Saturday art and book sale at the Biblioteca
By José Luis Mendoza

Flea Art Market and Auction (FAMA)
Sat, Sep 12, 10am–2pm
Auction: 12:30pm
Biblioteca Pública patio
Insurgentes 25

The first Flea Art Market and Auction offers painting, sculpture, etching, prints, photography, jewelry, books and antiques. Renowned artists will set up mini-galleries under the portales and in the patio to exhibit and sell their work. Initial invitations filled the space; 18 artists have confirmed.

Alejandra Mendoza Bardullas, a Mexican painter and printmaker with work all over the world, exhibits at Fábrica La Aurora, Lagundi and Galería Nudo.

Gary Berkowitz, a Mexican printmaker, has taught at Bellas Artes for 15 years. He also taught printmaking and Photoshop for eight years. 

Marisa Boullosa, a Mexican printmaker and painter, says, “Nostalgia and memory are present in almost all of my work; the majority is personal reference.”

Jo Brenzo has been teaching at Bellas Artes for 15 years. The American photographer founded the Academia de Fotografia here in 1995, and leads travel photography workshops to Oaxaca, Mexico City and sites in San Miguel.

Marilo Carral uses a Fauvist color palette to achieve dramatic, brilliantly colored and idealized interpretations of picturesque settings throughout Mexico. She has a gallery in Fábrica La Aurora.

Santiago Corral explores three basic themes: still life, human figures and landscapes, in oil on canvas, pastel and prints. The Corral gallery opened at Fabrica La Aurora in January 2009.

Alcides Fortes opened Galería Nudo on Recreo to support the continuing growth of contemporary jewelry design in Mexico. Fortes is from Cape Verde, Africa and has won awards in Beijing, Korea, and Holland for his evocative and dramatic jewelry.

Anita Hernández is a jewelry designer.

Angelina Perez is a renowned Mexican sculptor in ceramics who teaches workshops.

Shannon Reece is Canadian photographer who has lived in San Miguel for 15 years. She teaches art photography and film, and has a classical black and white lab in town.

La Galería Florencia Riestra celebrates five years as an art and antiques showroom in Fábrica La Aurora. They have hosted 20 exhibitions of contemporary Mexican artists and they have work by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and Rufino Tamayo.

Antoni Subirats is a Spanish painter living in San Miguel.

Ana Thiel combines her industrial design background with years of experience in glass and mixed media. She has lectured on art, creativity and sculpture at universities around the world.

Late confirmations; we will have profiles in the next issue.

Rosario Barcoso

Armando Bolaños

José Luis Ramirez

Concepción Speare

Erica Suracce



The auction will be in the patio at 12:30pm; you may register on site. Café Santa Ana will be open regular hours (10am–2pm) through the event and also will have a stand on the patio with coffee, soft drinks, cookies, cake and sandwiches. 

Art books, cookbooks and current fiction For FAMA, the library’s collectible books booth concentrates on art books, cookbooks and new first-edition hardcovers of current popular fiction at 50 pesos. The space is smaller, but the booth also offers architecture, interior design, history, poetry, anthropology and philosophy.

Most books are priced at 50 pesos, except for sets or scarce volumes. Expensive rare books were kept back to accommodate the art books. A pricey highlight of recent rare acquisitions is an Andy Warhol first edition from 1967; ABE lists a signed copy for US$12,000.

Highlights are Seminars in Art, a large-format book on Mary Frank, The Cuisines of Mexico and a compact OED.

Seminars in Art is a complete 12-volume set published in 1958 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The individual “portfolios” contain an envelope of 12 high-quality 9x12-inch color prints. The 144 prints are worth the 350-peso price of the books. The set is a panoramic view of 2,500 years of Western painting, with individual volumes on movements, techniques, composition and the social role of the artist.

Mary Frank is a 1990 volume published by Harry N. Abrams about the visual artist known primarily as a sculptor. She also produced many paintings, prints and works in other media. This deluxe volume focuses on her sculpture, with 142 illustrations, 45 of them in color. Internet sellers offer it for US$50–175; our price is 400 pesos.

The Cuisines of Mexico, after all these years, is still the best book around with the perfect combination of technique and recipe instructions.

Oxford English Dictionary, Compact Edition, complete 20-volume text reproduced micrographically (in slipcase). Deluxe hardcover edition. List new US$399, internet sellers $250, our price 1000 pesos. The reading glass is missing—usually the case with used copies.

Paperback Exchange 

Paperback Exchange opens soon at Cuadrante 32, two blocks south of the Jardín (the street also is called Pila Seca and Hospicio). The bookstore booth will be stocked with a thousand recent paperback mysteries, thrillers and romances. Prices range from two to ten pesos.