Art the Mexican Way: Artful Puerto Vallarta at Year's End 2014

 

I've visited Puerto Vallarta several times, following the route taken by so many North Americans escaping a long winter at home.

This little village on Banderas Bay was way off the map until it hit movie star status. It was The Night of the Iguana, with John Huston directing Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Ava Garden among its spicy cast that turned what was then a picture-perfect fishing village into a stellar spot. The cinematic luminaries, apparently charmed by this location, stayed on and Puerto Vallarta has never since been the same. 

The promenade along the surf's crest in downtown Pto. Vallarta is called the Malecon. It is stunning, not only in its lovely views of water, sand, and sunset, but also in the artful way it undulates and its pavement patterns flow. The fanciful and anthropomorphic sculptures that accompany the seaside path are triumphs to the originality and appeal of Mexican art. 

 

Incredible, larger than life-size public art works in bronze by sculptors like Sergio Bustamante, Alejandro Colunga, Guillermo Gomez, Jonas Gutierrez, and Oscar Zamarripa have become rightly famous worldwide and continue to delight the public as emblems of this town. You can touch, sit or climb on them, or just enjoy and marvel at their ingenious company. So much visual art lives here, as in much of Mexico.

Huichol yarn painting by José Benito Sanchez

Over the years I've travelled and lived for months at a time in various regions of Mexico - from the Mayan southeast coast inward to Aztec Mexico, from Oaxaca through central areas and up to San Miguel de Allende, and sampling towns along the Pacific coast - I've always been inspired by the street art gracing even the dustiest of villages. I've been especially enchanted by the works made in clay and the wealth of folk art in all media, including the mesmerizing yarn and bead paintings and sculpture of the Huichol peyote culture (examples at the Colectika gallery, among others). 

wall of contemporary nichos (from pininterest)

Art here is a feast for the eyes -- visible in weavings, beadwork, jewelry, pottery, masks, and sculpture. Even the "nichos" (small niches originally serving as personal shrines or altars) made originally as devotional offerings by persons seeking, or grateful for, divine intervention are now adapted to more humorous contexts that delight viewers and tend to make a point. I've purchased several such works based on Mexican sayings. One little nicho I have, for example, highlights a single ornate shoe in a highly decorated enameled niche that reads (loosely translated): when your shoes are too comfortable, you forget you have feet. Make of that what you will. 

My point is that everything is subject to artistic transformation, including old bottle caps made into mixed-media paintings and earrings. The spontaneous outpouring of a creatively expressive culture is visible in its art. The active exercise of this energy is what I love about regional art... and art in general.

The distinction between "high" and "low" art seems arbitrary in places that have always maintained such populist roots and modes of expressivity. Coming into an art gallery or museum, visiting an artist's studio or seeing art on the street: what registers as "art" is something that stops you and draws you in for more, something that changes the way you view the world, even for a moment, affecting your thoughts and feelings, making something in you come more alive. 

 Of course, Mexico has its historical high-end visual art stars like Frida Kahlo. Diego Rivera was among the emigré group of artists in Paris that included Picasso and Modigliani. There are contemporary stars as well. You can see wonderful art at all prices and in all places, including dedicated art galleries.

Understandably, with the growth of the tourist trade and global appreciation of local artistic wonders, Mexican art galleries have also proliferated. I've enjoyed viewing a tradition of fabulous art in some of Pto. Vallarta's art galleries. I mean "fabulous" literally, as a tradition known to Mexican art of mixing the real and surreal into a magical realism uniquely latino.

painting by Raymondo Andrade

Among the many figurative examples that come to mind I can select from contemporary artists like Raymondo Andrade (the more intellectual) and Miguel Carillo (the more personal) who paint timelessly surreal figurative works. Along with Israel Zzepeda, one of my favorite artists here, these masterful artists create imaginative worlds one is invited to enter: worlds that are surprising, lovely, strange yet familiar, with narratives that one need not pin down reductively but that open us to possibilities.   

painting by Miguel Carrillo

painting by Rogelio Manza

     

Then there are the deconstructed but technically refined mixed-media portrayals of the relative newcomer, Rogelio Manza,

painting by Israel Zzpeda

The figure still reigns in Mexico, as it has culturally since pre-Columbian civilizations walked this ground. It's remarkable how many very fine painters have been self-taught (rather than formal art school graduates). Perhaps that contributes to a greater freedom from current art trends in vogue and more reliance on what one personally needs and wants artistically to do, given  the context of what is meaningful to his or her life and history.

