About this edition

We truly enjoyed the process of creating this edition. At last the

team is happy to say, that beside the shortage of time and the big

amounts of stress the magazine is finally finished. We are pleased

to see that our project is now in the hands of the reader. It was

fully a teamwork and nothing of it could have been possible

without the inspiration of our Contemporary Art teacher Angelica

Salcido. A lot of what you can find in “XXX” was taken from the

semester; also sections such as “To wake up your

curiosity” and “Recommended Events” are here because of

our art class influence. As it happened to us, we want you

to wake up the same feeling, so you can start looking for

info on your own in order to enjoy art in the different ways

it is presented.

You will find artistic expression in everything, in

everywhere, and surely the things that surround you have

their artistic touch, you just need to discover it. To help you

with this task, we write some pages about a few artistic

events you will surly love.

It will be amazing!

Open your mind, and just enjoy it!

Arely, Gabino and Rebeca

Contemporary Art A little BRIEF

To wake up your curiosity. Damien Hirst

Victor Rodriguez

MUAC museum.

Special Articles New market opportunity.

The day of the death

Artist of the Month. Fernand Leger

Juan GRIS

What you can

find in this

edition

You mustn´t get lost… Recommended events

Our own art

Art museums guide.

Classifying Contemporary Art can prove to be a challenge as some of the movements

took place at the same time. To make it easier, just take a look into the next diagrams

so you can have a general idea about each one of them.

JJ

Second half of 20th century

“Dynamism of a dog on a leash” Giacomo Balla

Art

from the

mass to the mass.

No more social classes!

Art must be useful.

CONSTRUCTIVISM.

FUTURISM. It celebrates the esthetic

of contemporary life: machines (as they

wanted to be one) and the movement

(the sensation they try to catch)

“Letatlin” Tatlin

EXPRESIONISM. Exaggerates the author´s feelings and emotions, and reveling it with no filters. It shows the pessimistic side of life.

“El grito” Eduard Munch

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

Now, in order to be art, it must

include an image + an idea + a

whole process. The process

means to get freedom, to liberate

us from the rules of producing

and to do it from the inner us,

with our internal eloquence.

“Full Fathom Five” Jackson Pollock.

POP ART

It is supported in the mass media becoming in which the consumerism of “all and nothing” borns. It means to include in art simple and superficial elements of daily life. Art is mass produced and it is supposed to be popular and transitory.

“Drowning Girl” Roy Lichtenstein

CUBISM

Geometric representation of reality could be the core of this

movement. Cubism breaks down with

perspective, and volumes. In here are so many points of view and seeing these work requires linking the sum of different and

autonomy parts.

First half of 20th century

MINIMAL ART

It is a reaction against the superficial of pop art.

Now, the artist tries to reduce art to the

essential excluding the unnecessary.

It involves a new language were the

importance resides in the idea behind the object.

IMPRESSIONISM

It tries to capture a snapshot

of life, a point of view, just an

impression instead of just

representing what is in front .

It also shows movement and

changes.

“La Parade” George Seurat,

“Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”

Pablo Picasso

DADAISM. It is just a game. Dadaism is nothing but at the same time everything. It is unconventional, ironic and controversial because it questions instead of answering, and change the values of essence or art.

Ready Made Marcel Duchamp

BAUHAUS “House of construction” It is a collection of attitudes which try to create clean and simple objects, that at the same time had to be functional and beautiful. The challenge includes the use of geometric forms

SURREALISM

This movement was backed by the desire of total freedom. It tries to liberate us getting in contact

with the unconscious mind, opening the gates to

our parallel universes, full of irrationality and absurd. The impossible now is possible.

“The persistence of memory”. Salvador Dalí.

“Equivalent VIII” Carl André

CONCEPTUAL ART

Artists reject to create physical

and traditional artworks in order

to fit their ideas; instead, they

try to introduce a concept to the

audience in most cases giving

textually the theoretical words.

“Meaning”

Joseph Kosuth

PERFORMANCE ART

It was born from the need to express concepts through an

action of the body but without trying to play someone else like

in theater, but a self interpretation without limits.

The body is at the same time the character, the place, the

material… It is the way to be.

“Rhythm 0”

Marina Abramovic

This iconic artist is known for using unusual materials

and animals in their well-paid extravagant creations.

With conflictive early years, Damien, although introduced in the decadent world of

drugs and alcohol, was able to study Art and Design at the University of Leeds, and

Fine Arts at the University of London. Making the most of their artistic qualities after

being influenced by the work he did in a morgue. Death was the main theme of his

creations.

