Cervantino 2014: Exhibits Closing Sunday. Time Left for Rick Bartow

Seeing this, I experienced the fear
unleasshed anger arouses

If you only have time to see one exhibit, I recommend Rick Bartow's Dreams without Frontiers, curated by Oaxaca's Rene Bustamante and mounted along a patio wall beside UG's Cine Club. The artist was to have had a Cervantino exhibit several years ago but had to cancel. This year his work is part of the Cervantino but the exhibit is unlisted in the program book or agenda.I have admired Bartow's work since before I moved to Mexico, fortunately came upon it by chance today.

Rick Bartow identifies with his Yurok roots but I consider him  a "universal,": that is, world class artist. Among the painting titles in this small retrospective are For Fellini,The Dog that Attacks Me, Vietnam, Genet,and Shoki Dancing. 

Because the Guatemalan textile exhibit is outstanding, I'll mention it again. Viewers get a sense of how women and men from the indigenous language groups have woven their identity--you will see one photo that shows it isn't easy in a polarized society. Or if you prefer, just home in on the weaver-enbriuderers' mastery of design and color.

At the Alhondiga I spent most of my time looking at Rodrigo Moya's photos and reading what he said about his long career as a photographer.

While he was working as a videographer, a photographer acquaintance took him into his darkroom. "I was hooked," says Moya. "I was like an aborigine seeing his first machine."

You will see Moya's photos of celebrities outside the Alhondiga and inside his political photos shot in Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba. "From the beginning, I had two cameras," Moya states metaphorically, "one to shoot what I was told to shoot and the other for shooting what I wanted."

In the Alhondiga patio, you can walk among Capelo's Totems and Shamans and if you have time to lighten up, the illustrations upstairs at the Diego Rivera are delightful..I haven't seen the work of Guanajuato's printmakers yet at the Olga Costa.
                                                                                                                                                        








firs