By Susan Page

In his 4000-square-foot showroom of the best of Mexican popular art, Galeria Atotonilco owner Mayer Shacter has personally selected every single piece. He travels all over Mexico to find the best artists, and then he buys their best work. As I write, he and I (his wife) are in the middle of a four-week driving trip all over the south of Mexico. We are filling our large van with dazzling pieces.

Art
Galería Atotonilco
Open House
Exhibiting new folk art treasures
from a recent shopping trip
Sat & Sun, Jun 1 & 2, 12-5pm
Directions to the gallery in our ad in this issue
185-2225
www.folkartsanmiguel.com

The new work will be exhibited at an open house on Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2 from noon to 5pm. Refreshments will be served.

Mayer Shacter’s gallery collection is distinctive in many ways. His own background as a ceramic artist himself for 27 years gives him a skilled eye for design and craftsmanship, and he is extremely discerning when he selects pieces. He goes to great lengths to include work that he loves but that is not easy to obtain.

For example, we drove over pot-holed roads to the town of Tezuitlán near Jalapa on the Gulf coast, definitely not a tourist destination. The mountain town is built on such a series of hills and valleys that we had to go into a building to find a level place to stand. It’s a mountain range called the Sierra Puebla where they have a unique, little-known tradition of puppet shows that combine pre-Hispanic spiritual beliefs with Catholicism. The hand-carved puppets with hand-sewn clothing are rarely seen outside this area, because few people venture into the remote mountain villages to find them. Each puppet couple represents Mary and Joseph on one level, but they are also designed to entertain with elaborate stories. For their religious significance, they remain on altars in village homes all year when they are not being used in performances. All of the puppets have large wooden hands because clapping is an important part of each puppet show.

Every set of puppets comes with a most beautiful folk-painted wooden box, designed to contain the puppets, the carved wooden chenchere (woodpecker) that is a part of each play, and the masks worn by the puppeteers. We were able to purchase an excellent selection of these rare vintage puppets and several stunning boxes.

San Cristóbal de las Casas is situated at the heart of a large population of Mayas, most of whom live in several hundred small villages in the surrounding mountains. Each village specializes in an ancient Mayan craft, including eye-dazzling embroidery and weaving, beadwork, delightful stuffed animals, and ceramics. We added to our textile collection and bought over 100 animals, actually more like fabric sculptures than stuffed animals.

Then we headed to the ceramic village of Amatenango, long known for its dramatic jaguar jars, sculpted jaguars, and traditional roosters. The stands that line the highway near the village are heartbreaking to us, because most of the artists have abandoned the traditional work in favor of garishly painted, molded decorative items apparently preferred by Mexican tourists. However, we have cultivated relationships with several artists who are still making wonderful traditional jaguars, ollas, and roosters. Esperanza Perez is a warm, enterprising 32-year-old who prides herself on quality work. Her home has traditional cement floors and unpainted brick walls, but it is spacious and bright and impeccably clean. In the dirt yard behind her home, she showed us two types of kilns she uses. We enjoyed selecting jaguars, large and small, and ollas from her, purchasing as many as we could because we know they sell fast out of the gallery. Wrapping and packing them all in boxes to install in our van took a couple of hours.

Then, Esperanza graciously showed us to the home of Albertina, the only person left in Amatenango who still makes traditional roosters. We were able to purchase four, and kept telling her how much we value her carrying on the venerable customs of the village. As we were leaving she said, “Would you like to see the meter-long iguana I made, in the traditional style?” Meter-long iguana? Ahh, yes, we would like to see it! We all piled in our van, two little girls giggling in the back with the boxes, and drove to a different section of the village where the dirt roads were in even worse repair. She wasn’t kidding! We gazed upon a huge, amazing clay iguana with wonderful spines all along his back. A meter? He was almost four feet long! We had to have him. It took three of us to lift him into the van, and he will be in the gallery to greet you when you arrive at the open house, June 1 and 2.

