Posted in Agriculture, Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Environment, Gardens, People, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged abandoned buildings, art, art installation, earth day, exhibition, Matria Jardín Arterapéutico, Megan Glore, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Primavera, Seasons, Spring on April 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »
On this Earth Day, I thought I’d post photos of the Matria, Jardín Arterapéutico project. These were taken 3 weeks after my previous visit. Despite 90+° (F) temperatures since the garden was planted, it is thriving and very few plants have been lost.
The key to the garden’s success? Megan Glore and her team of volunteers are listening to what the plants are telling them and responding accordingly — just as we should all be doing with Mother Earth.
Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Gardens, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged abandoned buildings, art, art installation, El Sueño de Elpis, exhibition, Matria Jardín Arterapéutico, Mauricio Cervantes, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Primavera, Seasons, Spring on March 22, 2013| 3 Comments »
Do you remember December’s abandoned building that artist Mauricio Cervantes transformed into Hope amidst decay with his El Sueño de Elpis? Bringing together artists, gardeners, and community members, he is again working his magic at Casa del SXIX. Honoring sustainability and reuse, Matria, Jardín Arterapéutico is a year-long multidisciplinary installation that will grow and change with the seasons.
Appropriately, on the first day of Spring — the season of rebirth, resurrection, and renewal — I was invited to wander through the site and watch as life was emerging from the decay.
Primavera, the beginning phase of Matria, Jardín Arterapéutico will be revealed to all on Saturday, March 23 at 2:00 PM. The building can be found at Murguía 103 (between Macedonio Alcalá and 5 de mayo).
Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged Academia de Arte Musical, art, Buffalo Springfield, Mexico, mural, music, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on February 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »
The little Embraer may have touched down in Oaxaca late Saturday night but, in the words of a long ago Buffalo Springfield song, I’m still “flying on the ground.”
Mural on the wall outside Academia de Arte Musical in Oaxaca.
Moving two days before a California and New York trip… What was I thinking?
Posted in Creativity, Culture, People, Signs, tagged art, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular culture, stickers, street art, street signs, urban, urban art on February 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Pop culture stickers are, “ubiquitous in urban centers around the world. Often seen at eye level or just beyond reach, stickers grace most every imaginable surface of the built environment.” [Digital Collections Street Art Graphics]
As you can see, Oaxaca is no exception.
Jimmy and María Sabina, I know. — even got to see Hendrix perform twice, back in the day.
But, that qualifies me as being “certain age” and so most of the references escape me.
And, what’s with the skull and cross-bones? Rebellion? Symbol of a toxic culture?? Perhaps. But, like Che, one now sees them everywhere — even on toddler clothes. Co-opted, again!
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, People, tagged art, artists, arts, exhibitions, Juan Alcázar Méndez, mexican consulate in san francisco, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, San Francisco, The Magic Surrealists of Oaxaca on February 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Oaxaca is mourning the loss of painter, Juan Alcázar Méndez, who succumbed to complications related to diabetes yesterday.
Juan Alcázar Méndez. Photo from Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes
Alcázar was born in Guadalupe Etla, Oaxaca in 1955 and entered the School of Fine Arts at the University Benito Juarez of Oaxaca at the age of 13. He became known for his unique magic realism style.
Painting from fundraising auction by the Oaxaca Lending Library, 2010
He was the founder of the Taller Rufino Tamayo, el Taller de Gráfica en la Casa de la Cultura, and the Taller Libre de Gráfica Oaxaqueña. He was also one of the artists exhibited in the The Magic Surrealists of Oaxaca show at the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco in 2012.
“El Rapto” from the The Magic Surrealists of Oaxaca exhibition 2012, San Francisco, CA.
RIP, Juan Alcázar Méndez. You will be missed but your magic will live on.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Politics, Protests, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, equality, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, politics, street art, wall art, women on January 12, 2013| 5 Comments »
Old news, I know, but couldn’t resist… Mitt may have had his “binders of women,” but Oaxaca has her walls of women and they could kick some serious @#$!!!
Liberty ~ Equality ~ Respect
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, Ma (yo) en Oaxaca, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, public art on January 9, 2013| 3 Comments »
I’m moving in a few weeks… not far… just across the driveway… so much to do… so many details to deal with. And, how in the world did I accumulate SO much “stuff” in such a small apartment in only 3-1/2 years??!!!
My sentiments, exactly!