Even when taken to abstract extremes, the face and figure remain an expressive focus in contemporary Mexican art. This is seen in the modernist work of Vladimir Cora as well as the lively naive styles of Rogelio Diaz (very textured) or of  Romgo.

painting by Vladimir Cora

painting by Rogelio Diaz

painting by Romgo

Love of  drawing and  of line seem a welcome feature of Mexican art, from ancient times to the present. 

The delicate abstract lines in its famously beautiful pottery traditions and the realistic or whimsical figures depicted  in paintings attest to the fine linear sense in Mexican art. Among many  examples are works by Fernando Pereznieto (whom  I collected in the 1980s) and current works on view in Pto.Vallarta's art galleries. 

Even as global art traditions influence art, a local Mexican influence seems to suffuse many of the artworks here, adding to their interest. 

painting by Gabriela Epstein

A vibrant sense of color and composition is a heritage in abstract works here as well (see work by Gabriela Epstein at Galeria Contempo, for example). Although I cannot define a distinctly Mexican feel to the current abstract paintings on view, as can be done with earlier abstracts by famous Mexican painters like Rufino Tamayo (who incorporated figurative aspects) or Pedro Coronel who referenced pre-Columbian art), they are decorative and attractive. 

Personally, I think it is figurative art that reigns in Mexico, whether it is expressed in a surreal, magical, whimsical, modernist, contemporary grunge or semi-abstract mode.

The galleries, themselves, provide some very appealing venues for displaying art. In contrast to the minimalist, antiseptic environment of many contemporary galleries, some here have several rooms to wander through, with welcome interior courtyards and fountains, as well as informed and friendly staff. Among my favorites are Galeria Dante for its diverse set of painters and sculptors and its appealing setting (if sometimes crowded walls), and its well-informed, friendly staff. Galeria Corsica is another, newer favorite (two related entrances across one another), with a lovely 2-storey setting in which to view distinct groupings of artwork.

Over the past few years, art galleries here have taken a hit, as has occurred elsewhere in the world. The traditional Wednesday night "art walk" in Pto. Vallarta seems to have shrunk in size and festivity. It feels a bit sad to me to have this celebration of art in any way diminished. Why might this be?

The rich are richer, I'm told in global news.  But where are they spending their money? If it's for art, it seems just the very high-end that's getting steeper. Certainly, the auction sales at Christie's have blown through the roof, with paintings selling for hundreds of millions. Yet, it's the mid-range venues, where real "finds" in art are made, before provenance and branding dictate price.

At mid-level galleries, seeing emerging artists "make it big" has been an exciting possibility. Nowadays, I experience less artistic buzz across galleries than I used to. Less of the excitement that always accompanied a new art show, a newly discovered talent or vision. In the past I've always benefited from galleries introducing and promoting artists unknown to me. In contrast, now I see more of the same assorted names circulating across the different galleries. Given the notable, if not equally numerous, array of women artists among famous 20th century Mexican painters (e.g., Frida Kahlo, Remedios Varo, Leona Carrington, Leonora Fini), it's disappointing not to see more women among the headliner artists on view.

I continue to love what I love among the art I find. But I miss the greater freedom of range, the celebration of diverse talent, the surprises and inspiration that Mexican galleries, in particular, had seemed to offer,  If I'm right, I hope this is more of a momentary squeeze than an enduring socio-economic trend across the many fine art galleries in Pto. Vallarta.

I'm posting this on a sunny Christmas day in Puerto Vallarta, having just past the winter solstice the Mexican way. Happy holidays to all. 

 

London Treat

Four Days in London

How about a trip to London for a jam-packed 4-day visit? London, England, that is, not closer-by London, Ontario. So much better. Sorry Canada! 

This wasn't the Big Ben-Tower-Buckingham Palace major-sights tour. This was a personal itinerary of  what we most wanted to do in our four days holiday. Only four days, but they were absolutely great.

 London is a roost for every bird. 

-- Benjamin Disraeli 

Historic Boutique Hotel in the Centre of Town

Our visit started with our reservations at a great little vintage hotel in the city. Quite an expense but wow! London is an expensive city and, if you're able to take the splurge, this hotel is worth it (said by a generally frugal traveller). Being here, in the heart of London, the Hazlitt hotel itself is a trip through history. Located on Frith Street,  near Leicester Square, very near Covent Garden, theatres, Soho art, and nearly everything on our agenda.  It was within walking distance of  the British Museum and  the National  Portrait Gallery. The Tate Modern could easily be reached by taking the underground.

