Artes de México en
Utah will present four exhibits about Mexican art as part of Utah Valley
University’s year-long
“Global Spotlight:
Mexico”
August 27, 2013 (Salt
Lake City)—Utah Valley University’s Center for Global and Intercultural
Engagement is dedicating its 2013-14 academic year to Mexico, offering events
relating to Mexico in the areas of the arts, sciences, economics, business and
humanities, via a program called Global
Spotlight: Mexico. UVU has the highest percentage of Latino students of
four-year universities in the state.
As part of Global Spotlight: Mexico, and in
collaboration with the Consulate of Mexico in Salt Lake City, Artes de México
en Utah will present, over the course of the school year, exhibits about four
of Mexico’s most well-known and influential artists: Frida Kahlo, José
Guadalupe Posada, Agustín Víctor Casasola and José María Velasco.
All exhibits are free,
open to the public and in the library of UVU. These are educational displays
created by top museums and galleries in Mexico that include information about
the artists and high quality reproductions of their art.
UVU Library is located
at 800 W. University Parkway in Orem, Utah and is open from 7 a.m. to midnight Monday
through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays. (It is closed Sundays.)
1.Viva Frida! An exhibit about the art and life
of Frida Kahlo
The exhibit ¡Viva Frida! includes images,
photographs, and text reflecting the life, work and legend of the Mexican
painter Frida Kahlo (1907-54). This exhibit will be on display September 4 to October
17 on the 5th Floor of the UVU Library.
The work of Frida Kahlo
consists, for the most part, of small self-portraits in which Kahlo explores
her Mexican identity and culture. Through allegories, symbolism and
iconography, Kahlo shared her life, her suffering, and her many joys in a way
that combined her personal life as well as her Mexican identity, an identity
she chose to match her sense of belonging in post-Revolutionary Mexico. Through
the work of Frida, people of all ages and backgrounds can explore themes that
deal with personal and cultural identity.
2. Homeage to José Guadalupe Posada
One of the most
important artists in the development of Mexican art in the 20th
Century was printmaker José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913). His iconic images of calaveras, skeletons, are widely known
not only in Mexico but in all of Latin America and the U.S. This exhibit
celebrates 100 years since the anniversary of his death.
The exhibit consists of
artwork by artists throughout Latin America who have created works in honor of
and inspired by this important printmaker, whose satirical illustrations poked
fun at Mexico’s last dictator, Porfirio Díaz, and launched a tradition in
Mexico of humorous skeletons delivering the often macabre the news of the day.
Posada’s image of death dressed as a wide-smiling woman, Catrina, is ubiquitous
in popular culture today in the U.S.
Opening in the weeks
just prior to the Day of the Dead, this exhibit invites discussions of family
history and the honoring of deceased relatives. It will be presented October
18-December 19 at the UVU Library, 3rd Floor, in conjunction with
Day of the Dead activities and displays.
Alongside this exhibit
will be an exhibition of original photographs by recent UVU graduate María José
Corona, who returned to her homeland in Mexico to explore her family history
through photographs of the Otomí people.
3. Agustín Víctor Casasola: Photographs from the
Archivo Casasola
Agustín Victor Casasola
(1874-1928) documented the great changes in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th
Century through his photographs and those of other photographers in the photo
agency he established, Mexico’s first. Taken between 1900 and 1940, and now
contained in Mexico’s legendary Casasola Archive, the images document one of Mexico’s
most important events: its 1910-20 Revolution. This conflict catapulted Mexico,
then a country of mainly indigenous peoples living lives similar to those of
their ancestors and speaking more than 300 different languages, towards
modernity. The photographs of Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, and Porfirio Díaz,
plus bilingual educational material about the Revolution will provide the
public a window into this fascinating time in Mexico’s history and invite them
to explore their own community identity.
The famed Casasola
Archive, which contains Mexico’s most important photographs, is located in
Hidalgo, Mexico and is owned by the Mexican government.
Alongside this exhibit
will be an exhibit of original photographs by recent UVU graduate Yandhi
Reynoso called Pieces of Mexico, in
which Reynoso explores her connection with Mexico and Utah.
The exhibits, on the 3rd
floor of the UVU Library, will be on display from January 10 to March 6.
4. José María Velasco: Visions of Anahuác
Through beautiful and
monumental paintings of the Valley of Mexico (now Mexico City), a place very
similar geographically to the Wasatch Front, José María Velasco (1840-1912)
created a national identity that is uniquely Mexican. The work of this painter
of the 19th Century explores a sense of place and of belonging.
From March 7 to April 27,
on the 3rd Floor of UVU Library, the public is invited to see this
free educational exhibit about his life and work. Velasco’s pristine landscape
paintings show a different side of Mexico, one of tremendous geographic
diversity. They also, when seen alongside images of Mexico City today, raise
issues of land use, urban planning, environmental issues, and how we connect
with and find cultural meaning in urban environments. The exhibit coincides
with March’s events focusing on the Earth.
Edgar García, Commercial
and Cultural Affairs, Consulate of Mexico in Salt Lake City, says, “Many people
in Utah of Mexican descent have not had the opportunity to see the beauty of
the history, the art, and the culture of Mexico. These exhibits are a great
opportunity to teach and learn about Mexico’s heroes and artists and our
beautiful cultural legacies.”
Renato Olmedo-González, Art
Projects and Outreach Coordinator for Artes de México en Utah, says, “Thanks to
UVU’s Global Spotlight, for a year the community of Utah Valley, and beyond can
see four exhibits about important Mexican artists, two of which have not yet
been shown in Utah. These educational exhibits provide a great opportunity for
the overall community to learn about Mexico and its rich culture and perhaps be
inspired to create their own art exploring personal and community identity.”
Additional Events
UVU’s “Global Spotlight: Mexico” includes, over
the course of the 2013-14 academic year, many academic lectures, panel
discussions, musical concerts, and other events discussing and celebrating
Mexico.
For details about the
art exhibits and other activities and events, please see:
Artes Facebook: Artes de
Mexico en Utah
And
About de Artes de México en Utah
Artes de México en Utah is
a nonprofit organization formed in 2011 that promotes the appreciation of
Mexican art in Utah. Our vision is unity.
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