*** Photos are of an art installation on the sidewalk of M. Bravo during the Ma(yo) en Oaxaca 2012.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Parks & Plazas, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, artists, arts, graffiti, graffiti artists, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, PINK, popular travel destinations, street art, wall art on December 16, 2012| 2 Comments »
Yesterday was just what the doctor ordered. On a long walk with best friend: a quinceañera, Christmas piñatas, a wedding, chickens roasting, and fanciful graffiti under the fútbol (soccer) stadium… these with a decidedly feminine touch. Love the incongruity!
An interview with one of Oaxaca’s female graffiti artists, PINK, can be found here (in English and Spanish).
Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, art installation, cempasuchitl, Dream of Elpis, El Sueño de Elpis, exhibition, marigolds, Mauricio Cervantes, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on December 3, 2012| 10 Comments »
On Saturday, thanks to MexicoRetold, I stepped through the doorway and entered El Sueño de Elpis (the dream of Elpis), an art installation by Mauricio Cervantes in one of the many abandoned buildings in the city center.
In Greek mythology, Elpis was usually depicted carrying flowers and was the spirit of hope. She alone chose to remain when Pandora opened the lid of her infamous box.
I arrived a little after 10 AM. The glow of morning light on the colors and textures of this crumbling beauty and her furnishings was captivating — and I was reluctant to leave.
Elpis and her dream will continue to offer hope for another 3-1/2 weeks at Murguía 103 (between Macedonio Alcalá and 5 de mayo). There were candles — and according to the docent, it is especially magical at dusk.
I will return. Keep dreaming…
Posted in Buildings, Culture, History, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, Arturo García Bustos, Benito Juárez, Government Palace, José María Morelos y Pavón, Margarita Maza, Mexico, mural, Oaxaca, painting, Palacio de Gobierno, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Porfirio Díaz, Ricardo Flores Magon on November 11, 2012| 8 Comments »
Last night I walked down to Oaxaca’s Palacio de Gobierno at the south end of the zócalo. This former government palace is now a museum and I was headed up to the second floor to see two more Oaxaca FilmFest3 films. I was early, the building was mostly empty, and so I took the opportunity to really study the mural that graces the walls of the main staircase. Painted in 1980 by Arturo García Bustos, the mural depicts the history of Oaxaca.
Coming up the stairs, to the left, the customs and lifestyle of the Mixtecs, Zapotecs, and Aztecs of pre-Hispanic times unfold.
As you ascend further, on the right wall the Spanish conquest is portrayed.
However, it is the center section of the mural that grabs the attention. Best seen when one reaches the top, here Bustos, pulls out all the stops in representing the one hundred years from the War of Independence through the Reform Movement to the Mexican Revolution.
Featured in the upper right corner of this panel, wearing his signature red bandanna, is War of Independence hero, José María Morelos y Pavón. He can also be seen in the lower right with a printing press, in his role as publisher of Oaxaca’s first newspaper, El Correo del Sur. On the upper left is anarchist and Mexican revolutionary hero, Ricardo Flores Magón. He is also pictured holding a banner reading, Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty). Flores Magón is the namesake of the street that borders the west side of the Government Palace.
However, front and center is Oaxaca’s favorite son, Zapotec, former governor of Oaxaca, and Mexico’s much beloved five-term president, Benito Juárez. He and his Oaxaqueña wife, Margarita Maza, hover prominently above his Reform Movement cabinet. The full text of the ribbon is a quote by Juárez, “El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz” (Respect for the rights of others is peace). It appears on the State of Oaxaca’s coat of arms.
Juárez is also pictured along with the cabinet and third from his right stands another Oaxaqueño, the young, menacing-looking, and far from beloved by the 99%, Porfirio Díaz, trademark epaulettes and all — a portend of things to come.
Following his death in 1872, the city and municipality of Oaxaca honored Benito Juárez by changing its name to Oaxaca de Juárez.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, thomas wolfe on October 1, 2012| 2 Comments »
All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences… — Thomas Wolfe.
It’s good to be back in Oaxaca.
Posted in Creativity, Serendipity, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, art car, California, found objects, Marin County, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Sausalito on September 26, 2012| 3 Comments »
Lost or discarded?
Artist found and created in Sausalito, Ca. You better believe it!
And please, don’t “liberate” any of the found objects, in other words… stop stealing!!!