The Indian market in San Cristóbal is one of our favorites in all of Mexico. But for a few Coke bottles here and there, the entire outside part of the market could be a scene from 300 years ago: Mayan men and women, all dressed in their traditional garb and speaking Tzozil or Tzsitál, with their fresh produce spread out on the ground, shoppers picking their way through the oranges, mangoes, bananas, beans, rice, corn, all locally grown. The inside part of the market is row after row of stalls selling everything from pineapples to batteries to haircuts. It’s the indigenous version of a mall, and remains virtually as it has for centuries. Last time we were here, we happened upon slingshots, cleverly carved as animals or figures. They sold quickly out of the galley, so we wanted to resupply. With little trouble we found them again and selected all of the most skillfully carved.

I am writing from Oaxaca where we have found a new wood carver who works in the style of the famous Jocobo Ángeles but whose finely painted carvings, unlike those of Jocobo, are affordable. We are excited to introduce his work to the gallery. From here we will visit the almost inaccessible village of San Augustín Oapán in the Guerrero mountains to purchase more of their much beloved large clay reinas (queens). Last time we were there, they told us no one had ever ventured into the village to buy work. They carry their work out to nearby cities to sell it. And we will again be in the lacquer village of Tamalacatzingo on the day of their annual competition, where, last year, only we and the Mexican government craft division, FONART, were purchasing museum-quality work, most of which has already sold out of the gallery. We are eager to see what this year’s competition reveals.

Except for the open house on June 1 and 2, Galería Atotonilco is open by appointment. 185-2225 or 044-415-153-5365. Directions to the gallery are in our ad in this issue.

“I love painting the nude, but after painting the nude for a period of time, with the confinements of the figure itself and the related confinement of the artist/model relationship, I have to go to the subject of the landscape to free myself again, and to recover from the difficulties of dealing with another person in the creation of my art — in landscapes I have total freedom. Now I have new models and when dealing with several models, my nudes take on a very different quality, because I am usually doing landscapes at the same time and both subjects are treated in a more visual and abstract way, more of me and the way I like to use color to create form, the passion is more pure in this process, than in an expression of affection for the model…”

Open studio
Sat, May 25, 6-9pm
E.C. Bell Art Studio
Rosal 32
Col. San Antonio
For more info call 415-115-3831

New paintings from the last two years will be shown and a small celebration of Ibette’s birthday.

As part of the 140th anniversary celebration of the Angela Peralta Theater, the Director of the Department of Education and Culture Acacio Martínez announced that Henry Vermillion will be the artist featured in the Theater gallery for the celebration festivities of the 140th anniversary of the local landmark in downtown San Miguel.

Art
Henry Vermillion at the Teatro Ángela Peralta
Within the celebrations for the Teatro’s 140 anniversary
Sat, May 18, 5-7pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta

Vermillion, a painter who has lived and worked in San Miguel for over 20 years, will show new oils, drawings and an ongoing series of small watercolors called “French Postcards”. Some of the paintings will be based on theatrical subjects (the painter is also active in local theater). The work will be up for two weeks, and opens Saturday May 18 with a reception for the artist and the public at the theater, from 5 to 7 pm.

Vermillion’s work is generally figurative–a mix of character studies, social and political themes and works he calls “Notes on the human comedy”. Another concern is the matter of clichés. “Clichés are what hold society together. Without old familiar images, we’d feel disoriented, lost. Think of John Wayne, beautiful sunsets, valentines. But in art, to me, clichés quickly become hackneyed and deadly, no matter how well done. About the only thing Warhol contributed to art was that he recognized that we’re saturated with commercial images: familiar clichés, and he reproduced them. Little critical or creative effort was involved. It’s much more interesting to start with what may be a familiar idea or image and make it into something different. Abstraction can do this, but leaves us, the viewer, with just color and composition, which is fine, but not enough. Art—painting–can do much more than that.”

Vermillion and his artist wife Britt Zaist are co-founders of Galeria Izamal, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and he owns Galeria Vermillion, also downtown in the Plaza Colonial at Canal 21

Artist Jose Luis Arias is presenting new work today, May 17, at the Buena Vida gallery in an exhibit entitled “Fragmentos Poéticos” (“Poetic Fragments).”