Hirst's works are almost all about dead animals preserved in formalin or great and

original compositions; his work is entirely original by its visual impact, for example,

“Lullaby Spring”. It is a glass and steel cabinet containing more than 6,000 colored pills,

Hirst has became the record holder for the most expensive artwork sold at auction for a

living European artist.

Hirst has been criticized because his strategies to get as much money as possible for

each of his creations, he had to hire several assistants to produce more and faster, and

planned strategies to save on commissions to galleries, that is why many people from

the artistic field wonder if Hirst is still making art or is it just business.

About the aesthetics of his creations, one can say many things about the work of Hirst,

but there is no doubt about the author qualities: originality, audacity, aggression, and

probably above all: controversy

The hyper-realism, which comes from pop art, takes the iconography of the

everyday’s life producing neutral and static images, seeks to reflect reality as seen in

a photograph. The hyper-realism emerged in the late 60's in the United States, and

polarized opinions regarding the validity of its aesthetics.

Hyper art continues with

contemporary artists such as

Mexican Victor Rodriguez, who in

the late 90's was presented for the

first time with a painting style

which was appreciated by its

mystical relationship between

photography and painting,

reflecting experiences both real and

fictional.

For nearly two decades, the Mexican

Victor Rodriguez has developed a

career in which his artistic quest led

him to achieve a masterly style that

has been exposed in Spain U.S., France, Italy, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico,

as well as winning countless awards, most notably in 1997 the award "Abeno SoHo

Project” in Osaka, Japan and in 2002 the first prize at the Biennial Tamayo, Tamayo

Museum in Mexico.

Victor uses mainly the technique of acrylic over fabrics using airbrush, a common

but difficult to use tool according to the author.

What is surprising, unique and new about the work of this author is that although

his work seems to recreate the photography, he adds some mystery and surrealism to

the gestures of his muses, making the contemplation of his works not only an

amazing thing but an experience of discovery and interpretation.

As can be seen in his works, the selected

themes are limited, almost all of the

creations are about him, his wife and his

daughter. Those creations are focused on

their faces.

A psychological approach of the author

would suggest some kind of narcissism, or

self observation (definitely his art

expressions are all about his perceptions of

his own reality).

Casualty is another element in his works

as seen at the images below, a woman

taken in the exact moment in which she is

drinking water or a child taken in the exact

moment in which he trying to eat a whole

fruit.

Colors and illuminations are

also important in his

creations; the management

of those elements helps the

author to create the hyper-

reality (the recreation of a

very detailed reality).

Special Article.

Suppose you are starting in thieve

business, you don’t have a lot of experience

nor a criminal master mind. Your resources

as well as weaponry are limited but the

thing is you want to make some good

money. Which place should be your main

target?

a) A bank b) A diamond jewelry c) An art gallery

If your answer was “c) An art gallery” then

you must probably have some thieve skills on you. In general terms, stealing

art is far easier than stealing from a bank vault or diamonds for example.

But it is as rentable as many other criminal activities. Today, art robbery

ranks number third in money making criminal activities, just surpassed by

drugs and arms.

It seems that if a thieve is lucky enough then all he needs to steal a famous

work of art is a gun or machine gun and some attitude.

Art galleries, museums, and art possessors in general, usually do not have

the capacity to stop a bugler from stealing art. There are not heavily armed

guards and not all of them have fancy security systems.

There a lot o cases of “simple” art robbery, for example:

The Mona Lisa was stolen in 1911 by a worker of the Luvre. He just hid

and waited for the museum to be closed. He went where the Mona Lisa

was, lifted it, took it out of its frame and hid the painting in his clothes.

Then he simply walked out of the museum.

In 1990 in Boston, two men dressed like police officers approached the

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. They tied the security guards (the

tow of them college students), then they took the surveillance video, to

finally stele several pieces of art including a Manet. These two

individuals were probably not fully aware of what they were doing

because they left untouched the most expensive paintings.

In 2000 the Swedish national museum was robbed by some men

armed with machine guns. They had dropped spikes on the road to

stop coming police cars

In 2004 tow masked men stole the “Scream”, the Madona from the

munch museum in Oslo. They did it at day time armed just with a

handgun. All the paintings were worth 100 million Euros. This was the

second time the Scream was stolen in the last 15 years.

Why to steal art?

Simple, making money is the main and certainly in many cases the only

reason.

A stolen piece of art is usually worth a tenth of its legal value, which might

be an excellent deal if the stolen painting is worth 50 millions.

