Origenes: New sculptures 
By Melanie Harris de Maycotte
January 2, 2009 San Miguel de Allende

Art Opening Mariana Peraza Fri, Jan 9, 5–8pm Galería/Atelier Fábrica La Aurora  Calzada de la Aurora

Suggested continuous movement is the overtone in the organic, ceramic sculptures of San Miguel artist Mariana Peraza. The twisting of a body and the organs within as they adapt to contortions both tangible and intangible is a possible interpretation offered by the artist in her newest body of work, Origenes. It’s a discussion on “sensuality as well as the ever-changing landscape of the vital elements, which result in a natural abstraction, describing life’s sensations as a consequence of the continuous relationship between the body as a container of vital processes and the external environment in continuous movement,” she explains.

This theme of action and reaction through abstraction one on which the artist has chosen to elaborate throughout her artistic career. Many of us in San Miguel have had the privilege of watching Peraza evolve from her first days as a student at the Instituto Allende and on through her successful and prolific postgraduate career. Still in her mid-twenties, Peraza has a very sophisticated vernacular about her work, which has always held a heightened sophistication in its fabrication even before she could articulate what it all meant. Her work has also tended to have that immediately identifiable quality that will take her far in the art world, along with her ability to portray a tangible evolution and constant redefinition in form and material while still continuing the thread of her personal existential dialogue.

Origenes does not fail to impress. Peraza’s soft-appearing bodies made from white Zacatecas earthenware contrast so perfectly with the hard cantera floors and metal roof of Galería/Atelier. Their glow is reminiscent of a soul and, along with the paper etchings by Peraza on the walls, tell a story to which we can all relate.

Galería/Atelier hosts a one-woman show for Peraza January 9 as part of the Fábrica La Aurora’s Friday Art Walk series. Contact the gallery at info@galeriaatelier.com  for more information or for a visual catalogue of the work. 

Man and nature 
By Anna Maria Munoz 

Art Opening
Oneness of Spirit
Agnes Olive
Sat, Jan 10, 6–8pm
Galería de Arte Contemporáneo
Relox 46

In a recent visit to the studio of artist Agnes Olive, the work she is preparing for her exhibition, “Oneness of Spirit,” brought me back to the realization that the mystery of life and death is a dominant subject in ancient arts and is the thread that knits all philosophies together. The history and evolution of our humanity are printed in our cells and the seed of our origins is deeply alive in our memories, even if we don’t know it.

Olive, through her art, awakens the hidden spark that connects us with our ancestors. She is strongly inspired by her vision and by the ways in which the journey from life to death is represented in cultures still linked to the Earth, by those who strongly believe in the power of the spirits. Her work is connected to the sacred and it focuses on the co-existence of man and nature. Her inspirations come from structures, textures, rhythms, rituals and ceremonies.


Materials that Olive collects from the earth are combined with handmade paper from indigenous materials, rusted metal and bones, to be transformed into strongly archetypal compositions. 

Anna Maria Munoz is an actor’s coach, an artist and curator. She studied with Carles Aranda in Mexico City and has curated gallery exhibitions in Tepoztlan and Morelos before moving to San Miguel.

Art Opening

Keith Miller: New Works
Small Works: From the Heart
Fri, Jan 9, 5–8pm
Generator Gallery
Fábrica La Aurora 14a
Calzada de la Aurora

The Generator Gallery opens two new shows for the monthly Fábrica La Aurora Art Walk. Keith Miller’s “New Works” join a multiple-artist exhibit, “Small Works: From the Heart.” Regular gallery hours are 11am-6pm, Monday and Thursday–Saturday, noon–3pm Sunday.