The Hazlitt's period furniture coupled with its modern conveniences made for some nice surprises. The house is yours to enjoy, with its tea room and self-serve bar (complete with serving set and tea for you and company to brew). Its library, paintings and antique furniture in the corridors add to the treat of staying  there. The rooms are named, not numbered. Ours was the Madame Dufloz room, named, we were told, after a "well-reputed  prostitute" of the 19th century. I enjoyed that oxymoron and the room as well.

Our room was unusual. Open the first door and you enter a small wooden-panelled vestibule (seen below). Open the vestibule door to enter the large bedroom and adjacent and sitting area.You can see the mirrored vestibule through the windows inside the bedroom-sitting room. Why, I wondered, have this extra little hallway? I imagined some uses Mme. Dufloz might have for it, putting myself in her place en deshabille on the settee.

 

  The vestibule  door opened to the large and comfortable adjacent bedroom and sitting area with fireplace. Our modern wheelies spoil the impression, but I hadn't yet found the closets hidden within the panelled walls. The furnishings and fabrics must have delighted an interior decorator. 

   

The large bathroom had  a claw-foot tub and huge shower with copper fittings. But there was a problem: no toilet seen. An ornate wooden chair that looked as it came from a well-heeled priory stood along one wall. Lo and behold, lift up the flat wooden cover, and there it was! Throne, indeed.

The hotel staff were friendly and accommodating. They liked the place, too. And the Patisserie Valerie, down the street was to die for!

Our district was alive with people all the time. With all the buzz and action here, the hotel was so quiet, like entering another dimension. We slept wonderfully well, insulated from all outside but only steps from joining it. 

What did we do besides enjoy our hotel? We walked, took the tube, benefitted from dollops of genuine friendliness among Londoners, and saw something wonderful every day.  We also ate surprisingly  well. When did London turn into a fine dining city? I remember it as a banger-and-beans place, plus a few “exotic" take-outs”that served souvlaki or East Indian. I haven’t been to London for years, obviously. Now it was both an edible and fun city! 

View  of London from British Museum  restaurant, 

Museums

Here’s a rundown of what we did: The Courtauld Collection, an absolute treasure of paintings on my must-see list, plus the workplace of a favourite art historian cum novelist, Anita Brookner.  The Tate Modern was another must-see. I was less impressed by the work there than I’d expected, but the space is stunning for showing art. The National Portrait Gallery is a bit stodgy but shows how portraiture changed over the centuries as life changed. The British Museum just doesn’t get any better -- even when  crowded, it leaves you space to roam and discover. Its rooftop restaurant is a fine place for lunch and a view of London town.

I love wandering through museums, and the British Museum is one of the best. Just for fun, I picked out one of the items that made me stop and look. There were many, but this expression caught my attention: he looked as surprised to see me as I was to see him!

Sumerian? British Museum, 

Theatre

We managed to fit in three theatre shows in just four days! We chose the shows based on tickets available, given the great rep of most London productions. All were good: The Woman in Black (very well acted); The Jersey Boys (odd thing to see in London but I'd never seen it on Broadway, and this production could not be beat;  and Singing in the Rain. 

Hampton Court

One unforgettable trip we took was to Hampton Court. Thanks to London-born and bred colleagues who told us we really should not miss Hampton Court… at least once in a lifetime. They were right.

In about an hour's train ride from London, you reach a greener area that appears a world in itself. Below is a glimpse the countryside with Hampton Court in the distance. It was Henry VIII's retreat after he seized it as a "gift" from Cardinal Wolsey.

Having just read Hilary Mantel’s two books on Thomas Cromwell put me in the right time frame for entering Hampton Court. And there he was: Henry VIII come to life, strolling the grounds imperially. Along came a smiling Ann Bolyne, although you knew she had little reason to smile. 

We spent a wonderful day wandering the castle grounds, exploring its layout as a self-contained little community serving the needs of a (rather self-indulgent) king. Strolling the interiors with all its historic art and furnishings.  The connecting buildings extending along the court included kitchens where chefs cooked actual Renaissance feasts  that seemed to go on forever (the smells were good, and the fireplaces enormous). We saw quill-written recipes in hard to read old English. We listened to doctors very earnestly diagnosing medical humours of the time: "sanguine but tending toward phlegmatic ” We even saw the impressive line of castle privies along  one external wall, with waterworks engineered for them. We went into the castle chambers to hear a debate among Henry’s ministers, then continued to walk through living history.   