Art Opening
“Fragmentos poéticos” by José Luis Arias
Fri, May 17, 6pm
Galería Buena Vida
Aldama 42
152-4990

This large group of pieces comprises several different techniques. Bringing together different methods of painting, Arias mixes styles and materials and reinterprets iconic images in his own creative way. The content covers a large range of subjects, from well-know local landscapes to paintings evocative of Baroque, Classical, Impressionist, Cubist and Abstract styles.

He seeks to communicate how mysterious and surprising life can be, by refashioning images from various sources such as fashion, commercial fabrics and historic artworks; the work unites current political and aesthetic themes to express a way to own the modern and cult figures and the role of art in the articulation of a visual language.

Arias is a versatile artist from Mazatlán, Sinaloa and has lived in San Miguel for over seven years. He has experimented in several media, and his work has been collected by art lovers both locally and abroad. He has also been teaching art at the Instituto Allende, Universidad de Nuevo León and the Universidad de Morelos.

Currently, his work is on display at the Museum of Latin American Art in Phoenix, Arizona. His plans for the future include a trip to show his work in Spain, visiting the cities of Malaga, Barcelona and Valencia.

The exhibition will be up through June 15.

By Nick Hamblen

Paola Uribe Gaudry and Luis Gaudry are sister and brother. Both artists work in the same interesting, though not well-known, medium of ink and resin, yet each very much in a style of their own. It is the great pleasure of Galería 6 to present their work together for the very first time.

Art
Paola Uribe Gaudry & Luis Gaudry
Sat, May 4, 1-5pm
Galeria 6
Jardín Principal 6
Mineral de Pozos

Returning after her very successful 2011 show at Galería 6, Paola exhibits her distinctive abstract work that exudes color and motion and texture. The finished work appears so wet that one cannot help but want to touch it to prove that it is not.

Luis’ exuberant paintings range from abstract to others more figurative, usually of organic and floral subject matter. A lyrical quality of motion paired with a dreamy use of color draws one in to gaze deeper and deeper into the work.

Both Gaudrys are Mexican artists, Paola living and working in Leon and Luis in Mexico City. The work being presented here is reasonably priced starting at US$150 for framed work, so there is something for everyone.

On Saturday, April 20, the sun was shining in San Miguel; we had a great day with 40 children from the campo of Palo Colorado who were bused to el Centro for their first art field trip. Most of them had never been out of their community.

They dressed in their best prim and proper uniforms and with big smiles on their faces headed to the Presidencia where the exhibit “101 Artists of San Miguel” is located, and where their weekly art class would take place on this Saturday. Their teacher was the young artist David Vazquez Cedeno, whose favorite subjects are children and cats. They set out for two hours of work crumbling paper, drawing and painting.

After they had finished their work there was lunch, which they devoured quickly as there was so much more to explore. Their minds were certainly not on creating art or story writing but on exploring. First to the beautiful bathrooms. For the first time in their lives, they saw one that functioned with an automatic sensor for flushing water, an automatic tap and an electrical hand dryer (designed for world dignitaries when they come to visit the Mayor of San Miguel).

Curious little girls asked if they could go up the stairs and touch the beautiful gold banisters that lead to the second floor of the Palace where Allende and his cabinet used to hold their meetings, I said, “No, don’t! There are ghosts upstairs!”

They laughed and giggled for a while but stopped asking. They wouldn’t want to take the chance of finding some ghosts lurking behind the big ancient doors.

After class a team of teachers, the school principal and enthusiastic leaders took the children across the Jardín in small groups of eight to the Parroquia’s inner court and then to Gelato Dolce on Cuna de Allende for an ice cream experience.

The kids looked at everything with big round eyes, soaking in everything that was happening in town that afternoon in front of the Parroquia. The 14-member mariachi band all dressed up for a wedding performance, the wedding guests in their finery, the shoeshine men and the funny looking kind-faced gringos around the Jardín. The children gathered in the band shell in the Jardín for a group photo, thumbs up for the happy time they had, then boarded the bus at 2pm to return home and prepare for their next art assignment. Who knows what dream they might have had that night.