La lucha continúa. Paz y amor a todos.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Museums, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged Alejandro Santiago Ramírez, Alredo Canseco, Ariel Mendoza Baños, art, arts, exhibitions, Francisco Toledo, Jorge López García, Juan Alxázar Méndez, Justina Fuentes Zárate, Marimar Suárez Peñalva, Mexican consulate, mexican consulate in san francisco, Mexico, Oaxaca, Oaxacan surrealism hits the SF Mexican consulate, photographs, photos, Rubén Leyva, Rufino Tamayo, San Francisco, The Magic Surrealists of Oaxaca, travel on June 15, 2012| 2 Comments »
As hoped, I managed to make my way to the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco for The Magic Surrealists of Oaxaca. It’s the exhibit (I mentioned a few days ago) that celebrates the Zapotec artists of Oaxaca from Rufino Tamayo and Francisco Toledo to those they encouraged and influenced.
On the consulate’s ground floor the scene was a familiar one — signage and conversations en español; the eagle, serpent and green, white, and red of the Mexican flag prominently displayed; waiting room filled with patiently waiting people — a sliver of Mexico in San Francisco. Climbing the two flights of stairs (elevator was broken) up to the third floor, a friend and I found the exhibit…
According to the article, Oaxacan surrealism hits the SF Mexican consulate, the consulate’s cultural affairs attache, Marimar Suárez Peñalva, hopes the gallery and its exhibitions will offer Mexican expats an opportunity to connect with the creativity, not just the bureaucracy (my word), of their culture. However, I don’t know how many of those waiting on the first floor make it up to the third floor; early in the afternoon, we had the gallery to ourselves.
And yes, works by Tamayo and Toledo are included, but I thought I’d feature some of the lesser known artists. By the way, did you notice the name, Alejandro Santiago Ramírez? This is the same Alejandro Santiago of the 2501 Migrantes sculptures that I’ve previously written about.
Posted in Creativity, Exhibitions, Food, Museums, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, Doña Tomás, exhibitions, food, Francisco Toledo, Galería de la Raza, Mexico, Muxes, Oaxaca, restaurants, Rufino Tamayo, San Francisco, San Francisco Bay Area, Searching for Queertopia, The Magic Surrealists of Oaxaca, travel on June 13, 2012| 4 Comments »
I’m again in the San Francisco Bay Area, visiting family and friends and taking care of the odds and ends of still maintaining a presence here, while living in Oaxaca. We’ve had clear blue skies and sun and, except for the high-speed pace and exorbitant price of food, it “almost” feels like home. Hey, I even bought some resin chairs for my son’s backyard and ate some of the best Mexican food ever (in the USA) at Doña Tomás in Oakland. (FYI: The Callos con Sopa de Elote — puréed corn soup with seared day boat scallops and fingerling potatoes, roasted poblano chiles and cilantro, served with arroz achiote — was divine.)
To also keep from getting too homesick for Oaxaca, there are a currently a couple of exhibits in San Francisco I plan to see while here. I found out about The Magic Surrealists of Oaxaca, Mexico from the Oaxacan surrealism hits the SF Mexican consulate article in the SFBG, which explains…
Francisco Toledo’s aquatint etching “Self Portrait”
The Zapotec identity … is one of the unifiers of the exhibit, which contains the works of not only [Rufino] Tamayo and [Francisco] Toledo but also artists who were inspired by their work like Justina Fuentes Zárate, she of the reclining mermaid and arresting red dress. Perhaps the works don’t look similar, but they represent the diversity and breadth of the work to come out of the surrealist Zapotec tradition in Oaxaca.
And, then I read the NPR story, In Mexico, Mixed Genders And ‘Muxes’, about a Galería de la Raza exhibit.
Photo from the exhibit
Searching for Queertopia revisits the experiences of Alexander Hernandez’s participation and Neil Rivas’ visual documentation of what is called, the Vela de ‘Las Intrépidas.’ This event, a 3-day celebration, is held annually in the town of Juchitán de Zaragoza, Oaxaca, México, in honor of its Muxe community.
Hmmm… maybe I’ll take the ferry over to “The City” tomorrow.
Posted in Animals, Creativity, Culture, History, Parks & Plazas, Places, tagged art, Benito Juárez, bullfighting, Corrida de Toros, Mexico, Oaxaca, Plaza de la Danza, public art on April 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »
…fighting in Oaxaca.
Corrida de Toros, as it is known in Mexico, was outlawed by, then governor of Oaxaca, Benito Juárez. The ban was instituted throughout Mexico in 1867 by Juárez during his presidency. Some say it was to “civilize” Mexico, but others contend it was for nationalistic reasons, as bullfighting had been a legacy of the Spanish conquest. I tend to think the latter tipped the scales.
However, Porfirio Díaz reinstated it during his presidency, but the ban remained in Oaxaca in honor of her favorite son. And thus, on the Plaza de la Danza, we have only a paper mache bull ready to charge at his shadow…
and serve as a canvas for imagery, ancient and contemporary.
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 