leonardo will give a series of three talks about the mural, a complete explanation of the panels, figures and representations.

“Quetzalcoatl in Nahuatl means Feathered Serpent. This god rescues the bones of the ancient people and combines them with corn to create the Mazehuales, which are the ‘Ones.’ Quetzalcoatl has rescued from the underworld the remains from the ancient people. He grinds them with corn and other ingredients creating the ‘One’ desired by the gods, the Mazehual. Around him are four figures, making the number five altogether, a number that is related with Venus. The story is breathtaking, full of profound ancient beliefs, full of color as the great mural ‘Quetzalcoatl the Eternal Sun’.”

The ancient art of Japanese ink painting
By Robin Loving

Art Opening
Offerings
Marisa
Mar 28, 7–9pm
Pila Seca 3

Sumi-e, the ancient art of Japanese ink painting, traditionally features subjects from nature and conveys their essence using a minimum of brush strokes.

“I was drawn to the simplicity and spontaneity of this style of painting, which uses black ink and spare lines,” said artist Marisa, who will host an opening of her work “Offerings.”

“I began to learn to use the ‘Four Treasures’ of Sumi-e—paper, brushes, ink and ink stone—while living in the Pacific Northwest where I took classes with teachers of the Puget Sound Sumi-e Artists’ Society,” she continued.

“When I arrived in San Miguel de Allende three years ago, I was delighted to encounter Yasuaki Yamashita, a local ceramicist and painter with whom I studied in 2005,” said Marisa. “Lessons helped me improve my brushwork and gave me practice in traditional techniques. On my own I have continued to paint in the Sumi-e style and also to explore using watercolors and canvas,” she concluded.

The opening reception will begin with a Shakuhachi Japanese flute concert by her husband Peter Ross, to set the tone of the evening. The show will continue March 29–31 from 10am–3pm and 5–7pm, during which times Marisa will demonstrate Sumi-e techniques.

A portion of the art sales will benefit the girls of Casa Hogar Santa Julia Don Bosco, A.C., a group home for girls from dire family circumstances.

Mercury and the shape of perception
By Erika Corral

Art Opening
Ronald Mallory
Fri, Mar 28, 7–9pm
Bellas Artes
Hernández Macías 75

Ronald Mallory’s work can best be described as moving shapelessness in space and time using one of the purest and most auspicious of all metals: mercury. To understand his work, we must understand his medium. His work can be categorized as kinetic art—the art that contains moving parts, generally powered by wind, a motor or an observer.

Mallory’s talent and innovation has been adapted by the emerging New York minimalists, while he takes his procedures to much different heights. His are works of exploration, randomness and chance rather than industrial works of calculation and precision.

In his upcoming show, “Sexus-Nexus,” Mallory will exhibit a retrospective display of multimedia digital imagery along with a few sculptures. His work reflects the movement of time, space and gravity through the use of this mysterious metal. The works are never the same. They are alive. They are shadows and reflections, silently shifting. They reach, recreating themselves continuously, never repeating the organic orchestra of movement. Robert Irwin said, “It is like the shape of perception.” Mallory himself says, “I believe art must be a creation itself. It must design itself. I have taken a natural element and let it move as it must, in concert with my attempt at controlling its innate nature.”

Mallory has exhibited with some of the most renowned artists of his time: Claus Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Irwin and James Turrell. These contemporary installation artists of the sixties and seventies explored light and space through the “art of technology.” Like them, Mallory was drawn to the exploration of elements. An architect by trade and later a painter, Mallory was always experimenting with textures until he finally discovered his medium: mercury. Mallory has worked with the liquid metal for over 30 years and continues to rediscover it, perfecting his technique.

Mallory has had numerous solo shows in Miami, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Milan and Paris, where he lived for 15 years. His work is in permanent public collections at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Smithsonian Institution.

Ronald Mallory artist’s statement

“I believe art must be creation itself. It must design itself. It must break away from tradition. It has been a natural evolution for me to make the transition from painting as I knew it. Working with the newest discoveries in chemistry, computer imagery and materials has become so much a part of our age. My work therefore has become organic in concert with my attempt at “controlling” its innate nature to create a finished work. It is like a seed in the earth; it must evolve, it must change and become a collaboration between nature and man. Synchronized, harmonious, beautiful.”