"When I am working on a problem I never
think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I
have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." - Buckminster Fuller
Showing posts with label Mexican folk art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexican folk art. Show all posts
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Styles
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Portal Keeper / El Guardian del Portal
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The Portal Keeper / El Guardian del Portal by Israel Alcala
Alebrijes (Spanish
pronunciation: [aleˈβɾixes]) are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures
of fantastical creatures. The first alebrijes, along with use of the term,
originated with Pedro Linares. After dreaming the creatures
while sick in the 1930s, he began to create what he saw in cardboard and papier
mache. His work caught the attention of a gallery owner in Cuernavaca and
later, the artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.
Linares was originally from México City (DF), he was born June 29, 1906 in
México City and never moved out of México City, he died January 25, 1992. Then
in the 1980s, British Filmmaker, Judith Bronowski, arranged an itinerant
demonstration workshop in U.S.A. participating Pedro Linares, Manuel Jiménez and a textil artisan
Maria Sabina from Oaxaca. Although the Oaxaca valley area already had a history
of carving animal and other types of figures from wood, it was at this time,
when Bronowski's workshop took place when artisans from Oaxaca knew the
alebrijes paper mache sculptures. [Wiki]
“You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul”
~George Bernard Shaw
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Monday, October 31, 2011
La Catrina
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| Mexican Handcrafts of Guanajuato. Mexico
Popularized by José Guadalupe Posada, this Catrina is
the skeleton of an upper class woman with large breasts and
one of the most popular figures of the Day of the Dead celebrations, which
occur during two days, November 1 and November 2, corresponding with the Catholic holy days of All Saints
Day and All Souls Day.
Although these holy days have a long cultural history reaching into the
prehistoric traditions of several European cultures, many aspects of the
Mexican festival have indigenous origins in an Aztec festival
dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl.
After the conquest of Mexico, the Spanish superimposed their cultural
traditions upon the similar Aztec festival and a synthesis occurred.
La Catrina, as it is commonly known, was a popular
print in Posada's day, but soon faded from the popular memory. Along with the
rest of Posada's prints, it was revived by French artist and art historian Jean Charlot shortly
after the Mexican Revolution in the 1920s. La
Catrina soon gained iconic status as a symbol of uniquely Mexican art and
was reproduced en masse.
The image was incorporated into Diego Rivera's
mural Dream of a Sunday in Alameda Park, which also includes images of his
wife Frida Kahlo,
Posada, and a self-portrait of Rivera.
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Friday, September 3, 2010
Folkloric Dresses
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| Handcrafts Market in Cuernavaca, near Mexico City |
Monday, December 17, 2007
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