Gayle Brennan Spencer – sending random thoughts to and from South Austin
Above, “El Guardian del Barrio,” Uli Martinez
Street art in Oaxaca entices you to wander down many side streets you might otherwise miss. It’s a colorful kaleidoscope mirroring the cultural heritage, contemporary concerns, heart and soul of its residents. Here’s another installment.
Continue reading “Postcard from Oaxaca, Mexico: Where blank walls are canvases”
Above, Isabelline Plateresque details surround the courtyard of Colegio de San Gregorio in the complex serving as Museo Nacional de Escultura.
The National Sculpture Museum is housed in three historic landmarks clustered together in one block in Valladolid.
With the nationalization of convents and monasteries in 1836, the government of Spain seized a wealth of artistic treasures in need of housing. Many of those from the region of Castile first went on display in Valladolid in 1842 in the Colegio de Santa Cruz. In 1933, the collection was designated a national one and was moved to the Colegio de San Gregorio.
The exterior of the 15th-century building is characterized by intricate sculptural reliefs in the Isabelline Plateresque style. The gorgeous façade demonstrates a complete lack of a uniform theme – resulting in a fascinating hodgepodge of biblical and secular components with an abundance of putti and floral and vine-like flourishes intertwined among them.
Continue reading “Postcard from Valladolid, Spain: Plateresque architecture competes with sculpture within”
Above, nine “migrants” from Alejandro Santiago’s “2501 Migrantes” haunt a balcony inside Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, MACO
There is a Zapotec saying…. “Why leave when you have it all here?”
Alejandro Santiago in 2501 Migrants: A Journey, directed by Yolanda Cruz, 2010
“Returning to his native Mexican village after many years, the artist was startled by what he didn’t see. ‘Where are my friends, my relatives?’ Alejandro Santiago asked the remaining residents of the town, Teococuilco de Marcos Perez, in a remote mountain area of Oaxaca state. Upon learning that most of them migrated from southern Mexico to the United States in search of work, he vowed to honor the departed and ‘repopulate’ his impoverished hometown.”
“Alejandro Santiago dies at 49,” Valerie J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2013
Continue reading “Postcard from Oaxaca, Mexico: Santiago’s ‘Migrants’ and protesters haunting MACO”
Postcards from Barton Springs 