MascaraS impresas printed masks: mexican identity in photograph + print
title vinyl
Isabel Ruiz Cano, Smith College
justification + visual identity
máscaras impresas/printed masks explores the representation of mexican identity in the photography and print production of the long twentieth century. A bilingual exhibition, máscaras impresas seeks to not only educate about the wealth of cultural production in Mexico, but also to serve as a space for Pioneer Valley Latin Americans to see themselves represented in a mostly Ameri- and Euro- centric space. It brings together the collections of the Five Colleges in order to take full advantage of the resources available to our community, and start much-needed dialogue between the institutions. Through supplementary materials, wall text, labels, and graphics, máscaras impresas makes Latin American art approachable to the diverse audience of SCMA.
papel picado The exhibition’s key color is ROSA MEXICANO, inspired by the vivid tones of Mexican handicrafts and local flora. It interplays with the colors in some of the chosen objects, and provides a refreshing contrast to others.
The exhibition’s accent typeface is a free-for-public use font which imitates the traditional Mexican craft of papel picado, connecting with the larger material culture of Mexico.
introductory text / curatorial statement
En 1950, Octavio Paz publicó El laberinto de la soledad, su libro-ensayo que se enfoca en la formación de la identidad mexicana. Paz argumenta que, gracias al colonialismo y su legado de desconfianza, el mexicano moderno se esconde detrás de múltiples máscaras, nunca revelando (y/o enfrentando) su identidad verdadera. Paz cree que el arte es una versión de estas máscaras. Sin embargo, estas obras sobre papel actúan como testigos del desenmascaramiento de la cultura mexicana. José Guadalupe Posada, el impresor de finales del siglo XIX, desarrolló una de las iconografías mexicanas más ubicuas: la calaca, calavera. Manuel Álvarez Bravo y Graciela Iturbide actúan como fotógrafo-antropólogos al documentar la sociedad mexicana para el mundo entero y para ellos mismos, así desarrollando su propia identidad. Enrique Chagoya y Felipe Ehrenberg, ambos artistas contemporáneos, encuentran inspiración en los códices mexicas y así crean obras que envuelven sus legados culturales con la formación de una identidad única en un mundo globalizado. Las obras de esta exhibición exploran qué significa verdaderamente ser mexicano: un mexicano fotografiando a otros mexicanos, un mexicano en su patria y un mexicano fuera de su patria. Reflejan, simultáneamente, nuestras carencias y nuestros apetitos, lo que no somos y lo que deseamos ser. Los artistas crean sus propias máscaras, es cierto, pero también no se aterran al quitarselas enfrente de todos. El mexicano contemporáneo tiene muchas máscaras en los Estados Unidos. Inmigrante. Soñador. Bad hombre. Emprendedor. El representante de treinta y dos otras naciones. Al enfocarse en artistas mexicanos que cubren una gran parte de la gama de las artes plásticas, Máscaras impresas pretende exponer las máscaras que México crea para si mismo y así luchar en contra de las máscaras que le ponen al mexicano contemporáneo.
In 1950, Octavio Paz published The Labyrinth of Solitude, an essay which explored and revealed the intricacies of Mexican identity. Paz argues that, due to a legacy of colonialism and its consequential mistrust, the modern Mexican hides themselves behind a series of “masks,” never facing their true identities. Paz believes that art is one of these masks. However, these works on paper are a testament to the unmasking of Mexican culture. José Guadalupe Posada, the turn-of-the-century printmaker, was the documenter behind one of Mexico’s most recognizable iconographies: the calavera, or skull. Photographers like Manuel Álvarez Bravo and Graciela Iturbide set out to document Mexican society for a variety of different audiences—for the world at large, yes, but also for themselves, as a way of understanding their own country’s identity. Contemporary artists such as Enrique Chagoya and Felipe Ehrenberg harken back to the codex in their artistic practice, engaging cultural legacies and self-expression within a globalized context. The artwork featured in this exhibition explore what it means to be Mexican: a Mexican photographing other Mexicans. A Mexican in his own country. A Mexican in his adopted country. They reflect our moral shortcomings and voracious appetites at once: what we are not and what we want to be. Their artists create masks, yes, but are also not afraid to unmask themselves before the world. In the United States, the contemporary Mexican has many masks: Immigrant. Dreamer. Bad hombre. Entrepreneur. Often representative of thirty-two other countries. By focusing on Mexican artists who express themselves through a variety of mediums, Máscaras Impresas intends to fight against the reductive masks that are imposed upon Mexico by exposing the ones that Mexico creates for itself.
