BY LISSETTE VALENTIN
I have always been a big fan of surrealism and now for the first time in Los Cabos three world-class museum-type exhibitions are being shown at the recently remodeled Hotel Tropicana Los Cabos, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, this within the framework of the Third Artistic and Literary Meeting of Red Global Creativa, a community formed of national and international artists, writers and designers.
Perhaps you have heard of Andre Breton, Salvador Dali or Joan Miro, just to name a few; they are considered the greatest and best-known surrealist artists. In Mexico, the most recognized is Frida Kahlo. As World War II brewed in Europe in the 1930s, the artists of this new movement found themselves in need of new stomping grounds. The desire to escape conflict pushed them toward the Americas, and Mexico became Surrealism’s second home. In a letter to Breton, Guatemalan poet Luis Cardoz y Aragón, who for many years lived in exile in Mexico “We are in the land of convulsive beauty, the land of edible delusions,” he wrote, beckoning Breton to leave Paris for Mexico—a “place for the mutable, the disturbing, the other death, in short, a land of dream, unavoidable by the surrealist spirit.”
This was the case of the exceptional Leonora Carrington, born British but naturalized Mexican, who made Mexico City her home following Breton's lead. While studying art in London, the 19-year-old artist met and fell in love with the German painter Max Ernst whom later she will move to Paris with. The war brought with it a period of severe mental trauma for the artist. Ernst was placed in an internment camp by the French authorities in 1939 (and then again in 1940). This violent separation, combined with the ambient threat of war, led to a decline in Carrington’s mental health, and she was eventually involuntarily admitted to the Santander Mental Asylum in Spain. The emotional suffering, painful medical treatment, and forced incarceration profoundly affected her, and she once remarked “I suddenly became aware that I was both mortal and touchable and that I could be destroyed.”
After several months in the Santander asylum, Carrington headed to Madrid. When she learned that her family had arranged for her to stay in another mental institution in South Africa—presumably for the long term—Carrington enlisted help from a Mexican diplomat she had met through the master Pablo Picasso. Carrington and the diplomat quickly married in Lisbon securing a boat passage to Mexico. The mystical and esoteric aspects of spirituality were of special interest to a group of female Surrealists whose work blossomed in Mexico under the autonomy they enjoyed in their new home. Carrington, Varo and Horna became something of a trio in 1940s Mexico City; they all made work inspired by the country’s profuse landscape, rich pre-Columbian mythology, tarot, alchemy, astrology, the occult, traditions of witchcraft and relative remove from Europe’s traditional gender roles, its artists made some of their most mind-bending, visionary work.
In Mexico, where she lived for the rest of her life, Carrington was free to explore her “inner” through a menagerie of animals—hyenas, horses, geese, crows, and lizards. At the Puerto Los Cabos Marina, for several years, you could appreciate some of her repertoire, a mix of paintings and sculptures depicting some of these creatures. The sculptures were cast by Carrington's protégé the Mexican sculptor Alejandro Velasco head of the Velasco Foundry. Maestro Velasco is somehow carrying out her legacy and combining some of his most recent works at The Magic of Carrington and Velasco exhibition.
If that wasn't glamorous enough already, the Red Global Creative Agency brought over two more collections. At The Tropicana's Business Center working lounge, the Chiapas-born Shamanic Mayan artisan Antún Kojtom Lam with the craftsmanship of David Linares the grandson of Don Pedro Linares (906-1992), Alebrije's original creator, are showing six Alebrijes. Alebrijes are one of the most popular and relatively recent manifestations of Mexican Folk art, surreal creatures from a oneiric world that “came to life" by Pedro Linares Lopez, a paper Maché artist from Mexico City, renowned for making big figures for Easter's eve called Judas. Mr. Linares' job as cartonero or paper-mache artist was so good that Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo used to collect his creations, even before he made the first alebrijes. Do you recall watching Coco? The movie has a modern representation with 3D computer-animated alebrijes. Now Dante and Pepita are cherished alebrije characters. Lam is a self-taught artist who excels in painting, linoleum printing and muralism with more than 118 exhibitions worldwide. He has founded artistic collectives in San Cristóbal de Las Casas to promote social transformation and preserve Mayan knowledge. He has held solo exhibitions in Paris and Vienna and participated in group exhibitions in the United States. He collaborated in the Turrissmo project, taking his art to some Italian cities and offering conferences all over Europe, Brazil and Buenos Aires. The third exhibition but not less impressive, showcases works of different plastic artists awarded by Red Creativa in a ceremony last November. A collection of original paintings of assorted techniques on canvas, are now hanging on the walls of the Terrace Room.
Unlike the large sculptures at the PLC marina, the sculptures at the Tropicana's courtyard are museum-quality bronze cast and they all are for sale, prices range from 1,000 USD to 100,000 USD, yes USD. The collection integrates works not only of Carrington but of Velasco's as well. After the inauguration, all the exhibits have been unified under one called Collector's Choice: ''Museum Grade Art. From the Museum to Your Collection''.
Don't miss this unique opportunity to see a grand exhibit that will stay until March, while checking out the new Tropicana. Every Thursday (Art Walk night) there will be guided tours, live music, and a welcome cocktail offered by the hotel from 5 to 7 PM for $500 MX ($25 USD). The rest of the week the exhibition will be free and open to the public from 10 am to 5 pm with a prior registration with the hotel via email or phone.
For more information visit: https://www.glamourartandbooks.com/collectors-choice-museum-grade-art-exhibition or call the Hotel Tropicana +52 624 142 1580.
