A vision of current mexican art

              TERRIÍORIES
Diversitv was oue ol' ihe distiuctive iraits
oí' visual arls iii México duriiii; tlie 80's
aiiil ilic lK'u;iniiius ol' lilis decade.
Curreiilly, therc are severa! generatioiis
oí artists who al one time or anotlier have
takeii a leading; pai'l iri the llistory ol'
Mexicaii (Joiileniporarv Art.
Ou the otiier liand. ihe proeess of
fliversificalioii oí iilioms llial hcuaii with
the so called "Ruptura ["Break' ] has
been intensified. This generation s
conimou ground was the ado|3tion oí'
fashioiiable intematioual tiTiids iluriiig
tile 50 s and the hegiiiniíig oí ilie
í'ollow iiig decade iu searcli of a "plástic
uiiiversalilv as labeled by Octavio Paz.
It thtis established a break with the
nationalistic art oí jirevious decades,
already institutionaiised b)' tliat era, antl
overthrew Si(|ueiros s ])0stuiate. 0|)eiiiiig
I lew palhs for Mexicaii art as it struggled
lowai'd pluralilv. The luenibers of ihe
•Riiptuia uiaiiaged to douiiuate the
seeiie in the 60 s (althoiigh not without
facing serious poleniics) and through
their |.)roposals "uew art reached
niuseums aiul galleries.
Duriiig the foUowiiig decades and
mainly during the 80's, phenoniena such
as transciilttu-ism, iiiigration and
postmodernism brought hiipoitaiit new
proposals. niorphologies and conlent llial
oiirich aiid bi'iiig coniplexily to the
struclui-e and \ ariely of artislic proposals.
Aí'l'ilialion to the widesl range of teiidencies
is coufiíined, as are attitudes and dií'í'erent
stances with i'egard to creativit)'.
Conse(|uentlv, lo ofl'ei- a panorama ol tliis
country's visual arts diiring die lasl ten
years proves to be extrenicK dilficiill and
inevitably ful! of omissions.
Nonetheless, the theme of the olli
Rienal de La Habana — Art, Society and
Reí'lection — offers an aualvtical
perspective through w h¡<-li il ¡s possible lo
arrive al a visión liighhghting sonie of the
arlistic orieulalions. theincs and
representational forins of llie period.
l'HYSICAL AND SOCIAL
ENVIRONMENT
Different moinents of Mexican ai1 reveal
the cióse relatioiiship between the
nation's cultural expressions and its
( i i l (iarca. SiihiiKiiiiiii. 1')').'i.
social problcms. The victorv' of the
Mexican Revolutioii brought an
atmosphere of renewing enthusiasm iu
the 20's, creating favorable conditions for
the developinent of a national culture
tíiat reached its |jeak of expression in
mural painting and engraving. Much has
been said about the Mexican School of
painting and of this nationalistic art that
working through social realism addressed
im|iortant issues in order to respoiid to
tlie urgeut ueeds of the |jeriod.
The plienoinenou of "Los Grupos"
["The Croups"], wliicii reacíied its height
in the 70's, is also well known. Through
the exercise of their art these artists
questioiied pubhc arl s ftinction and the
individual artist s role as social eiitity and
ideological transniitter. wliüe raising
issues of cüUeclive creation aiid
alteriiatives l'oi' the perception and
cousumption of art.
(lousidered a Tliird World coiinirv,
loward the eiid of ihe centnry México has
ex|)erienced a seiies oí luiresolved
econoinic and social problems that
genérate severe contrasts in the lieart of
its society. The capital, une of the largest
and most overpopulated cities on the
plaiiet, suffers liigh levéis of
environinental pollulion. líach morning
llie iiiiiabilants wait for the wealher
report lo tell theni which áreas are most
affected by smog. Tlie state has taken
measures only in reaction to the
criticality of lite situation, while Mexicans
ask themselves wliat will hap])en to iheir
habilal in years to come.
Likewise, garbage is dispersed
throughout the city due to the lack of
el'l'ecti\'e recycling methods. "México
differs from other geographical and
cultural <'n\ ircinineins iu the tvyie of
garbage generated Itere and the
CiNTSOAllSNICOW AÍIi MOOfíNO
Germán Veiiegas. SÍ» título.
relationships established with bv the city.
