Enjoying Mexico City: The Art

The art, the art. Where do I start? My experience of the art in Mexico City has been nothing less than sublime.

Here, art is a pride, a passion, a pastime. It is respected and protected. The museums sparkle. Most are beautiful, organized, and a pleasure to wander. They are also cheap, some days free. Many give discounts for Mexican residents and discounts or free passes to “mayores” (people 60 and over), students, and teachers. They are always worth way more than the price of admission.

But the museums aren’t the only venues for viewing art. A simple wander down a side street often reveals surprising treasures. Street art abounds, sometimes political, sometimes religious, other times just because.

Art embellishes buildings

and walls.

That mural two photos above, by the way, decorates the exterior of Teatro Insurgentes, and is made entirely of tiny tiles...by none less than Diego Rivera. Here's a detail:

Art (or sometimes, attempted art) is inside buildings.

The magnificent Tiffany glass ceiling of the Gran Hotel on the Zócalo was installed in 1908.

Whereas this fountain is crafted entirely of ceramic dishes and cups and...well, you figure it out:

Or art is the building itself, as with the Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros.

I've seen art made of ancient clay

of fresh fruit

of beads and wax and a Volkswagon bug.

My head is spinning with the joy of it all.

I've been to Frida's Blue House...

...and stood rapt in her studio.

I visited the Museo de Anthropología...

the Museo de Arte Moderno...

the Museo de Artes Populares...

and the big attic of a great big house (now the Museo de Ciudad de México) where Joaquín Clausell -- political agitator during the era of Porfirio Díaz, writer, attorney to the poor, and México's foremost Impressionist painter, among other things -- painted the walls of his studio for thirty years, mostly just for the fun of it. He's my new hero.

I need to figure out a way to sleep in that room for a night.

Travis almost got arrested there for taking pictures, but don't worry, I saved him.

These four museums are my favorites, and you'll have to bear with me if I need to show you more of them in the coming weeks.

I've used perhaps a tenth of my photos so far. I have other places and things to tell you about: the canals of Xochimilco, the shopping, the witch.

But they'll have to wait. I'll be packing up and returning to San Pancho in a few days, and am looking forward to home and heat and dear friends. From there, I will continue these stories, and will tell you more about Mexico City -- which, for all the rumors and all the sensationalism, is still only a big, progressive, dynamic, normal, real city. And, I'm happy to report, is a mere one hour and five minutes away, nonstop, from the Puerto Vallarta airport.

                                                ☛    ☺    ☚

The paintings in the Museo de Arte Moderno are:

Tarde de Verano [Summer Afternoon] by Helio Montel, 1993

Autorretrato (Múltiple) [Selfportrait (Multiple)] by Juan O'Gorman, 1950

Creación de las Aves [Creation of the Birds] by Remedios Varo, 1957

Naturaleza muerta con sandías [Still Life with Watermelons] by Frida Kahlo, 1953

The photos of the angry dog, Fuente de Trastes [Fountain of Plates], the Polyforum building, Clausell's studio walls, and a couple of the street art shots are by Travis Ashby, 2011

Comments

[Jeanne]

Gorgeous and mind boggling!

[Gretchen]

Just incredulous....... and what I am thinking is that a certain little lady is going to get home to her own little studio with all these visions dancing in her head, her grand piano playing loudly and her own interpretations of life will come pouring out on her own canvas. Just breathtaking and soul filling.

[Travis]

What Candice fails to mention is that I almost got arrested taking those fotos because her camera had already been confiscated at the museum entrance. Obviously, security at the Palacio Nacional had phoned ahead to warn that she was on her way...

[Sheri]

I want to see more of that awesome room. Insanely beautiful!