As art is not very fluent, it has to be sold in order to make a profit. Selling

stolen art is probably more difficult than stealing it. You cannot just sell it in

the regular market. There are 3 ways to turn stolen art into money:

1. - The stolen piece of art can be sold to an “unuscrupulese” dealer

(someone who knows that particular piece of art is not legitimate but are

willing to buy it any way)

2. - Sell them as high quality replicas. In this way stolen art can enter into a

legitimate collection being considered replicas. The owner might not know he

is in the posetion of stolen art. Then legitimacy blurs: The art collector

bought what he thought was a replica, using “fair and clean money”. So in a

way he would be the rightfully owner.

This might be the easiest way to transform stolen art into money, as they can

be sold on the legal market.

FBI believes that a good amount of stolen art is located inside legal

collections. After buying and selling the painting couple of times, it might end

in the hands of a certify collector and the stolen art is likely to be legalize.

Something like laundering money but with art.

3. - Sometimes museums and art collectors will give a considerable ransom

to anyone how return the stolen piece of art. This “transaction” is supposed

to be done “underwater”.

It is believed that legal action houses in Netherlands work with pieces of art

of questionable precedence. Again, if someone buys from them the line of

legitimacy blurs.

To avoid these cases, there are some rules when buying art. The first step

involves due diligence. A process to verify that what you are buying is not

illegal. The process might take some time.

If an art good is stolen from you or if you are going to buy art, you have to

register both cases. One way to do this is through the Art Loss Register, an

international foundation dedicated to slow art crime, to help local authorities

to identify and recover lost art and to keep a record of all transactions inside

the art world. For example Picasso´s “Woman in white reading a book” was

stolen in 1940, and thanks to the support of Art and Loss register the

painting was recover in 2004.

All of Art Loss register data is up in the internet for easier access to it.

Why is art theft business so big?

Beside from the clear opportunity

to make some “easy” money there

are a couple of reasons.

1.-General art prices are going up.

Until the world crisis of 2008, art

prices were reaching record limits.

Higher prices usually means higher

profit margin to thieves.

2.-An important number of times,

art thefts are not reported to

authorities. Art collectors and

galleries sometimes think they are

better on their own or with a

private investigator than with the

local police.

This fact can be understood by

taking a look at for example the

FBI recovery percentage of stolen

art: between 5% and 10%. So when

the authorities are notified about a

robbery, and a lot of noise and

movement starts, the stolen piece

might be even more difficult to

recover. The thieve knows they are

looking for him so he hides.

Instead, a common practice has

been giving rewards to whoever can

get the piece of art back assuring

there would not be any

prosecution.

FBI effort

Art theft business has proven to be so rentable (6 billion annually) that the

FBI has what they call “the art crime team” or “ACT”. This relatively new

branch (was born on 2004) is formed by 13 special agents “supported by

three special trial attorneys for prosecutions”. The agents are trained in art

and “cultural property investigations”. They are also in charge of the

“National stolen Art file” a date base with stolen art information. Similar to

the Art loss register mentioned above.

Since 2004, they have recovered more than

2600 items or $142 millions. Which is not a

bad number, but if we take those 142 millions

divided into the 7 years of life of the agency

and compare it with the 6 billion loses

annually then the figures are not that

optimistic: it represents the .34%.

Why is art so expensive?

What is art? The answer is not a simple one

and besides, there is probably more than one

good answer.

But what happen if we

ask this same question

to an economic guy?

Then the answer

would be very narrow

and simple, art is a

product. Art is a

product that follows

the same basic rules

as any other product:

Supply and demand.

In simplistic terms

when a good is wanted

by a big number of

people, its price goes

up. If this particular item happens to be unique or scarce the price would

also rise.

Some few tips from the FBI

-As a general thumb rule quick transactions done

in the art world are most likely to be illegal.

-If you have valuable art you might want to have

a very clear record of it. With pictures, measures,

weight, year of the period from which they

belong and every detail you can. So if they got

stolen, the probability of identifying them would

be higher.

-If a buyer is caught with a stolen piece of art he

will lose the piece of art and his money.

In the art market there are more people interested in buying art than

successful artists (measuring their success on if they are accepted in the art

society) selling their work. In other words the demand is greater than the

supply (at least at some degree) which as a consequence boost art price.

From another angle what is considered as art comes from a well respected

artist. Which means that not everything is art but rather a few selected items

(at least in market terms). Art is the result of not common skills or abilities

that gave birth to them same piece of art. By implication art is scarce.

