Art?????

On Saturday Alejandro and I went to the super-ritzy neighborhood of Polanco, an area devoid of "Mexican-ness" that could be an affluent, modern district of most any major city of the world.  In a way it's nice that Mexico City has neighborhoods like this.  They certainly shatter the stereotype of a backward country where men in big sombreros take a siesta beneath a cactus.  But since such neighborhoods could be found anywhere in the world, they are not the kind of places where I spend much time when I am traveling.

We went to Plaza Carso, a new commercial development that was built by Carlos Slim, the richest man in Mexico, and one of the richest men in the world.  (For a few years his estimated fortune surpassed that of Bill Gates, but then in the last year he slipped down to second place.)  The centerpiece of Plaza Carso is the Soumaya Museum, which houses Slim's huge collection of art.  

The windowless, metallic building was designed by Slim's son-in-law, and has been compared to the buildings of Frank Gehry.  I have to admit that I like this building better than Gehry's convoluted, metal jumbles.  The museum's collection has had mixed reviews.  Some critics have said that Slim is a better businessman than art collector, and that he has put together a collection of second-rate pieces by first-rate artists.  Both Alejandro and I have been there, and I tend to agree with the criticism.  The museum is worth a visit, but my hometown Cleveland Museum of Art has a far superior collection.

We came to the Plaza Carso to visit a brand new museum, "el Museo Jumex", a collection of art acquired by Jumex, the Mexican juice company. 

I was unaware that the collection was of contemporary art... which is often not my cup of tea. The museum consists of only two large, very Spartan halls.  At the moment only one of the halls had artwork on display.  I use the term artwork loosely, because most of the stuff was very "avant garde". 

Call me an unsophisticated rube, but to me 90% of what is on display here is self-indulgent, pretentious, pseudo-intellectual crap.  Yeah, I know that people were once saying the same thing about the Impressionists or Picasso... but I can't imagine that this stuff will pass the test of time.  A newspaper clipping in a box, or a piece of molded plastic that looks like a large turd is art??  Really??