object checklist
Graciela Iturbide (Mexican, 1942–). Cuatro Pescaditos. Photograph, gelatin silver print. Purchased with the Madeleine Pinsof Plonsker ‘62 Fund. MH 2014.39.1
Manuel Álvarez Bravo (Mexican, 1902–2002). The Man from Papantla. Printed in 1977. Photograph, black and white photograph on paper in white mat. Gift of Kenneth G. Futter ‘81. HC 1136.008
object checklist Felipe Ehrenberg (Mexican, 1943–2017). Codex Aeroscriptus Ehrenbergensis. 1990. Artist’s book, softcover book, 30 pages. Gift of the American Federation of the Arts. UM 1999.5.7
José Guadalupe Posada (Mexican, 1852–1913). Madero. 1910. Print, woodcut. Gift of Edward C. Crossett, Class of 1905. AC 1951.1891
Enrique Chagoya (American, born Mexico, 1953–). Abenteuer der Kannibalen Bioethicists (4/7). 2001. Artist’s book, lithograph and woodcut with black, ochre, blue, yellow, and green ink, chine collé, and collage on paper, no. 26 of an edition of 30. Purchased with the gift of Arch W. Shaw Foundation, through the courtesy of Nancy Simonds Shaw ‘73, administrator. SC 2002.1
mirror display case Chagoya (extended)
Posada
bench + books
title + introductory text
Iturbide
closing graphic
multimedia device (TV? iPad?) and laminated timelines
Ă lvarez Bravo
exhibition layout
Ehrenberg on book stand inside pedestal
interpretative label: Iturbide
Graciela Iturbide (estudiante de Manuel Álvarez Bravo) tomó esta fotografía en 1986, como continuación del archivo etnográfico que creó como asignatura del gobierno mexicano. La fotografía detalla a un individuo Zapoteca de Juchitán, Oaxaca. El individuo, quien agarra cuatro pescaditos, es enmarcado por una estructura de zarzal. Parece un ser solemne a pesar de una pobreza aparente. ¿Puede que el retrato de Iturbide sea una restauración de la dignidad para las comunidades indígenas a través de un procedimiento artístico contemporáneo? ¿Ó es un retrato de una nación enmascarando su negligencia de las comunidades indígenas a través de la “preservación cultural”? Graciela Iturbide (a student of Manuel Álvarez Bravo) snapped this photograph in 1986, as continuation of her state-requested assignment to create an ethnographic archive of Mexican culture. This photograph features a Zapotec individual from Juchitán, Oaxaca. A wattle-and-daub structure frames them as they handle four small fish. The individual appears solemn amongst what would be perceived as scarcity. Can Iturbide's portrait be read as a restoration of dignity to indigenous communities through contemporary artistic practice? Or is it a testament to a nation masking its neglect towards indigenous communities through "cultural preservation"?
interpretative label: Álvarez Bravo
Manuel Álvarez Bravo (1902–2002) vivió durante la revolución mexicana, la dictadura democrática del Partido Revolucionario Institucional, la decadencia del peso mexicano y la solidificación del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte. En este retrato, un hombre Totonaco de Papantla, Veracruz mira a la cámara fijamente, parcialmente oscurecido por unas sombras. Bravo es citado como un practicante visual del realismo mágico, un movimiento literario nacido en Latinoamérica que mezcla la realidad y la fantasía como resultado del proceso de colonización. ¿Estará este hombre mostrando su ser verdadero, o estará adoptando otra máscara ante sus espectadores? Manuel Álvarez Bravo (1902–2002) lived through the Mexican Revolution, the democratic dictatorship of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, and the fall of the Mexican Peso and rise of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In this photograph, a Totonac man from Papantla, Veracruz stoically stares at the camera, partially obscured by shadows. Bravo is often described as a visual practitioner of magical realism, a Latin American literary movement which imbues reality with a sense of magical mysticism as a result of the process of colonization. Is this man showing his true form, or is he adopting yet another mask for the viewers?
