Mexican photographer Enrique Metinides: The man who saw too much
Exploring Enrique Metinides' images is to immerse yourself in those depths of humanity awash in raw emotion, as the 79-year-old photographer has captured some of the most poignant moments to unfold on ...
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The Theft of the Virgin
In The Theft of the Virgin, sixty paintings from the popular Vergruen Reference Collection of outstanding masterpieces of art — all forgeries — are on temporary display at the Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende... But are they all forgeries?
Paul Zacher, one of many talented artists in San Miguel de Allende, is our protagonist and for the most part our narrator.
Zacher suspects a scheme that is putting originals into the hands of very amoral and very wealthy collectors. read more
Andy Warhol art in Mexico City: The Bazaar Years (1951-1964)
Mexico City is a center of art and culture, a required stop for world class traveling exhibits and concerts. Pop Art makes its presence known in Mexico City's Museo de Arte de la SHCP.
Pop Art is said...
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Art walk in San Jose del Cabo: Artists and galleries are attractions in Baja California Sur
There's a quiet elegance that engulfs San Jose del Cabo, which sits on the Sea of Cortes in Baja California Sur.
Oh, it has plenty of hustle, as does any Mexican turista destination, with vendors offe...
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Antiques and collectibles in Central and Southern Mexico
The Sunday open air stalls at the Lagunilla in Mexico City, the expansive roadside shops just north of San Miguel de Allende, the stores and weekend marketplace at Los Sapos in Puebla, and good old fas...
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Arts and Culture of Mexico - Index Page
Within this section we highlight some of the best Mexico has to offer in the way of artesans, writers, painters, ceramicists, cultural examples, sculptors and more. If you like what you see, contact the artists and let them know you saw it on MexConnect.
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Uncovering Tonala's history at the National Ceramic Museum
Dating back to pre-Hispanic times, the nahual is a shape shifter who switches between human and animal forms and is often characterized as a shaman.
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Graffiti: Mexico City's wall art emerges from the shadows
In Mexico City, graffiti is a bit like prostitution. Nominally, it's illegal — carrying a $1,000 peso fine or a day in jail. But the rule of law doesn't seem to stand in the way of anyone with a can of spray paint inclined to deface a wall.
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Art galleries in the Lake Chapala - Ajijic area
The north shore of Lake Chapala is alive with the arts in all their manifestations. Music and dance -- from folk to classical, theater in English at the Lakeside Little Theatre, book clubs and creative writing groups complement the offering of galleries. Here are some suggestions to get you started.
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Woody Allen comes to the Chapala Lakeside
It's called: "An Afternoon with Woody." Little-known works by the comic genius, Woody Allen. And it's a daring attempt to bring the whacko, neurotic zaniness of Woody Allen to Mexico's Chapala Lakeside...
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Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexican art
The Virgin of Guadalupe first appeared in Mexico in 1531 to Juan Diego and, as proof of her visit, caused roses to bloom at the site. Because church leaders did not believe he had seen her, she instruc...
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Fiona Dunnett: images of self and death in Oaxaca
Comic strips, a young Canadian's self portraits, and photographs of violent deaths in a Mexican daily newspaper, make strange bedfellows. But they constitute a major part of the driving force for the c...
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Graffiti: the wry humor of Mexico City street stencil art
Most modern art aficionados know that if mysterious British artist Banksy didn't create the urban world's love affair with quirky riddles in stencil art on public walls, then he certainly spearheaded i...
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Graffiti: the Estadio Azteca and Mexico City's new wave muralists
Increasingly here in Mexico's capital, the graffiti mural is coming to represent what some local experts feel is a new movement in mural art in the great tradition of early 20th century Mexican muralists such as Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros. Mexico City's largest sports stadium has allowed graffiti murals to adorn its many outer walls, entrance gates and car park enclosures.
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A quest for hidden treasure in Chihuahua
You might say that it all began on an ordinary day in New York - the treasure hunt, that is. My 23 year old daughter Elise was just back from Spain where she had been teaching English to grade school s...
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Music, food fest, film and art visit Mazamitla
From July 16-18, Mazamitla hosts three days of music, art, gastronomy, film and more.
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The lurid artistry of the Mexican lobby card
According to collecting experts, Mexican lobby cards of U.S. films are rarer than U.S. lobby cards of the same since fewer of them were printed. They wallow in exploitation, indulging in as much sex and violence as their respective eras legally allowed. Vampires are vampires. Aliens are aliens. Babes are babes. Criminals are criminals. Abominable Snowmen are Abominable Snowmen. Krakatoa is still East of Java (even though it's west) and will remain that way for all eternity.
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Huichol art, a matter of survival IV: an art in evolution
Huichol art has come a long way since Carl Lumholtz first recorded it in the late 19th century It is moving from a strictly religious function to a commercialized folk art. Some items of Huichol art are definitely non-traditional, such as beaded eggs intended for Christmas decorations; others, such as masks of the sun and moon, are borderline traditional. Beaded Jaguar heads are an important symbol in Mesoamerican religion and by no means confined to the Huichol. The bead and yarn paintings are becoming more and more complex, with some risk of becoming more decorative than symbolic or religious.
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Huichol art, a matter of survival III: motifs and symbolism
Huichol art is even more prolific today than it was during the years 1890 to 1898 when Carl Lumholtz, the Norwegian explorer and ethnographer, first visited the Huichol and recorded their symbolic and decorative art in such remarkable detail that we are able to make direct comparisons between Huichol art then and now. The major difference is that today Huichol artisans have a much greater variety of imported and commercial materials with which to work, but many traditional designs and functions have been preserved to the present day.
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Huichol art, a matter of survival II: authenticity and commercialization
For years, many people have been predicting the ultimate demise of the Huichol (wii-zaari-taari) as a linguistic and cultural entity. This has not happened. They were first contacted by the Spaniards around 1530. Although many live near main community and religious centres, such as San Andres, Santa Catarina, and San Sebastian, most live in hundreds of small ranchos scattered throughout the Sierras.
read moreHuichol art, a matter of survival I: Origins
The authenticity of Huichol art on the market today becomes of some importance when called into question by no less an authority on the Indians of Mexico than the famous Mexican historian and anthropologist Fernando Benítez, who once described the popular Huichol yarn paintings as "...a falsification and an industry."
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Diego Rivera's monumental stairway mural in Mexico's National Palace, Mexico City, D.F. (1)
The center arch of the wall contains the Mexican eagle holding a serpent that showed the end of the Aztecs' migration. Included on the current Mexican flag, the eagle also represents a resurgent Mexico...
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Did You Know? Most "bark paper" comes from wild fig trees
Besides being used as a kind of rough paper for records and correspondence, amate was also cut into human or animal forms as part of witchcraft rituals after which it would be buried in front of the pe...
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Did You Know? Famous artists pioneer art community in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
A young couple who became famous artists pioneered the San Miguel de Allende foreign community.
San Miguel de Allende's vibrant art and music scene is deservedly famous. Among the early pioneers respo...
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Did You Know? Mexico in the Guinness world records: part one
In the current edition of Guinness, the Mexican responsible for most records is Sergio Rodriguez Villarreal from the northern state of Nuevo León. He specializes in creating giant Christmas figures an...
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