Summer art festival: A good excuse for a party
By Edward Swift July 25, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Summer Art Festival
Sorbet, Tequila and Art
Sat, July 26, 6–9pm
Fábrica la Aurora

Fábrica la Aurora hosts a summer art festival and, rain or shine, all the galleries and shops expect to be open. Art will be served up with music, dancing and sorbet topped off with a splash of tequila.

Sorbet and tequila is the idea of artist Mariló Carral. For those who missed the Generator, Atelier and Zoho gallery openings July 5, this is your chance to catch up on summer exhibitions at Aurora.

Patrons familiar with the Aurora layout will notice right away that Carral is no longer in Section C. She has moved her gallery to 9A, in the second patio directly across from Merry Calderoni’s Studio.

In her new, much larger space, she will show the work of Marisa Boullosa, Santiago Corral, Georgina Quintana and, of course, herself. Jewelry designer Irene Lee Pagan also will have a showcase in the gallery.

In September, encaustic artist Rae Miller will move into Carral’s former space where she will exhibit her work as well as teach workshops in encaustic techniques.

Just across the hall from the Rae Miller Studio/Gallery you will discover that La Mesa, the furniture shop, has vacated its cavernous space. 

The new occupant, the Otto Gallery, is the creation of sculptor Marco Vargas. He describes the gallery as a “dynamic showcase for installations, performances, video, photos and sculpture in bronze, resins and ceramic.”

The Otto Gallery currently shows the work of Jorge Marín. In the future, you can expect to see the work of Adria Calesu, Erik Rivera, Jesse Bert, Maribel Portela, Aarón Cruz and Marco Vargas.

Masterpieces of ourselves
By José Luis Arias

Art Opening
Languages of the Soul
Carolina Mecklin, José Luis Arias, 
Gloria Espino, José Luis Ramirez
Fri, July 25, 8pm
Arias Art Gallery
Correo 73

Arias Art Gallery is honored to present four artists’ works in the collective exhibit Lenguajes del Alma (Languages of the Soul). The artists are Caroline Mecklin, José Luis Arias, Gloria Espino and José Luis Ramirez. Each presents his/her very own vision of reality, but all of them coincide in expressing not only beauty, but also the artist’s soul sensations.

Caroline Mecklin is a visual artist from Indianapolis, visiting San Miguel and showing for the first time in Mexico a series of drafts and paintings in acrylic on canvas showing her impressions of the city. The theme of her recent production is the Everyday Pictoric Moment. She manages to show with enormous talent those moments of the human body, trying to preserve that very first moment as the most valuable aesthetic consideration. The intimate moment which merges between artist and model is the priority and that is what she wants to share, the way she keeps the freshness of the very first moment and perpetuates it to the last brushstroke. Her visual experiences in San Miguel enriched her portfolio with works based on a new perspective of the creative process.

Gloria Espino shows a new series of abstract paintings in acrylic on canvas, after her successful bone marrow transplant operation last February. They’re the result of new experiences mixing colors and textures. For her, Languages of the Soul express the best of the human being in the process of growing up.

The artistic contemplation, the pleasure of mildness and the search for spiritual perfection are the main lines in her paintings. She invites us to enjoy her work not only with the eyes, but from our hearts and spirits because, she says, we can be the masterpiece of ourselves.

José Luis Ramirez is a young artist born in San Miguel and in this, his very first exhibition, he shows real promise for local culture. His acrylics on canvas are inspired by cubism with influences from Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera and Juan Gris. Ramirez wants to keep to the lines of la escuela mexicana de pintura, dignifying the simple life through contemporary expression and recreating traditional topics.

For more information, call 154-9005 or email studio_arias@hotmail.com. 

A peek into a fanciful, playful world
By Margaret Failoni

Art Opening
Alejandro Rivera-Leal
Sat, July 26, 5–8pm
Galería Atelier
Fábrica la Aurora

This is the first solo exhibition by Alejandro Rivera-Leal in San Miguel in many years; the last was long ago in the Kunsthaus Santa Fe space. He participated in several group shows here in the past, always exhibiting paintings or prints. This exhibition is entirely dedicated to works on paper—18 drawings and watercolors and one etching.

Used to seeing Rivera-Leal’s allegoric paintings superbly created in the mannerist style with lovely young women in the foreground, this series of works is a total departure from his former style, and I must say a very happy surprise. Visually inspired by Zurbaran’s still lifes, Rivera-Leal takes them one step further, converting a static still life into a living, breathing thing. Exquisitely drawn bowls and vases come alive with a surrealist bent, moving and swaying in what appear to be a sensuous love dance. Magic birds, the bearers of messages of love, perch and fly in and out of the scene. His work is carefully and deftly executed using HB, B and 2B graphite lead points in automatic pencils to produce exquisite fine-line drawings. Some are in black and white, creating depth and contrast with very fine graphite strokes. Most are beautifully colored with Rembrandt watercolors on mold- and acid-free Windsor & Newton Cotman paper. Many are small and jewel-like.