interpretative label: Posada
José Guadalupe Posada (1851–1913) creó este grabado apenas dos años antes de su muerte. Conocido como el grabador e impresor más emblemático de México, sus obras adoptan las imágenes de la cultura popular mexicana para criticar los eventos políticos de la llegada de la revolución mexicana. En este grabado, Posada disfraza al revolucionario norteño Francisco I. Madero como una de sus caricaturas-calaveras con sombrero, chanclas y aguardiente. Esta representación de Francisco I. Madero nos demuestra el poder de la prensa y la cultura popular para re/desenmascarar a los políticos ambiciosos. Ellos también son tan despreciados y comunes como cualquier mexicano. José Guadalupe Posada (1851–1913) created this woodcut print a mere two years before his death. Known as Mexico’s most emblematic printmaker, his works adopt the iconography of Mexican popular culture in order to critique the political happenings at the advent of the Mexican Revolution. In this woodcut, Posada depicts the northern revolutionary Francisco I. Madero as one of his skeleton caricatures, complete with a hat, stringy shoes, and aguardiente. This representation of Madero demonstrates the power of the press and popular culture to re/unmask ambitious politicians. They are as despicable and common as any Mexican man.
closing quote graphic
El mexicano siempre está lejos, lejos del mundo y de los demás... A cada minuto hay que rehacer, recrear, modificar el personaje que fingimos, hasta que llega el momento en que realidad y apariencia, mentira y verdad, se confunden. De tejido de invenciones para deslumbrar al prójimo, la simulación se trueca en una forma superior, por artística, de la realidad. Nuestras mentiras reflejan, simultáneamente, nuestras carencias y nuestros apetitos, lo que no somos y lo que deseamos ser.
octavio paz máscaras mexicanas
The mexican man is always alienated from the world and from others...It is necessary to remake, recreate, and modify the persona we fake every second, until we approach the moment in which reality and appearance, forgery and truth, can be beguiled. Only then simulation becomes a superior, more artistic version of reality when we weave our tall tales to impress our peers. These lies reflect our moral shortcomings and voracious appetites at once: what we are not and what we want to be.
supplementary material to be included in gallery When scanning this QR code, visitors will be able to read a short comparative essay explaining the Ehrenberg and Chagoya codices. Will be printed next to their respective tombstone labels.
One of SCMA’s multimedia devices will be available for visitors to watch ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! (Dir. Fernando de Fuentes, 1936) as another representation of the Mexican Revolution, comparative to Posada’s prints.
Bilingual copies (if available) of the above books will be placed on the gallery bench, for visitors to flip through. El llano en llamas provides a literary counterpart to Álvarez Bravo’s photography, Juchitán shows Iturbide’s greater body of work (and provides context about the picture exhibited) and The Essential Codex Mendoza fascimiles the codices referenced by Chagoya and Ehrenberg. El laberinto de la soledad provides the opportunity to read all of Paz’s essay, the inspiration for this exhibition. Additionally, there will be a laminated timeline that juxtaposes artistic development in Mexico from 1900–2019 with political and historical events, to provide a more thorough framework.
