Mexico: The Future is Unwritten

Zazil Barba - Lo bello..., 2014

Beyond the echoes of political and social controversy, all the vitality of contemporary Mexican art emerges from Imago Mundi’s small canvases, not just from their inspiration but also as a result of the wide variety of techniques used. The response of the artists has manifested itself in many different forms, from a respect of the spatial limits of the support, to attempts to escape from these limits using both the front and back of the canvas, from notions of two and three-dimensionality, to the innovative use of electronic and experimental media to create interactive works.

Juan de Dios Mendoza - I Have a Dream, 2014

Among those who considered the canvas a record or intimate dialogue with memory, we can mention Eugenia Martínez and her work with family portraits and superimposed words resembling a crocheted rosary where she uses the lines of text to trace memory, or Aarón Jiménez with a Minuto de silencio, where he pays tribute to his recently deceased grandfather and his sartorial work by carving into the frame the shape of the typical work tools of a tailor. In both cases, manual labor is linked to personal memory.

Aarón Jiménez - Minuto de silencio, 2014

At the opposite end of the spectrum, in terms of technique, it is worth noting how many artists have used experimental or electronic media to create interactive works with moving images, light, sound or scientific procedures: Juan José Rivas who incorporates an acoustic device and a small human figure in order to humorously approach the concept of volume in the denser subgenres of heavy metal, Anni Garza Lau who uses radial waves to control a screen that generates cellular automata, Leslie García with her minimal luminous gesture, and Victor Pérez-Rul, whose crystallization processes and light-reactive electronic circuits produce a subtle sound. These are works that addressed the challenge of integrating a circuit in a tiny space, proposed by artists who bear witness to the relevant experimental techno-science art scene in the country.

Victor Pérez-Rul - Cristal 04a, 2014

And resistance to barbarism is a powerful part of the Imago Mundi collection. The kidnapping and disappearance of 43 students from the Escuela Normal Rural Isidro Burgos Ayotzinapa Guerrero has mobilized Mexican society against the ruling classes at both economic and political levels. And many artists have projected in their works the malaise and protests aroused by the endemic violence that undermines the foundations of every project for the future.

The tragedy of the 43 students, for example, bursts from the work of Fritzia Irizar, who makes use of the book of Chinese wisdom I Ching and dust from 100 pesos notes. Víctor Lucero and Sabino Guisu make explicit reference to the number 43 on their canvasses.

Sabino Guisu - Sin título, 2014

But the issue of violence in a wider sense has also been addressed by many other artists. Decapitated bodies gruesomely adorn a street (Andrés Orjuela). The Mexican flag is degraded and burned with a physical-chemical process (Edith Medina). The Monument to the Revolution, symbol of a now sclerotic past, is paired with the image of the Colosseum (Tlanuac Mata Trejo). Accusations of Mexico and the United States’ shared responsibility for drugs and arms trafficking is reflected in the images of an assault rifle and marijuana leaf (José Luis Bojorquez).

José Luis Bojórquez - Relación bilateral: Esta..., 2014

The works of the Mexican artists reveal a reality in constant motion. It is no coincidence that Luciano Benetton, in presenting the Imago Mundi collection, recalls how Mexico is growing economically even though disturbing shadows continue to haunt the democratic life of the country. In the arts, moreover, “there are signs of innovation, vitality and open revolt that bring positive glimmers for the future of Mexican art and beyond. Maybe - Luciano Benetton reflects – inspiration is no longer offered by collective and universal worldviews. Perhaps the Revolution of yesterday is, today, above all resistance to barbarism. Perhaps the future appears truly fluid and undefined.”

Raúl Calderón Gordillo - Escritura impresa, 2014

The commitment of the curators has enabled a thorough exploration and analytical presentation of the pieces of the variegated universe that is Mexico: Ariadna Ramonetti Liceaga (The Future is Unwritten), Bárbara Perea (Conditional Perfect: Notes for an Uncertain Future), Iñaki Herranz (Subverting an Invitation), Octavio Avendaño Trujillo (Go Beyond the Content). From the contributions of each of the curators emerges a palpable anxiety for the future closely linked to a sense of worry and uncertainty. An intractable obstacle that is clearly apparent in the words of a key figure in Mexican artistic culture: Guillermo Santamarina. “I think the alternatives have been exhausted - Santamarina bitterly concludes - and many of us will have to resign ourselves to live in marginal situations, besides the enormous loneliness that we all live.”

http://www.imagomundiart.com/collections/mexico-future-unwritten