Mexibulous: Children of the Maguey
Curatorial Statement
syn·cre·tism
/ˈsiNGkrəˌtizəm/
Definition: the adaptation of a dominant way of life or philosophy through its combination with other ways of life or philosophies. These ways of life include culture, religion and schools of thoughts.
These emerging artists presented in this exhibition adapt their urbanized contemporary ethos into their carnal rearing that includes a reciprocal expression of language, mythology and imagery. Having studied visual arts in notorious institutions where the exploration of a discourse that extends beyond their personal one is encouraged, these artists depart from the present study of cyber kinetics and modernization to contextualize their inherited essence. Hugo Gutierrez depicts photographic representations of renowned, pre-Columbian, museumistic objects, such as the stone serpent of Malinalco and Colima culture effigies, and images of Mexican counter-culture, in overexposed fluorescent reproductions to signal a stasis of symbolism within a fabricated, black and white, psychedelic atmosphere. Are these images true to the viewer as a reminiscence of our once evolved ancient past, or a deconstrued definition that has morphed into a personal pop pictogram by the creator?
Alberto Mendiola’s usage of cybernated, antistatic images of Cocijo, the Zapotec lightning deity, and haunting historical episodes of modern-day Oaxaca seen through a distorted and manipulated lens, seem too indelible to solely “paint the picture.” It’s depth in his cultural context produces a pulsating memory sensory to the viewer.
The complexity of symbolism found in Gabriela Morac’s linoleum and woodcut prints is eternal; as is the iconography of the ancient civilization of the Zapotecs. Incorporating her intrinsic beliefs of the origins and caretakers of corn, womanhood, horticulture, and animal life into personal figurative mandalas of her modern values reinterprets the way her Zapotec generation values their present. For Morac it is not rescuing her ancestral beliefs, but making them metaphorically poignant through the syncretism of these images in her perfected printmaking techniques.
Teresa Díaz Diez
Curator, Red Dot Art Gallery Oaxaca