For the 10th anniversary of MACO, the Mexico City International Art Fair, the organizers went all the way, inviting over 350 special guests from all over the world, including collectors, museum directors and curators.

There were 131 art galleries from 21 different countries presenting a wide range of what is loosely termed modern and contemporary art. As is often the case in these huge events (i.e. the Venice Biennale) the collateral exhibitions or events prove to be as interesting if not more so.

Monday and Tuesday were set up dates for the Wednesday, April 10, opening, which was by invitation only. On Tuesday morning there was a guided tour for the fair’s participants to the National Museum of Anthropology followed by a quick visit to the X Biennale Monterrey FEMSA at the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso with a brunch afterwards. As is always the case, few people attended as most were busy setting up their stands. At 2pm the same day, a walk to the Centro Cultural de España in Mexico CCEM, for a guided tour of the collective exhibition of works by Spanish artists Israel Torres Rangel, Máximo González, Verónica Toscano, Gitte Bog, Eder Castillo, Luís Ese, Pía Vázquez, Chloé Fricout, Javier Toscano, Kotik Villela, Hugo Leautaud, Alumnos 47 and Edgar Endress under the title of “This is Not a Museum.” Tapas and drinks were offered.

Guests were then taken back to their hotels to freshen up before a guided tour to the most fashionable art galleries in the various areas of the city. At 6pm there was the presentation of the Bucareli Act: a series of happenings of contemporary art which united more than 25 international artists which took place in several different spaces in Av. Bucareli, in the Colonia Juárez, (a street with a series of beautiful Belle Epoch, rather run-down and semi-abandoned buildings). At 9pm there was a fantastic party at the artists’ hangout, the Covadonga.

On Wednesday morning there was a private preview opening of the fair for special guests, collectors, etc. The fair then officially opened at 4pm for those of the public with invitations: mostly dealers, artists, curators, etc. The fair closed for the day at 9pm and those with VIP tickets moved on to the Ex Convento de San Hipólito for a welcome dinner.

For the next four days, the fair continued from noon to 9pm with many collateral activities for before and after such as a visit to the JUMEX Contemporary Art Collection and by VIP invitation only to the Jumex gala dinner in the evening held at a fabulous disco club until 2am; guided tours to the MUAC Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo; a visit to the exhibition “El Museo Sin Edificio” with Yona Friedman; Proyecto Sexta Sur with Laura Lima; “Ahi Estas” with Juan Sebastian Lach; “Elite del Escuro in MUAC. A brunch was offered after the tour. The group then moved on (in special chartered buses) to the Museo Anahuacalli where there was the James Brown exhibition “My Other House.”

At 8pm, an hour before the fair ended for the day, a tour was arranged to visit Museo Rufino Tamayo for a private tour of the “Tamayo/Trayectos, Olinka o donde se crea el Movimento, Una Utopia de la Comunicación” by Juan Downey.

By Jim Corcoran

Lucas Rise

On a recent visit to the studio of Lucas Rise, I immediately realized this is a young man who is totally obsessed by his passion for art. Over the years he has excelled in graphic design, drawing, painting, photography and more. This is evidenced in the many awards bestowed on him.

Art
“Lucas Rise”
Fri, May 3, 2-8pm
Galería O.M.O.
Fábrica la Aurora

His background is probably best told in his own words “I’m the product of an Austrian-Italian immigrant generation that was mobilized to search for a physical that could contain their souls. I’m a lover of movement and discontinuity in art that open new spaces through the freedom of action and choice. I spent my entire childhood with nature, armed with pencils and brushes, which led me to the construction of murals-first inside my house, and then within the city. In my childhood, attending children’s cultural events was important. The figure of my grandfather features in all of this. as a producer of fruits and vegetables, he generously provided feed for the animals of these traveling shows, and in return he received privileged tickets for his grandchildren. Here is where my fascination for visuals and spectacles in motion started. In my early life, all of the influences and stimuli were based on recreational activities. As the years passed, marked by a growing maturity, the beginning of my university studies and the richness of travel, I was able to find much inspiration in the geometry and dynamics of art.”