With more successful exhibitions outside of Mexico and with his work entering important private and public collections in the US, Rivera-Leal’s paintings have steadily grown in price in accordance with his success. This long overdue exhibition affords San Miguel collectors access to the beautiful work of this artist. He is a brilliant draftsman and with these works on paper, he allows us to peek into his very fanciful, playful world of love.

Margaret Failoni is an independent curator and art historian who has lived in San Miguel for 13 years. She curates exhibitions of contemporary art for museums, public spaces and some galleries in Mexico after a full-time career in Rome, Italy.

Electic new works

Open Studio
Marcia Dworkin
Wed, July 30 & Aug 6, 11am–2pm
Calle el Pial 21
Manjares de Mexiquito
152-4280

Marcia Dworkin, resident of San Miguel and formerly Toronto, Canada, is opening her studio for two days to allow residents and visitors to view and purchase her new pieces. She is known in San Miguel for her eclectic work.

Her use of handmade paper and mixed media and oil paint make for wonderful and colorful canvases. More seriously, her “Images of Afghanistan” series presents landscapes of that mountainous country as well as women in hijab. Her paintings of the Ankor Wat temples give the impression of other worldliness.

The studio is in Manjares de Mexiquito at calle el Pial 21. Directions: Left off Calzada de la Aurora after turnoff to Fábrica la Aurora. Follow the road past the school soccer field and brick wall. Take first right and then first left to calle el Pial.

Don’t miss the MexArt summer showcase
By Patty Arrieta

Art Exhibit
MexArt
Fri, July 25, 5–6:30pm
Casa Crayola
Calzada de la Aurora 48

MexArt Summer Teen Institutes is pleased to announce its art exhibit and invites you to join our students in celebration. These young artists have been preparing work over the last month while immersing themselves in Mexican culture. There are daily Spanish classes and students have completed weekly community service projects. MexArt is in its eighth year of operation and director Carly Cross lives in San Miguel year round. The MexArt staff members are talented individuals chosen locally or from abroad and the teen participants travel from across the globe.

Visual arts are an integral part of the MexArt program. Students choose a focus from a variety of media, including photography, ceramics, painting and drawing, silver jewelry making and ironwork. Instructors Shannon Reese, JoanEllena Goldberg, Miguel Angel Garrido and Paco Bustamante are local artists and respected teachers. They have done an inspiring job in guiding student creativity and preparing the exhibit material. Come meet the MexArt participants and share the vision of the students and staff.

For more information on MexArt, visit www.gomexart.com. 

Visions of Comala: The myth of Pedro Paramo
By Marilyn Sibley

Art Opening
Visions of Comala
José Ignacio Maldonado
Fri, July 25, 7–9pm
Artist’s Talk
Sun, July 27, 3pm
Galería Pergola
Instituto Allende
Ancha de San Antonio 20

The novel Pedro Paramo, by Juan Rulfo (1918–1986), is one of the most important novels in the Spanish language. First published in 1955, Rulfo’s book was a major influence in the magic realism movement. It has deeply touched and influenced other writers, artists, actors and photographers.

For the second year, Galería Pergola presents a show dedicated to this great Mexican novel. José Ignacio Maldonado’s Visiones de Comala explores the mythology of Pedro Paramo, the town of Comala and its mysterious, ghostly inhabitants.

Maldonado, having read the book 35 times, has long had this project in mind. This multi-talented artist has executed Visiones de Comala as a labor of love and passion. Literally dancing on the canvases, his images bring to life the characters and history of Comala.

Comprised of both large canvases and drawings, the show is a stunning visual display.

Josephine Sacabo, whose evocative photographs illustrate the most recent English translation of the book, says, “This is an amazing opportunity to see a talented artist’s perceptions of this famous novel.”

Maldonado, currently a San Miguel resident and a native of Mazatlan, has an impressive biography. With a degree in psychology, he initially was a writer and journalist. Segueing to the visual arts, he taught and lectured on the arts at the college level. With over 60 solo and collective shows, Maldonado is featured in several museums in Mexico and in private collections throughout the world.

Galería Pergola is located on the back patio of Instituto Allende. Gallery hours are Monday–Saturday, 10am–6pm and Sundays, noon–5pm. For a private appointment, call 154-5595.