This month’s cover features a work in oils by Sherie Stokes Sourelis entitled La Tortilleria. This whimsical, colorful rendering is loosely based on a street in San Antonio Tlayacapan, which caught the artist’s eye for the trees blooming in the background, and Mexican composition. Having lived in the area for the last 11 years, Sherie […]
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When does a tradition cease to be a tradition? Conversely, at what point in time and under what circumstances does a tradition begin? “Tradition” may be defined as “a statement, belief, or practice transmitted (especially orally) from one generation to another.”In general a “tradition” lasts a long time, but all traditions have to begin some […]
Continue ReadingIn Part One, we looked briefly at the origins of Huichol religious and commercial art, in particular the yarn or bead paintings. The Norwegian explorer and ethnographer Carl Lumholtz left us detailed descriptions of Huichol art as he found it between 1890 and 1898. We are thus able to compare original Huichol symbolic and decorative […]
Continue ReadingIn Parts One and Two, we looked at certain aspects of Huichol art as it is found on the market today, especially the question of its “authenticity” and the commercialization of traditional Huichol religious symbolism and decorative art. We touched on some of the better known artistic creations, such as the colourful yarn or bead paintings and the Huichol cross […]
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Huichol art has come a long way since Carl Lumholtz first recorded it in the late 19th century. In previous articles, we looked at some of the changes that have taken place over the years in the form and function of Huichol art, particularly the transformation from a strictly religious function to a commercialized folk […]
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Born in Austria, Rauch survived the horrors of WWII and began painting seriously in Vienna in 1949. Strongly influenced by his fellow Viennese painters Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka, he held his first one-man show in 1952 in Vienna and became a member of the prestigious “Wiener Secession.” Since then he has had […]
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Enrique Flores is one of the most prolific Mexican artists of his generation. Of course having been mentored by the late great master of contemporary Mexican art, Rodolfo Morales, hasn’t hurt; nor has the fact that two of Oaxaca’s most prominent art galleries, Indigo and Arte de Oaxaca, were his patrons for many years. But […]
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Comic strips, a young Canadian’s self portraits, and photographs of violent deaths in a Mexican daily newspaper, make strange bedfellows. But they constitute a major part of the driving force for the creative energies of artist Fiona Dunnett, a resident of Oaxaca, Mexico. Ottawa-born Dunnett has been living in Oaxaca since 2005. As in the […]
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The Sunday open air stalls at the Lagunilla in Mexico City, the expansive roadside shops just north of San Miguel de Allende, the stores and weekend marketplace at Los Sapos in Puebla, and good old fashioned picking in the state of Oaxaca. Each provides a fruitful avenue for acquiring antiques and collectibles in Central and […]
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Mexico is a very interesting country. Many things are happening. Nowhere else in the world are people protesting because taxes are going down. The old gringo gets an assortment of questions and requests. This is No. 1 for now. Challenge: Please explain the complaints about the REDUCTION in the tax on soft drinks. Response: Mexicans […]
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