An Eclectic Exhibit

 Another exhibit at the Museum of Popular Art in Mexico City, is rather hard to explain.  Even the name of the exhibit is baffling... "Arte/Sano entre Artistas 7.0".  "Artesano" means artisan, but split into two words "arte sano" means healthy art.  So, should I translate the title as "Healthy Art among Artists"?  And does the "7.0" mean that this is the seventh year that they have held this exhibit?  The museum's description of the event is written in pretentious wording that really doesn't explain much.  Anyway, the show is a very eclectic, eccentric and sometimes bizarre collection of pieces by contemporary artists / artisans. If differs from most contemporary art exhibits (which I often dislike) in that most of the pieces have their inspiration in the folklore and folk art of Mexico.  So, even though the show was sometimes rather strange, it was interesting.

Here are some of the works on display in this exhibit which will run through February 25th...

  

These garments, woven on a loom, are, I suspect, inspired by, but not actual copies of anything worn by indigenous women of Mexico.

This drawing is entitled "Steam Engine with Many Rails"

A jar definitely inspired by traditional Mexican pottery

An engraved gourd

A lampshade inspired by the beadwork of the Huichol tribe of western Mexico

This bizarre papier mâché figure is called "The Image of Blood".

A pre-Hispanic god portrayed as a boxer???

 

Another strange piece obviously inspired by the altars of the Day of the Dead

This wall hanging, made of black pottery, is called "Love of the Land, Corn".

Here is a detail of it.

This watercolor, entitled "Urban Fragility", is painted on a banner of cut paper... the kind of banner that is hung for holidays.

This wall sculpture is made of "wuares", a kind of basket woven by the Raramuri tribe in northern Mexico.

A painting entitled "When the Lake Dreams"

The designs on the fabric of this wall hanging remind me of what you would see on Talavera pottery from Puebla.

A colorful piece of pottery called "Cat in the Pond"

I have no clue as to the meaning of this papier mâché sculpture called "Aphorisms".

The devil, however, is a popular subject in Mexican folk art.

It was certainly not your typical exhibit at the Museum of Popular Art.