Steele Gallery
July 11 - September 26, 2004
This summer, Phoenix Art Museum celebrates the richness and beauty of Mexican folk art traditions. The largest exhibition of its kind to ever travel in the United States, Great Masters of Mexican Folk Art presents a truly dazzling panorama of over 400 objects by more than 150 of Mexico's greatest living folk artists. Representing urban, rural and indigenous communities in each of Mexico's 31 states and Federal District, many of these artists are well known to folk art collectors and aficionados. Phoenix Art Museum also will present several fun family programs, workshops with two of the artists in the exhibition, and celebrations to mark the Mexican Independence Day in September.
Great Masters of Mexican Folk Art is a visual feast created through myriad techniques in a wide array of materials - ceramics, metals, wood, fibers and textiles, leather, stone, paper, glass and many others. Objects in the exhibition range from the utilitarian to the decorative, the serious and ceremonial to the whimsical and satirical - from woven baskets, carved wooden figures, toys and ceramic pots to silver jewelry, inlaid furniture, garments and molded clay images of Frida Kahlo. Together, they reflect the full range of Mexican folk art and underscore both the diversity of Mexican culture and the unending creative vitality of the Mexican people.
Mexico's arte popular traditions reach back more than 2,000 years and are deeply rooted in the country's cultural, social and economic life. The techniques and designs employed to create these objects, as well as the objects themselves, are rooted in the histories of generations. Embedded in a sense of community, they embody both a way of life and inspired artistic expression. As one of the most easily identifiable aspects of Mexican culture, these traditional objects and methods are a source of great national pride and have been passed from one generation to the next within families and communities, usually by means other than formal education. Today, in villages, towns and cities throughout the country, people of indigenous and Mestizo ancestry continue to honor their heritage by creating and keeping alive these ancient customs.
Left: Miner, Mauricio Hernandez Colmenero, 1998. Fomento Cultural Banamex Collection. Photo by Laura Cohen.
Center: Mermaid, Irma Garcia Blanco, 1996. Fomento Cultural Banamex Collection. Photo by Michael Zabe.
Right: Archangel, Agustin Parra Echaurri, 1991. Fomento Banamex Collection. Photo by Arturo Gonzalez de Alba.
Great Masters of Mexican Folk Art has been organized by Fomento Cultural Banamex, A.C. The national tour is made possibly by Banamex-Citicorp. The Arizona presentation is made possible through the generosity of Target and Mervyn's. Support for educational programs is provided by Hensley Anheuser-Busch Products, Friends of Mexican Art, Bank of America, Food City Stores, Richard and Patricia Nolan, Buse Printing, The Arizona Community Foundation and the Museum's Latin American Art Alliance. Promotional support is provided by The Arizona Republic, ClearChannel Radio, know99 Television, La Voz, KVVA-FM and KLNZ-FM, Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, and KJZZ/KBAQ Public Radio, Phoenix.