Arrested Development - Ex-Pats Mexico

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Very interesting... lots of guns, lots of pain... still lots of beauty

A mural back home usually amounts to some " " dipshit " wuz here "

Nice pictures

As Efron explained to us, this mural is his interpretation/depiction of the history of Mexico. It is hard to tell from the fotos of various segments but there is a logical sequence as the mural winds up the stairwell.

This is in the great tradition of Mexican muralists, notably Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros. As we've traveled in Mexico we've been amazed at the wonderful murals in most government buildings. And I'm not talking about a little square of pigment here and there--these cover all the walls in the public areas. Mexican history, with an emphasis on how brutal the Spanish were when conquering Mexico, is the subject matter of choice. You start at one end, with Mexicans existing peacefully in their beautiful land, progress through the conquest, Independence and Revolution with their heroes, and end with Mexico's present and a glimpse of the future. It's wonderful work.

The murals in the Palacio del Gobierno in Chihuahua city are especially beautiful (I don't know the artist, but I'm pretty sure he's not one of the Big Three). There's an eternal flame burning where Hidalgo was executed, and the gloomy cell where he was imprisoned has been preserved.

We tried to visit the museum dedicated to Orozco's work in Ciudad Guzman, but after asking all over town for the location--sadly, no one seemed to know about Orozco in his own home town--we found it was closed for renovation (rats!). I like Orozco's work--he's angry and very political along with being a great painter. Rivera gets all the attention thanks to his relationship with Frida Kahlo. And nobody knows anything about Siqueiros, poor guy.

The next time we're in the area we'll have to look up this mural. Thanks for the photos.

N.

Nancy, very interesting..check this out: http://www.bookrags.com/eb/orozco-jos-clemente-eb/

Quote:
In 1932 Orozco made a brief trip to Europe, where he viewed the art of England, France, Spain, and Italy. Although he was impressed with the paintings of Pablo Picasso, his even deeper admiration of the Byzantine mosaics of Rome and Ravenna is reflected in his great series of murals (1932–34) in the Baker Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Orozco created two series of murals there that correlated to two main scenes, The Coming of Quetzalcoatl and The Return of Quetzalcoatl. This dichotomy contrasted the stages of human progression from a primeval, non-Christian paradise to a Christian, capitalist hell. Byzantine mosaics also clearly influenced the pictorial style of Modern Migration of the Spirit, but such scenes as Gods of the Modern World and the Quetzalcoatl murals achieve unique levels, respectively, of grotesqueness and of sweeping force.

Take the tour here:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/Orozco/part2.html

Nancy in CO:

According to the article which follows, the murals were painted by Aaron Pina Mora:
http://www.letsgo.com/14454-mexico-trav ... hihuahua-c

Neil, thanks for the info about the muralist. I thought the panels were quite skillfully done. I'm always impressed when muralists manage to manuever their images around architectural details of the building--things like doors, which are hard to ignore.

A couple of years ago I read Rivera's "autobiography," which can best be described as fiction with occasional bits of fact. He was a brilliant painter, but a thoroughly disgusting human being. Between his never-ending self promotion and his compulsive womanizing, it was hard to read the book (my husband felt the same way). He felt absolutely no remorse for his behavior. It's guys like this who give artists a bad name.

Thanks also for the interesting reading about Orozco and his work. The more I see of his work the more I like it.

N.

During our visit to Guanajuato this past August, we failed to visit the Museo Diego Rivera because of poor planning on our part and the fact that our legs just said enough was enough after days of walking in the altitudes and hills of Patzcuaro, SMA, etc. We did decide that on some future trip, we will plan a couple of days in Guanajuato to take in all that it has to offer.

Another Mexican muralist worthy of praise - Juan O'Gorman. An architect who took subjects to unexpected heights. A seldom mentioned masterpiece in the Patzcuaro Library - "History of Michoacan". He managed to combine tremendous detail and character into the very demanding medium of true fresco.

http://mypatzcuaro.blogspot.com/2008/08/juan-ogorman-mural.html

click on the link therein.

Funny thing though - attention to detail department, I always remember he committed suicide in 1982. To make sure it was done right, he stood on a chair with an electrical cord around his neck, took a dose of cyanide, then shot himself in the temple.

I'm pretty sure Tracy mentions it on her site but her fotos are so large it takes forever to load. One on my teachers at CELEP in Patzcuaro asked if I wanted to walk around town for the days Spanish lesson and the library was one stop. She explained the whole story of the mural and then added that behind the bookshelves on that wall they 'discovered' the end of the story. Not sure if they have been moved for viewing