                                  

  

  

Everything came to life in this outing to Hampton Court, informatively and not in a Disney-like manner. There were more adult visitors than children, and the level of information was appropriate for all. I wished I could  have stayed overnight. Henry made sure each privileged guest's room had its own privy.  But I'm not sure the threat of beheading would have been worth the overnight.

We tried navigating our way through the historic garden maze. Imagine all that must have gone on there. I hit a few blind alleys, but quickly found my way. I used some sightings of modern buildings in the distance (higher than the garden maze walls) that would not have been available to long-ago maze wanderers. We sat for a bit in the rose garden purveying the grounds before leaving with many memories of Hampton Court.  

It was our last night, and spending it at the Hazlitt was a good finale to a good trip. A genuine treat of a holiday. 

More Creative Life News

You can read and see more about other travels and creative adventures by this itinerant artist at Creative Life News here

 @ janetstrayer.com

Art Season at Granville Island

It’s been a busy art season for me, extending from fall into winter. I’ve had a nice run of works in a series of juried group shows in Vancouver at the Federation Gallery. It’s a prime spot gallery located on Granville Island, one of the must-see and stay awhile tourist spots in Vancouver for its on-the-water location, its public market of fresh local products (veggies, fish, meats, and much more), its art, its art school, all its many interesting shops and restaurants, and its buskers, of course. They are of all varieties (acrobats, magicians, street performers, all kinds of musicians), and they are good.They compete for spots on the island! 

Granville Island is a madhouse in the summer, when most of the tourists come. It gets a bit calmer in the winter, but still draws many people. I shop there for food and for art supplies. I’ve heard that Van Gogh occasionally ate his paint (which, believe me, I can understand sensually), but there are more edible treats all around the market than eating yellow. And there’s music.

Among all the lively buskers there, I especially like a male singer who often performs there, always chiquely clad in tux (and wintertime scarf). He sings vintage French songs accompanied by a guitar and sometimes a soft soundtrack.  Buy a hot-from-the-oven baguette at the Belgian-French bakery and sit with it steaming in the cold air as he serenades you. So cooooly mellow! But there's also rock and jazz and fusion and panpipes and banjo and on an ever on.

I've had little time to write much because of all the shows and the get-readies for them. After getting back from nearly a year away in Europe, the fall season started out with a bang of an international juried show called Painting on the Edge! that had my painting, LittleAdolf in it. Then, White Pitcher, one of my still life oils, was in a juried show called (can you guess) Still Life (uh-hmmn). This was followed by an Autumn Salon  exhibit , in which I placed Art Lover, a painting I like because I think the concept and composition work together well. Click on these paintings if you'd like to see them on my website.

Somewhere in the midst of these shows came the Culture Crawl which was a total blast! I’m also working several consulting jobs, so it’s a juggle. But I promised this as a newsletter for those who want to know what I’m exhibiting. So, here’s the roster so far in 2012:

January show of Works on Paper: a life drawing I did in carbone of Cléa, an elegantly lithe young nude sitting so still and self-contained, she seemed eternal.

janetstrayerart.com

Then there's a charcoal I did, Recalling Judith, that references that Renaissance bad-boy, Caravaggio and, more pointedly, focuses in on chiaroscuro. I literally wanted to riff on this “light comes from dark” theme by starting off with a densely charcoal-rubbed paper. Then, I used an artist’s eraser to make the form come into light, … into life. That’s it.

www.janetstrayerart.com

February ushered in a new juried collection of Abstracts (on display NOW at the Federation Gallery), and here’s my Ariadne’s Compass:

janetstrayerart.com

No sooner will the Abstract exhibit finish than another called Landscape goes up this February! I’m fortunate to have Birdland  in this show.

janetstrayerart.com

Some exciting art works keep company in these shows. Check out the Federation Gallery website to see them.

In the meantime, happy times to you, wherever you are. 

 
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Wonder Series, Painting 4

Another red dot painting in the Wonder Series. And again, I had a great time painting it. This one enters more shadowy territory than some of the others. Still, our little explorer is intent on the excitement of the journey and has some startling companions in this garden of surprising shadows and vivid delights. Venture on! 