Conceptual art seems to escape from the rule, as many times the pieces of

art alone are not worth a lot but they still make millions of dollars. If

conceptual art is made from common easy to find and abundant items how

can the piece of art be so expensive? for example Andreas Gursky’s “99 Cent

II Diptych”. A photography of a 99 cent store sold for more than $3 340 000.

In conceptual art superior craftsmanship skills are not essential then again,

how is that simple photograph worth more than a house?

With conceptual art what is scarce is not the work of art itself, but the idea it

carries behind. The physical object is almost irrelevant, but what boosts the

price is the idea, the concept it represents. An idea is probably one of the

scarcest “items” one can get.

Of course there are other

variables that set the price of

art but this is a way to

understand the art market in

general and simplistic terms.

How much is an idea?

…Evidently millions and

millions of dollars.

Top5 Most Expensive Painting

1. $140 millions “No.5 1948” by

Jackson Pollock

2. $137.5 millions “Woman III” by

Williem de Kooming

3. $135 millions “Portrait of Adele

BlochBauer I” by Gustav Klimt

4. $106.5 millions “Nude, Green

Leaves and Bust” by Pablo Picasso

5. $104.2 millions “Garcon a la pipe”

by Pablo Picasso

“The Day of the Dead” tradition is a pre-Hispanic Mexican celebration honoring the

dead people on November 2, beginning on November 1, coinciding with the Catholic

celebrations of “All faithful Souls and All Saints Day”. The tradition has been declared

an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO since 2003.

For us Mexicans, “The Day

of the Dead” is more than

the veneration to our

ancestors; one might say

that this tradition is the

collective soul of our

people, that’s why we

mention it as a myriad of

known and unknown

artists who have based

their creations on this

celebration.

Among the known art

pieces it is very important

the traditional image of the

“catrina” with a large hat

adorned with feathers and without clothes (“the catrina” is a Spanish term for a dead

lady –seeing only the bones- who is alive doing many things), a work of cartoonist José

Guadalupe Posada. We also see the Catrina character more recently with a big hat and

dress that first appeared on a mural entitled "“Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in

Alameda Park”, which was done by Diego Rivera.

Artistic expression by unknown artists are even more abundant during the month of

November, we can see everywhere in Mexico big and small catrinas made with crepe

paper or drawn with the largest variety of techniques, although the vast majority is

made in factories. There are also many artists that make this tradition an art.

Mexican cemeteries are popular museums of this kind of art every November, it is a

kind of celebration-remembering date, it means Mexicans remember their dead

relatives and fiends and celebrate

with them. For this reason it is not a

sad date. The explanation of the

celebration allows foreign spectators

to understand the art associated to it.

People from many countries usually

think the tradition is aggressive and

rude to the inner feelings and

beliefs of many cultures (as long as

it is about the dead), but it is not,

what really happens is that the

celebration is melancholic, reflexive

and religious. The personality of a

common Mexican citizen is very

special compared to other countries,

Mexicans laugh of their own

fatalities, laugh of their problems, in

a phrase, laugh of themselves.

Popular artists know this fact and expressed in their works and creations.

“My era was one of great contrasts, and I am the one who made the most of it. I am the witness of my time” Fernand Léger 1954 Fernand Léger lived from 1881 to 1955, which means

he said the quote above one year before his death. In

many years, when death would be on its way to claim

my soul I would like to remember my life. Remember my

achievements, my goals and then say out loud “I am the

one who made the most of it”. I can almost imagine

Fernand smiling when he said that, wondering how

many more were able to say the same thing.

Léger’s time was indeed one of great contrasts, he witnessed huge technological

improvements and at the same time he experienced both of the great wars. But again, at

the end of his days, it seems that he was truly satisfied, like if he had discovered a giant

truth. The purpose of the essay is to argue that what he discovered was the place of

human beings along with technology and machines.

Fernand Léger was a French artist, mostly a painter, associated with the cubism. He was a

versatile artist always looking for new idea, a pioneer and a dreamer. During his life he

experienced painting, films, mural painting, photography, theater, book illustration and

ceramics.

The evolution of his style is interesting; he started with “pretty” impressionist paintings

such as “My mother´s garden”. Then he followed the tendency towards cubism giving a

rough turn to abstraction as we can see in “Nudes in a forest”. From then on he will

continue with the basics of cubism, geometric shapes, different point of views, and

simplified two dimensional objects, but adding the technological revolution that was taking

place. This meant two aspects that will lead the way in almost all of his work:

machines/industry and human beings.

