Neomexicanism

NEOMEXICANISMSelections from the MOLAA Permanent Collection

with additional loans from the collection of Nicholas Ingram

June 28–September 28, 2014

Edward Hayes Jr. , Curator

Artists featured in the exhibition include

• Mónica Castillo• Julio Galán• Nahum B. Zenil, • among others who explore national crises, the

deconstructed self and the hybrid Mexican identity.

Neomexicanism brings to light a period of art production by artists who were disenchanted with fixed identities and critical of the official image of Mexicanidad promoted by the state. Neomexicanism explores themes including

• the transcendence of nationalist imagery to convey a message of disillusionment

• appropriation of images from popular culture• as well as the interweaving of a critique of nationalism in

narrative painting and self-portraiture.

Julio Galán was born in 1959 in Múzquiz, Coahuila, and grew up in Monterrey, Mexico. His early works are inspired by the dolls, toy soldiers and other exotic artifacts his grandfather had brought back from foreign trips.

He moved to New York City in 1984, where he painted Paseo por Nueva York con dolor de cabeza y barajas de la loteria (A Walk Through New York With a Headache and Lottery Tickets) depicting a giant figure that looks like a Manhattan hotel bellhop, towering over the city's skyscrapers carrying a Sacred Heart, the whole painting bordered by subways and other city images.

In his later years, both in New York and after returning to work in Monterrey, Galán increasingly added three-dimensional elements to his canvases including ribbons, dried flowers, plastic fruit, beads, feathers or pieces of jewelry.

Galán died suddenly while travelling on a plane in 2006.

Julio Galán (México, 1959-2006)

Banquete nupcial /Wedding Banquet, 1998Oil painting and collage on canvas

Marcela ArmasOpening Friday, July 25, 2014—January, 2015

Project RoomCurated by Idurre Alonso

Alejandro Colunga(México, 1948)

El mago de la lluvia/ The magician of rain, 1988Oil on canvas



Javier de la Garza(Mexico, 1954)

Estructuras/ structures, 1990Oil on Canvas



Ismael Vargas(Mexico, 1945)Huicholes, 1995Oin on Canvas



Ismael Vargas(Mexico, 1945)

Jarro de petatillo, 1995Oin on Canvas

Nahum B. Zenil(Mexico, 1947)

Mujer barbada / Beared Lady, 1994Mixed Media on Paper



Armando Belmontes(Mexico, 1960)

Cataclismo / Cataclysm, 1996Oil on Canvas



David Alfaro Siqueiros(Mexico, 1896-1974)

Voz heroic / Heroic VoiceLithograph

Adolfo Riestra(Mexico, 1944)Jarra café, 1988

Bronze

Nahum B. Zenil(Mexico, 1947)

Retrato de boda / Wedding Portrait, 1992Lithograph on Paper

Betsabeé Romero(Mexico, 1963)

De la Sierra Morena, 1995Oil and wax on canvas and wood

Ray Smith(United States, 1959)

Mexico, 1987Oil and wax on three oak plywood panels

Francisco Zúñiga(Costa Rica, 1912-1998)

Los chamucos, 1981Lithograph on paper

Dulce María Núñez (Mexico) El muro de Caín / Cain’s Wall, 1994

Oil on canvas

Rubén Ortiz-Torres(Mexico, 1964)

Retratos de vida y muerte / Portraits of life and death

Nahum B. Zenil was born in Chinotepec, Veracruz, 1947. He lived for many years in Veracruz, and later on moved to Mexico City to study art. Zenil has become an ardent supporter for gay rights in Mexico. Through his autobiographical self-portraits, he has aimed to revolutionized social prejudices in his native country.

Zenil’s autobiographical art is a critique of the role of race and class within Mexico’s web of discrimination, the role of church, and the common attitudes towards marginalized groups.

He utilizes many national and cultural symbols in his work and always places himself as the visual protagonist. Regardless of the composition or setting, his expressionless face stares back at the viewer. Frida Kahlo has been attributed as one of Zenil’s strongest influences, particularly in their sharing personal anguish their art.

Neomexicanism

Art & Photos

Transcript of Neomexicanism