supplementary material: timeline
alzamiento de regímenes populistas—> Presidencias de Donald Trump + Investigaciones sobre el Andréz asesinato de Lopez Obralos estudiantes dor
La guerra sucia (1964–1982) Revolución mexicana Masacre de Tlaltelolco Vicente Fox Surge un conCrísis del peso se vuelve Nace el Partido flicto armado y El ejército mexicano mexicano y presidente, Revolucionario político por primeras mo- erradicando abre fuego contra Institucional, y causa de la bilizaciones las protestas el régimen mantiene el dictadura de del Ejército estudiantes sobre de partido poder hasta el Porfirio Díaz. Zapatisa para único las Olimpiadas del año 2000. de Ayotzinapa la Liberación 68 1910 1920 1929 1968 1994 2000 2014 2016-19 Nacional 1910 José Guadalupe Posada imprime su serie de cateles Calaveras del montón
1940 André Breton organiza la “Exhibición Internacional del Surrealismo” en la Ciudad de México
1950
1978 1985
Octavio Paz Graciela Iturbide publica El empieza su laberinto de colaboración con la soledad el Archivo Etnográfico del Instituto Nacional Indígena de México
Robo del Museo Nacional de Antropología de México
2008
Retrospectiva de Felipe Ehrenberg en el Museo de Arte Moderno de México
2019
Estrenan exposiciones de Frida Kahlo en el Museo de Brooklyn y el Museo de Bellas Artes de Boston
supplementary material: timeline
The Dirty War (1964–1982) Mexican Revolution Tlaltelolco Massacre Political and Foundation of The Mexican armed conflict the Institutional army opens fire arising after Revolutionary on student the oppressive Party, which protests against dictatorship of would hold the 1968 Porfirio Díaz. power until Olympics. 2000. 1910 1920 1929 1968 1910 José Guadalupe Posada publishes his broadside series Calaveras del montón
1940 André Breton organizes the “International Exhibition of Surrealism” in Mexico City
1950
rise of populist regimes -> Donald Vicente Fox Trump + Mexican Peso wins the Andréz Crisis + First general Ayoztinapa Lopez mobilizations election, student presidencies of the dismantling teacher Zapatista Army one-party assassination for National rule investigations Liberation 1994 2000 2014 2016-19
1978 1985
Octavio Paz Graciela Iturbide publishes begins her The Labyrinth collaboration of Solitude with the Ethnographic Archive of the National Indigenous Institute of Mexico
Looting of Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology
2008
Felipe Ehrenberg’s retrospective at Mexico’s Museum of Modern Art
2019
Frida Kahlo exhibits open at the Brooklyn Museum & Boston MFA
next steps + reflection With all the theoretical work presented in this packet comes the possibility of making this exhibition a reality in the near future. Translating the essay into Spanish, creating a budget that arranges for the transportation, framing, and installation of the objects and interpretative materials in the Teaching Gallery in collaboration with the 5 Colleges (perhaps through a SCMA Grant for Curricular Integration, which awards up to $4000 USD) and the host institution is crucial. Although extenuating circumstances currently prevent me from completing this part of the project, I plan to continue working on the exhibition as part of my Museums Concentration Capstone in the Spring of 2021, if not earlier. In keeping with the didactic spirit of this exhibition, I hope to develop a way to integrate SCMA’s “Talk Back Space,” perhaps with a reflective activity for visitors in which they develop their own masks or respond to another artwork. The history of Latin America is ravaged by a cycle of conflict, instability, and diaspora. Having experienced this instability firsthand, witnessing the generational trauma that results from conflict, and coming into my fifth diasporic year are all inspirations for this project, and experiences that inform much of my academic work. Although I am not Mexican—and there is much to be said about Mexican hegemony in Latinx communities—through the creation of this exhibition I was able to find commonalities between Mexico and my places of origin. In a way, this exhibition is an homage to the country and people that took my family in in times of need. It is my metaphorical offering of pan dulce to accompany the many cups of café de olla that so many friends, classmates, and mentors have offered over the years. The development of this exhibition could not have been possible without the support and feedback of the members of Hampshire College’s course HACU 203: Museum Studies—Latin American and Latino Art & Objects in the Five College Collections. Their relentless curiosity is what inspired taking on a more didactic, rather than completely curatorial, approach. Hopefully this exhibition is a more compact version of what we accomplished as a class, as we travelled all over finding small pieces of Latin America in the Valley. Every member was able to find something to connect to, regardless of their individual backgrounds. The museum professionals at each of the 5 Colleges are a wealth of inspiration and knowledge. The course was truly a testament to art’s ability to enhance cross-cultural learning and a sense of self. Todos tenemos máscaras encima de nuestras caras. Nos las ponemos para el trabajo, una discución en clase, la sobremesa con amigos, al comentar sobre un discurso político en línea, al usar un lenguaje en vez del otro. Talvez nunca lograremos quitarnos estas máscaras, pero a través del arte, podemos interrogarlas (y a nosotros mismos).