With his latest group of paintings, now on display at Galería O.M.O., we see a culmination and distillation of all he has done in the past while still, as always, moving forward. It is a small group that is mostly executed on a small scale, making each piece an intense little gem.

Reinas

Though living and working in Mexico City, I think of Jeanne Saade Palombo as a citizen of the world. Not to say that she physically is always on the move, but with her fantastic imagination she can be in France, Italy, England, or points beyond at any given time.

Art
“Reinas” by Jeanne Saade Palombo
Fri, May 3, 2-8pm
Galería O.M.O
Fábrica la Aurora

With “Reinas,” her latest collection of paintings at galería O.M.O. all of this “travel” is evident. “Reinas” is an extraordinary group of paintings depicting queens through the ages…some recognizable, some not. They are all executed on a relatively large scale in Jeanne’s inimitable style. Over the years she has perfected the use of mixed media. While studying these works you know that you are basically looking at an oil painting, but also so much more.

After showing her work internationally over the past number of years, this will be her first exhibition in San Miguel.

By Robin Loving Rowland

Sylvia Brenner, a US photojournalist and collage artist, tried to capture a store window display photographically and accidentally created a photo collage of it, creating her latest artistic expression, Windows of the Soul.

Art
“Windows of the Soul”
Photographic Art Closing Reception
By Sylvia Brenner
Tue, Apr 30, 1-4pm
Cafe MuRo
Loreto 10B
152-6341
Free

“What began as a creative accident led me to discover in of The Castro and Mission Districts of San Francisco, Mexico City, and San Miguel magical images,” said Brenner. “I can’t take credit for these, which are not photo-shopped or otherwise digitally enhanced; they are one-shot images that the camera saw when I sought to take simple photos,” she continued.

Brenner will explain what she understands about how her Windows of the Soul — including The Holy Spirit, the Flight of the Phoenix, The Tree of Life, and The Colors of The Castro, Flag Crossing, Crosary, Supper in the City, and Row, Row, Row Your House — came to be. But, more intriguing, is what she can’t explain, such as how a rainbow of color dripped across a photo of a window of white shoes in a gay district of San Francisco. “All I can say is that magic really happens. Come and be amazed with me.” Brenner concluded.

Colored greeting cards of images from this show and other photographic works of Brenner’s will be for sale in addition to the matted and framed images from under $5 dollars to under $100 dollars. “I believe in art for everyone,” said Brenner, who also participates in Free Art Fridays (see FaceBook).

The show has its closing reception April 30 from 1-4pm at Café Muro, Loreto 10B. “Come enjoy the sangria and stay for the magic,” concluded Brenner. The artist will be available at the reception.

By Andrew Osta

Ukrainian/Canadian (and soon to be Mexican!) artist Andrew Osta is showing his new work at El Sindicato on Friday, April 26 at 7pm.

Art
The works by Andrew Osta
Fri, Apr 26, 7pm
El Sindicato
Recreo 4

He will be showing work on a variety of themes. Before first coming to San Miguel in 2011, Osta was mostly painting in a surrealistic and symbolistic style, and will be showing some of those paintings. Living in San Miguel naturally made him want to capture some of the unique elements of this city – like the old buildings, the stray dogs and cats, the churches – using upbeat, exciting color schemes. He has just recently begun to paint plein air landscapes, and I will be showing some of those as well.

Along with painting for nearly 10 years, Osta also composes music and has written a book.

“I consider myself primarily a painter, because that is what I do for a living. I have never made any money from music, but I have written some pretty great songs. So when that happens, I feel it would be a shame to not make a recording to capture that creation.  I have a CD called Dimension Dream, which can be downloaded from CDBaby.com.”

His book called Shamans and Healers is a compilation of his Peru diaries. In 2009, “I spent eight months living and studying with a shaman in the jungles of Iquitos, Peru. I published the book after returning. It is a very heavy story, and I do not think it’s for everyone, but the book can be ordered from Amazon.com or from ShamansAndHealers.com.”

His studio is on 22 Hospicio, www.AndrewOsta.com.