Onward! by Janet Strayer

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Wonder Series, Painting 3

Girl and Cat by Janet Strayer

Like other paintings in this series, this one was part of lovely process. In the Girl and Cat, a restricted palette of iridescent paints was used to set off her more softly expressive face and blouse. The  fixed iconic and decorative elements in this painting contrast nicely, I think, with the expressive moods conveyed by the girl's face and that of her companion cat.  Some gently startling juxtapositions here, would you agree

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? This one was also sold early this year.

!Zing! and Sold Art in 2012

Here is one of the first paintings to sell in 2012.  I'll include more in subsequent postings..I wish I  knew how to make a large format visual gallery in this blog that keeps the paintings a decent size for viewing and that  you could click through. Then, I'd show you several at once. 

This painting is part of a magical series I will continue to pursue. Its theme riffs on my "Child Out of Time" collection, but is much more buoyant and (what can I say?) delightful. Paintings in this series, such as the one below. glimpse the magic of a timeless, boundless, extravagant, optimistically wishful childhood place where many things  happen vividly, often linking the natural world of wonder with the child's vision. 

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Snorkeling Through the Winter Solstice

a moment on the Malecon (all photos JS)

December 21, 2011 found me in the open waters off Los Arcos near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. But  don’t think I’m bragging about my good fortune; those waters were cocococoooold! And the tides were at their most extreme. Good for whale-watching, I’m told, as the humpbacks love these waters at this time of year. But not great for a scantily-clad snorkeller hoping to see pretty fish in the murky sea!

Despite this, I did see some startlingly bright blue and yellow angel fish, and other lovely iridescent varieties that seemed to give off light in an otherwise grey-brown bay that had me shivering with teeth-chattering through the snorkel mouthpiece. By the time the boat got to the second diving spot, I’d given up on snorkeling and wasn’t relinquishing the towel in which I was bundled. It’s hard to miss out on adventure, but it occurred to me that comfort wasn’t so bad, either.

Cathedral with its crowned cupula (all photos by JS)

This was part of my brief holiday in the sun, which fortunately returned the next day as a bright and warmly glowing disc.  My plan, like many northerners, was to soak up as much of this southern sun as I could, using it as solar shield  for my body during the bleak winter days back home.

Why we choose to spend the a chilly and cloud-covered winter solstice out on a boat and in the cold waters is a cosmic misunderstanding. Otherwise, it was a sun and fun holiday.

I like Mexico a lot, having traveled and worked in different areas there and feeling comfortable with the language, customs, and  residents. And there is such imaginative artwork  and crafts, much of it collected in tourist centres like Puerto Vallarta. 

It’s always a treat to be introduced to the work of a Mexican artist I hadn’t known  before: like a new fireworks display! Such a burst of inventiveness, decorative hi-jinks, creativity and sensual charm.

 boy on a seahorse sculpture, emblem of Pto. Vallarta

one of my personal favorites

Puerto Vallarta is a festive town bordered by The Malecon, one of the most gorgeous boardwalks ever to grace the sea. Intriguingly inviting metal sculptures are on display, along with more ephemeral but impressive sand sculptures.

I snapped a shot here of an artist spraying one of the sand sculptures of a huge iguana. I asked if it was lacquer he used to keep the grains in place. "Nope, just water,'  he replied.

It’s especially festive in Pto. Vallarta at this time of year, with nightly fireworks and free public performances at the town square or along the Malecon.

I was delightfully surprised one evening by a show of dancing horses. They were just wonderful in their rhythmically controlled tap dancing and swaying turns set to the music.

Another day there was a local band, complete with sousaphone, playing in the town zocalo,

So what if sleepy Vallarta has turned into a tourist town after its’ ‘discovery’ by movie moguls as a perfect setting for Liz and Burt and The Night of the Iguana? Both Mexicans and foreign visitors mingled and enjoyed all the many delights of this solstice (sans snorkeling).

Not only music treats you, but there are also street performers and living statues to surprise you, like the angel photographed below. Put a coin on his plate, and he animates. Very ingenious propping, don't you agree?

And here's an lifesized Olé ornament that says Feliz Navidad, Mexican style:

lifesize bull head mounted on wall with garland of Christmas decorations

Enjoy your winter holidays, whatever and however you celebrate!

Rio Cuale entering Bandera Bay near the Malecon, Pto. Vallarta (JS Photo)

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