Tag: guadalajara

Postcard from Guadalajara, Mexico: La Zaponita worked miracles; others prophesized doom

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A vintage postal stamp commemorating the centenary of Guadalajara, Mexico, featuring an illustration of the Templo de Zapopan, dated 1542 and 1942.

Above: Detail of an outdoor sculpture by Javier Marin (1962-) on a plaza in Zapopan.

When the sculpture opens its eyes, it already has a soul.”

Sculptor Javier Marin

Arriving barefoot in what was then a village outside of Guadalajara, Spanish-born Fray Antonio de Segovia (1485-1570) bore a doll-size figure of the Virgin Mary around his neck. This effigy was believed to protect him on his journeys thoughout the Tonallan Kingdom as he sought to convert the Native Americans under the rule of Queen Cihualpilli Tzapotzinco. The queen herself was among his converts, and Fray Antonio established an abbey and presented the converts of this village with the statuette he had worn for ten years.

The statue was made by Purépecha Indians in Pátzcuaro using traditional methods. First, a skeleton was constructed out of sugar canes and cornstalks. Then, a special paste or dough called tatzingueni was applied to flesh out the figure. This tatzingueni was made of corn stalk pulp and the juice of a local orchid which gave the paste a latex quality and would prevent the finished product from rotting or spoiling.”

“The Virgin of Zapopan,” Robert Bitto, Mexico Unexplained

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Postcard from Guadalajara, Mexico: The anguish of man battling oppression

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A postage stamp commemorating the 175th anniversary of the death of Miguel Hidalgo, featuring an artistic depiction by J.C. Orozco. The design showcases Hidalgo in a dramatic pose, with vivid colors and expressive details.

Above: Rotating views of Jose Clemente Orozco’s “Man of Fire” fresco in the dome of Instituto Cultural Cabanas, 1937-1939

An artist is a freedom fighter, fighting for the liberation of the human spirit.”

Jose Clemente Orozco (1883-1949)

At the age of 20, Orozco was in the process of prepping fireworks, when: Boom! He delayed treatment, and gangrene gained hold of his wound. So, his left hand had to be removed, a tragedy that spared him from being drafted into the trenches of the Mexican Revolution.

But the artist did not stand idly as history unfolded; he honed art as his weapon. His art evolved into something stark, dark and boldly modern. His offensive was against all and any institutions that kept the common man in a state of poverty – art meant to shame the rich and privileged and inspire the poor.

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Postcard from San Antonio: Brothers share maximalist hospitality hints

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Above: A place setting of “Le Point de Bascule,” an installation by the de la Torre Brothers as part of their exhibition, “Upward Mobility,” at the McNay Art Museum

An appetizing invitation from the de la Torre Brothers you can’t refuse? First entering the McNay’s gallery containing their almost-all-media dinner-party installation, “Le Point de Bascule,” you feel as though the guests must have stepped away from the table for a smoke on the patio after a wildly fabulous meal. Taxidermy around the walls make it feel oddly at home in big-game-hunting Texas.

We’re repulsed by this opulence. But we’re also thinking: ‘God, I wish I’d been invited to this party.’”

Artist Einar de la Torre, interviwed by Patricia Escarcega for an article in The New York Times

Above: The dining room table in “Le Point de Bascule,” a multimedia art installation by the de la Torre Brothers

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