As many other artists of the time, Léger had to serve during the First World War. He

witnessed it from the front lines. His involvement was in my opinion, the most influential

aspect in his artistic career. There was when he notices the huge potential that machines

represented. If a machine gun was able to extinguish something as complex as life, than

what can´t a machine do? He was optimistic, he almost dies but he was optimistic.

Fernand’s experiences during the war gave him a new appreciation of life, and he wanted

to share it with the rest of the world. His works started with machines alone (“The

propellers”), but then he introduced human beings into the picture (“The mechanic “1920).

He wanted art to be accessible to all people, showing some kind of a communist tendency,

so he diversified his line of work reaching mural painting, theater and movies (“Ballet

mecanique” 1925)

Not all of his works were machine with humans but during all the stages of his life, they

were a common denominator. For example one of his final paintings was “The builders” in

1950.

I think of his work as a path of discovery involving humans and machines. The path started

with almost no abstraction (my mother´s garthen) moving to higher abstract level (The city

and Ballet Mecanique). Reaching at the middle of his life (more or less) its highest

intangible point with some of his murals and his “close-up type” paintings (The compass).

At the end, like if he had discovered what he was looking for, his paintings returned to a

more realistic point of view (“The builders” 1950)

I think that what Fernand was trying to say is that machines had a huge potential, but

probably more important, that human beings were able to manage them properly achieving

progress and strength.

As an example to this potentially positive human-machine interaction I will discuss some of

his works from the 1919-1925 periods.

The City 1919

“The city” is one of the most well known paintings

of Fernand in which he followed the idea of

machines interacting with humans.

The painting shows the different “faces” of the

city using vivid and strong colors. The

composition is abstract, like a collage of pictures

merged into one single image. It is made of

different small scenes backed by geometric

figures. The painting lacks of depth, showing

everything in two dimensions.

In the lower middle of the painting we can see two figures probably representing the

human inhabitants of the city. They do not have much detail. Similarly we can see two

more human figures above the first ones, showing even less detail. They seem like human

robots standing by. The human figures of the picture could represent the changing from

the typical human to a more robotized one showing the importance of the machines in the

daily life.

The author uses a pair of more or less straight vertical lines (in the right middle of the

picture) suggesting a factory pipe and probably representing industrial growth. We also

see buildings again alluding to the interaction between humans and machine/factories.

Fernand’s city shows his admiration towards the changes that were going on in modern

cities, their complexity, and the speed in which they were developing. I think it represents

the diversity and new opportunities emerging from the world based on industrial

tendencies. As I see the painting trying to figure out its pieces, I imagine the inhabitants of

the city exploring and discovering what it has to offer.

The Mechanic 1920

The mechanic is painting, is one in which the relation

human-machine becomes elemental: A human worker

that knows about technology, and not just knows about

it but works with it. It represents machines and people

working to achieve a goal.

The image is very direct and less abstract than the last

one. It shows a man smoking in the first layer. Even

thought the man is not completely flat it does not really

shows depth. The background is more abstract and

completely tow dimensional, composed mostly of

straight lines and circles with few colors. Most of these

lines converge in the medium left side of the painting (above the right shoulder of the man)

representing, in my opinion, the factory in which this mechanic works.

The man seems confident and strong, empowered by the mechanical context surrounding

him. It seems that he does not belong directly with the background, but he is not against it

either. Léger is saying something like the machine plain joins the human plain to create

something new. The man is strong because the factory behind him makes him strong.

The painting is not that shocking since the mechanic does not face the spectator directly

but instead he is looking towards the factory. I think he is facing one side because

although he is the main character in the painting, the factory is also important. If he was

facing the front, then the background’s importance would decrease.

Ballet Mecanique 1924

Ballete mecanique is a good example on Léger’s interest in exploring new chapters of art.

Ballete Mecanique translates Léger´s cubist ideals into film: It is a non narrative film

composed by several and independent segments. They show fast moving images of

different machines. These images follow a sequence repeating several times probably

referring to mass production. Some of the segments are shown in a kaleidoscopically way.

Geometric figures like circles, triangles and squares are a persistent theme in some

scenes. It also shows images of people seen from different angles, and in some cases

following the repetition pattern shown in the machine scenes (for example the woman

climbing the stairs over and over again). The abstract level of the film varies, going to

really abstract during some machine scenes, but being more specific whit most human

scenes.

In my opinion, the author was trying to create a mixture

between “the real world” and “the mechanical world”. He

was shouting that life was changing rapidly with the rise

of machines and technology but that human beings were

also an important part of that new world. At the end, we

were behind and in charge of what was happening.