Heirs to technologies already obsolete in
industrialised countries, in México we
toss non biodegradable wasle into the
eiivironment aloiig with large aniounls of
wasted and unolassified organic matei'ial
(...) On the streets it is possible to find
fractions of materials that can serve as
raw material capable of being
transforrned into the priniarv eleinents of
works of art. Consequently, the artist
interested in working with waste miist
carry out a task of archeological salvage
in order to find second-hand material
with objectival valué." [1]
Decontextiialisalioii (as well as
other practices) facilitate die hiclusion of
waste in work.s of art, endowing theni
with iTiultiple coniiotations tlial range
from the distinct aesthetic proposal
implicit in the contrast of non-conventional
materials willi those
traditionaily nsed to créate "beatity all
the way to social niessages that cause
alarní and provoke reflection.
Carlos Aguirre and Helen Escobedo
are two of the nrtists who have used such
materials in their installations in order to
refer to poUution, acid rain and other
coiTosive agents that harm and
destabilise the ecosystem.
Towards the middle of lasl year,
the Museo de Arte Moderno showed
"Lesa Natura, reflexiones sobre ecología"
on the occasion of World Environmental
Day. The exhibition, which included the
participation of Mexican and foreign
artists settled in the country — Marco
Arce, Gabriel Orozco, Silvia Gruner, the
Quiñonera group, Francis Alys and
Thomas Glassford, among others —
revealed different aspects of the problem
and different approaches from the
perspective of art. Some of the issues
dealt with by the participants were: to
preserve nature as a guarantee of human
existence; recognition of mythical and
popular beliefs in search of solutions; the
deí'ense of oin' natural environment, not
as an isolated entity bul rallier in its
interaction with technological
development and current systems of
valúes and cultural codes.
Along the same thematic Unes, the
paintings by Gil Garea invite tis to reflect
upon the devastation of nature "...his
paintings {Submarina. Mamífero, Humana
Natiurileza and Tanatos).. laden with
waste and gestural violence, wanl to tell of
the invohuion of nature (...) Gil Garea
searches for a depressing image: a painting
made out of rags and patches recalling
Antoni Tapies, creations that idealise
poveily and desperation. Gil Garea is also
referring to nature through omission, or,
in other words, in contrast as a futiu-e
regiine of disintegration: an agonising
Arcadia and a simulacrum of a near future
that, according to the painter, ^dll rhvme
with the primal origin of species." [2]
The river Lenna supplies some of
(he water consumed in México City.
L'nfoitunately, several industries poUute its
waters with their waste. Worried abotit
tliis situation, the photographer Eugenia
Vargas, who has resided in México since
1985, presenled the photographic
installation Aguas at the State Universifs^
Alt Museum of Long Beacli, California:
"...With this installation I wdsh to make an
analog)- bet\\'een the enviromnent and the
photographic process (...) I feel that I am a
part of the problem with the photograjihic
chemical waste that is produced daily in
iny dark room; at the same time I question
the photographer's preoccupation with
photographic images that display the
|3roblem of nature's deteriorating
resources, while highly-contaminating
chemicals are used for this process." [3]
The installation consisted of a dark room
in which photographic images of the river
Lerma were stibjected to a process of
piUrefaction, having been placed inside
brass containers full of water.
The artist's view of her
enviromnent is not restricted to the
nature, but also extends toward the citi,'
and its inhabitants — approximately 20
million in México City — who also shape
the visual landscape.
Roberto Parodi offers a nostalgic
visión of the citv that coiild be referring
to the daiígers of a nueleai' war. aii
eartliqiiake or auv other tvpe of disaster.
Gabriel Macotela has created a series of
models tliat he exposes to a process of
oxidation through which they become the
representations of palaces in ruin, which
iroiiicallv are for rent. José Castro Leñero
foousses his attention on the repertorv of
images that are siiperimpíjsed iii the citv.
"...At a time where the overabiindaiice of
images galvanises us with its iiisistence,
the investigatiotí, deconstruclion and
recychng of images floes not represent a
small challenge...'' [4]. The creative
process develops. iiiidertakeii bv this
artist \\hose work has Ijeen classified as
realistic. although he transgresses his
Üinits in terins of niethod and resiilts.
With the use of resources related to
gi'affili and posters, the paintiiigs of
Alljerto Bellón retrieve individuáis who
displav deified features dtie to
consuni]Jtiou, re-configuring the citv
landscape. Not lacking in humour, his
work is a criticisni of the aggressive
urban environment.
