Mexican Art at Museum of Latin American Art
An exhibition about Mexican art, along with works from Latin America, Europe and the U.S., was exhibited in early 2011 in two Southern California museums. Called "Mexico: Expected/Unexpected," the show reflects of the tastes of the owners of the art collection, Isabel and Agustin Coppel, as well as new trends in Mexican art.
This significant Coppel art collection traveled to Europe and was then shown simultaneously at The Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA), Long Beach and at The Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. Curators at these museums describe the collection as, "short stories that echo each other along thematic lines."
"Mexico: Expected/Unexpected" is surprising and disconcerting in a number of ways. It is surprising in part because so many works are dark toned. Many pieces lack the vibrant colors often associated with Latin American and Mexican art and especially with MoLAA exhibitions over the last 15 years. It is disconcerting in its theme, or rather lack of theme, presenting more than 100 diverse artworks from artists in several countries - all under the title, "Mexico..."
Sardonic Matadors
Montemor, Portugal is a series of eight portraits of bruised, bloodied, sardonic matadors following their bullfights, presented as a study into the dark side of this centuries-old sport.
A photograph, On Giving Life, is of a woman lying naked in the grass, atop a skeleton. More lighthearted photos called Conversaciones y Contrucciones are of bread and jam, sliced fruits and vegetables, raw spaghetti and frothy egg whites, used as media for small assemblage pieces.
Included also is False Wall, a red wall with numerous round-holes stamped out of it, with the remnants of those holes on the floor. Node in a Corner is an airy walk-through installation made from blue Q-tips and blue plastic balls. (Blue Q-tips are widely available in Mexico and can be found at the 99 Cents Store in California.) The MoLAA show closed May 15, 2011.
At MoLAA, in an adjoining gallery, there is a separate, but equally interesting Mexican art exhibition. "Fragil/Fragile" by Gabriel de la Mora is a display of 100 recent pieces, mostly installations on work tables, displayed like lab tables, with some works on the walls. The artist uses unusual media from human hair for sculptures to alphabet soup for objects and drawings, to post-it notes for small installations, to burned papers. These small works include fascinating sculptural installations of faces made from stiffened human hair.
