Location
Mexican Cultural Institute2829 16th Street, NW
Washington ,
DC,
20009
Phone:
(202) 728-1628
Fax:
(202) 462-7241
See map:
Google Maps
October 20, 2011 - 6:30pm - 8:30pm
November 3, 2011 - 6:30pm - 8:30pm
November 17, 2011 - 6:30pm - 8:30pm
In what ways have artists from Mexico and the United States drawn insight from each other and how have these exchanges furthered their respective genres and informed our perceptions of each other? This autumn, the Mexican Cultural Institute will explore these questions in the first edition of a 3 part conference series Bilateral Relations: Undercurrents of Creativity. The series will shed light on how these interactions played out in the 20th century in the areas of painting, photography and music, demonstrating the dynamic and powerful ways in which culture has functioned as a creative catalyst and bridge between people, communities, and nations. In 2012, the second edition of this series will explore how these exchanges have continued in contemporary times and in the context of a globalized world.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20 AT 6:30PM
Midwives: The Mexican Muralists and Jackson Pollock’s Art
In this first installment, Dr. Stephen Polcari will explore the impact and crucial importance Mexican art had on the work of Jackson Pollock, the seminal American artist. Through Pollock the muralists achieved a transformation of American art that is just being recognized. The talk will examine Rivera, Siqueiros and especially Orozco and the second round of their importance, as well as which the ways in which their art lives on in Pollock.
thursday, november 3 at 6:30pm
Edward Weston and Manuel Álvarez Bravo
In this conference, expert Elizabeth Ferrer will discuss the fruitful creative and cultural exchanges between two pioneers of modern photography, the photographers Edward Weston and Manuel Álvarez Bravo.
thursday, november 17 at 6:30pm
Copland’s Mexico and Chavez’s New York: Notes on a Creative Friendship
In the late 1920s American composer Aaron Copland and his Mexican counterpart Carlos Chávez met for the first time, striking a friendship that would last a lifetime. This talk by Leonora Saavedra will center upon the first 15 years of their friendship, a time of high aspirations and fruitful exchange of music and ideas, when Chávez wrote blues and fox trots and Copland wrote Salon México, and travels to each other’s countries left indelible marks on each composer’s musical style and social concerns.
About the Presenters:
Dr. Stephen Polcari is an art historian specializing in mid 20th Century American and European modern and contemporary art. He has worked as Chair and Full Professor of the Art Department at Chapman University and as the Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art in New York. He is the author of Abstract Expressionism and the Modern Experience (Cambridge University Press, 1991), Richard Pousette-Dart: The Portal (Abrams, 1997) as well as numerous articles in arts magazines He has curated exhibitions and written catalogues for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum, and other institutions. In 2008-9, he curated an exhibition on the art of Jackson Pollock for the Pinacothèque in Paris entitled “Jackson Pollock and Shamanism” which received rave reviews.
Elizabeth Ferrer is a New York-based curator and writer specializing in Mexican and Latino art and photography. She has authored many books, exhibition catalogues, and articles on these subjects, most notably the book Lola Alvarez Bravo published by the Aperture Foundation, New York, in 2006. She has held the positions of Director of the Austin Museum of Art, Texas, and Director of the Art Gallery, Americas Society, New York. Since 2007 she has held the position of Director of Contemporary Art at the New York-based cultural organization, BRIC | Arts | Media | Bklyn.
Leonora Saavedra was born in Mexico City and received her PhD in musicology in the United States. She has been director of Mexico’s National Center for Music Research and is presently Associate Professor at the University of California Riverside. Her interest in Mexican and American music of the 20th century, in particular in the musical representations of the nation and in the relationship between music and ideas, has led her to publish abundantly on those topics in both Mexico and the United States. Interested in reaching out to ever broader audiences, she has given numerous lectures and pre-concert talks, written multiple program notes, and been a consultant for organizations interested in the parallel cultural and musical lives of Mexico and the United States, such as the Library of Congress, the International Guitar Festival, the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra and the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, to name a few.
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