The series of portraits of niurderers
and their victims by Daniel Cuzínán has
little to do with the conventional
parametres of a subject so often dealt
with in the historv of art. In this case, the
portrait is simplv a pretext to talk about
violence and the relationship of power in
society. This artist takes possessiou of
resources drawn from horroi- movies,
comics and televisión, breaking away
from traditional drawing, giving the work
the nature of a document.
APPROPRIATIONS
AND INTERCROSSINGS
One of the most influential artistic
movements of the 80''s holds a cióse
relationship with another stib-theme of
the Havana Bienal: Apropiaciones y
Entrecuzamientos ["Appropriations and
Intercrossings'], which went bevoiid a
trend and pointed toward a phenouienon
that characterises an entire área of Third
World art. Goinciding with the curating
interests of the above mentioned event,
this work does not refer to those entries
brimming with quotations taken from the
"cultured" History of Art — which
several Mexican creators have reproduced
with differing objectives. ranging from
simple exercises and variafions to tributes
and parodies. Instead, it reters to other
proposals that indícate the presence of an
art that feeds on traditional popular
culttu'e, vernacular culture, the lexicón
arisen from the inass inedia and from the
svnibolic |jroduction associated with the
rnarket.
This procedure takes advantage of
the "authorised" openings for
postmodern currents. deliberatelv
niiinipulating traditions and legiliinising
its links wilh the vernacular and the
kitsch. Whereas in México s specific case
some altitudes reveal slight nostalgia and
attempts at rescue and vindication of
presiuri|)tuous sNinbols, others put them
in doubt, either cxplicitlv or on the basis
of the nietadiscussion within the works.
Germán Venegas has rccovered a
technique verv' much linked to certain
traditional expressions of Mexican
culture; he relied throughout his training
on exercises involving wooden engravings
and he worked wilh his family in making
religious iniages for the national Easter
holidays in Iztapalapa. More than taking
possession of a tradition, Venegas has
been absorbed by it, carrving out the
work of an artisan. His current work
acquires other parameters in accoT'd with
art created for galleries, distancing
hirnself from the concept of |jopular art,
although elements of religious and urban
popular iconography are still identifiable
in his work.
Repetition is one of the main
aspects in the work Ismael Vargas, an
artist from Jalisco. He recovers thenies
from the popidar imagery and Mexican
crafts and repeats them insatiably in
search of a fixed compositional structure.
"Images of the Virgin of Guadalupe,
doUs, Mexican landscapes, shop windows,
market and crafts scenes - irrevocable
signs of what is 'ijui-ely Mexican —
become his subject and are expropriated
to daily lile, to popular culture and
tourism in order to intégrate them into
piílorial art that appears to be
decorative." [5]
Ricardo Angula s glass cabinets
conlain a wide varietv of objects and
images whose "heterodox cohesión" — to
paraphrase Luis Carlos Emerich — stems
li'oin his singleminded participation in
the hybriditv of current Mexican imagery.
Into the traditional iconic repertorv,
Angula incoj'porates objects from the
consumer world that have been
popularised through the jiowerftil
proniotional mechanisins of the market
and publicity. His glass cabinets seem to
suggest a conceptioii of popular culture
that. although springing from certain
clichés, erases the frontiers established by
the studies that have reflected on the
meanings of this controversial term.
Javier de la Garza's work can be
interpreted as in(|uiry via a series of signs
135
Tilomas Glassl'oril. I'IIIIIIDIIC.S. 1993.
and syinbols from representations of
what is "purely Mexican." He adopls
icoiis from the pre-Colonibian past —
already rccycled by llie lourisl ¡iKlustry
— as well as images oi-iginaliiiK fi'om
Street: caleiidars or from Gabriel
Figueroa's cinematography, to ñame jiist
a few examples. His work, representative
of a type of parodied kirsch, reveáis some
of the intersectioiis between the aesthetic
Systems that coexisi in coiiteinporary
society.
Fighters, musicians. actors and
other characters that particípate in
popular shows presented on televisión
and other media were transferred lo ihe
(often sanctified) lej-ritorv of a galleiy
space by the painters Marisa Lara and
Arturo Guerrero. Withoul any signs of
prejudice, these artists have shown tire
results of their investigation concerning
some of the aspects of ui'ban ]3opular
cuhure in spaces such as the XIX Sao
Paulo Biennial and "Los Angeles" Dance
Hall in México City, hi codifving their
images, they recover the representational
patterns of posters and comic strips;
visual art solutions which have coherently
interacted with the themes in qneslion
and raised lo a level of (Üalogue wilh ijie
average viewer.
The photographic work of Rubén
Ortiz alindes to the substitution and/or
transformation of traditional symbols in
po]jidar. religions and even tonrist
hnagery wilh the a|(pearance of new
consumer icons. He is especially
interested in recovering the inter-cultural
processes that take place on both si des of
the frontier between México and the
United States. In these works. Ortiz (who
is also a palmer) parodies the type o(
tourist souvenir sold in (lie border town
of Tijuana; in the tiny squares Bart
Simpson is wearing Mexican clothing and
changes his ñame to Bart Sánchez in an
obvious expression of his hybridism.
One might add the ñames of other
artists whose work has shown the
intersections between the traditional and
the contemporary, th(! western and the
non- western, "culture " and ''the
popular ", among other examples.
However, it should be pointed out
that although this text has not analysed
proposals pertaining to other sections of
the Bienal, there are manv Mexican
artists whose work addressed phenomena
such as marginalisation (in its maiiy
fornis) and migralions.
Kicanio ,\]igu]'a. ('(¡ja luii hixioriíi.
The subject of wonien as domestic
or sexual object and women's place in
societT and in religions and po|jular
culture has been addressed primarily by
womeii — Monica Castillo. Roció
Maldonado. Monica Mayer, among
others. Working from differeiu
perspectives, thev have reflected on the
feminine condition. And in terms of the
issue of sexual segregation, artists such as
Nahinn Zenil and .lulio (ialán have
exaniined the et bical parameters and
conventions that for so long seemed to be
unchangeable.
In general, it niight lie considered
that the phenomenon of migi-alions has
been liaiidlcil piiinarily by
])hotographers. Eniac Martínez
documented the migrating piocess of
Mexicans who travel to California in
search of better living conditions:
Lourdes (Jrobet parliciiiatcd in the
|3roject Tijuana, la casa de toda la gcnic.
a sociological investigation; Antonio
lurok, Graciela Itinbe and Pablo Ortiz
Monasterio, togethcr wilh l'oiir American
photograpiíers. were part of the
exhiljition I cciiios. dos caras de una
moneda — organised bv the San Diego
Museum of Photographic Arts, California
and displayed in several Mexican
muscuniri dining l')')l anfl 1902 — dial
deall wilh •...difíei-eiU as|)ccls iii ihc lives
of inimigrant wcirkincn iii the San Diego
Count)': Tijuana's strong tourist industry,
the growing foreign flow towards the
U.S.. the border patrol's task. the living
conditions ol workiucn in ihc corn
indusii'v, the existence of mestizos in
dilTeiciU California (•ili<'s and ihe
])i'ecarious condition of chihlicn
who live and woi'k on ihe slreels of
Tijuana. ' [()]
Allliongh the •lili Bienal de La
llábana olfered a jjrism ihrougli which it
was possible to sumniarise an entire arca
of México s recentlv-produced art, in the
same context there are inany other
proposals within other movements that
are settina the guidelines in the 90 s.
NOTES
[1] Sprliigcr. .losr Manuel. 'Ailc v BiiMiia en
México." Fo/irs/ci: ii. 3. «Hiño l')02.
Ciudad Mé.vicu, p. 8.
[2] Medina, Cuauhtéinoc and Roberlo Tejada.
"Lesa Natura.'' In the catalogue of ihe
Lesa Natura exliibition. Museo de Arle
Modeniu. Ciudad de Mé.\ico. 1993. |). 1.5.
[3] Vargas Lugeiiia. '-Río Lernia en Long
Beach". hi Poliéster., n. L primavera
1992, Ciudad de M é.xico, p. .30.
[-t] Blanco, Alberto. ••Polí|ili<-o del Instante o
La imagen enconlrada. Olira reciente de
José Castro Leñero." In llic lalalogiie of
.losé Castro Leñeros e.xliiliiiion. ¡ji liii(i¡í('n
encontrada., Museo de Arle Moderno.
Ciudad de México, 1992/1993. |i. 13.
[•5] Mereweiher. Charles. "La cultura popular
y lo imaginario'". In Nueras nionienltis del
arle luexicuno. Madrid, Tunier Boiiks,
K.,\.. 1990. p. 91.
[()] Mores Olea. \'ícl(ir. "Vecinos; dos caras de
luia iieda." In ilie calologue iif llie
exhiliiliou i peinas; dos caras de una
moneda., lliiieranl, 1992, no page nuniber.