Léger transmit that human and machines are not that

different.

Fernand Léger had an optimistic view of the relationship

between humans and machines. From his point of view

machines empowered our society opening infinite

possibilities. He was almost obsessed with the idea of

industrial growth, but never losing its biological part:

humans

that were behind it. Léger discovered that the place of human beings was next to the

machines leading their way to progress. I wonder what he would paint if he saw the actual

interaction between our society and its inventions. Maybe he would not have such an

optimistic opinion.

Like many artists has happened, José Victoriano Gonzales (1887-1927), better known as Juan Gris, also

had to wait until his death to be recognized at the level it is now thought, deserved in life. Although he had known at

the time of his death, living most of his career in the shadow of his fellow Picasso and Braque, the Cubist movement

leaders, condemned this character to be classified just as a follower of the great Picasso in early art.

Juan Gris had dedicated their works to illustrate Spanish magazines and newspapers, but once in France, he had the cunning to be influenced by the work of Picasso, Braque, Cezanne, and writers like Apollinaire and Max Jacob. Gris was Cubist, and although he joined the new artistic style when it had passed its most radical moments, he learned to adapt the concepts of his colleagues to his techniques and concepts to result create a new style: analytical cubism instead of synthetic cubism.

At that time his work was not understood as in these times and even now his work can be valued in large amounts of money, the road to success for Gris was fairly difficult. He didn´t quit, and throughout his life he faced some incidents that I defined the course of his career and maybe even gave him the tools and the ability to perform the works that today are internationally recognized.

The first event refers on being recognized just as a follower of Picasso and Braque when he started his career, rather than as a component of the Cubist movement itself, not even the great difference between the techniques (such as: they created abstract forms from certain specific objects, Gris did the reverse, use of color rather than a neutral color template, increased intensity and drama in his compositions, a classical conception to Cubism). While initially was stratospheric influence, Gris´s pictorial independence from Picasso and Braque was evident.

A second event has place in 1914 when Gris finally reaches the maturity of his principles and his style. Then World War I broke out, so some artistic movements were diluted in some way. Once the war ends, everyone assumes to Cubism as an artistic past that does not match the new postwar era. Again the recognizing of Gris´s talent was compromised, however, he would not give up his ideals of painting.

The third reason refers to his pulmonary disease, the way to deal with it, and what it represented in his career. His health condition brought about certain changes as interest on the human figure and the possibility of synthetic composition, at a time, was in this period when Juan Gris created his most renowned works.

These three events, among several others, set the tone for the success of Gris. Adversities such as fighting for his life, and not to get the prestige he desired, forced him to offer more of himself to excel in the group, perhaps if these 3 factors have made otherwise, we would have had a group formed by Picasso, Braque and Gris who follow exactly the same rules.

To illustrate some of the artworks of Juan Gris, we can see “Tavern and book”:

This painting is important since it concerns the first stage of Gris as a painter, before his full introduction of the Cubist trend. While there will be bi-dimensionality in all his future works, the colors, shapes and use of shadow still let us to appreciate the space and depth. Gris has not personally met Picasso at this point, so his work can be totally pure, with no more influence than to know the artist's work indirectly. At this stage his works have a naturalist air since it is possible to perfectly identify the objects, and these are grouped together in a harmonious way, in this case a teapot, a jug and a book with a small white cup above.

Another example could be “Guitar and glass”, which was the first appearances of a guitar in Gris´s works since he was following the trend of the guitars of Picasso. Here the author attempts to delve into cubism as it is known; however, as time goes on, guitars will continue appearing and evolving into his paintings but increasingly adapting his own style.

In Guitar and glass, Gris suits neutral color palette of the Cubist movement, makes use of charcoal, pencil, watercolor and gouache to achieve it. Similarly, the space is gone, and you can see the fragmentation in geometric figures arranged yet allowing the full appreciation of what is being observed. Although distorted perspective is appreciated, it is easy to distinguish the guitar, a score and a glass in this painting.

This painting is interesting because of the intention of the artist to adapt him to the cubist technique, however, as it was said before, Gris would be considered a follower of Picasso, perhaps for this, his work evolved to a unique colorful and more dramatic style than the leaders suggested. A clear example is “Violin y Guitar”, where Gris takes his own independent course of this vanguard. He didn´t delete the order and he didn´t adhere to the abstract, he used warm and cold colors and displayed the objects from different viewpoints. Though Juan Gris initiated influenced by Picasso and Braqué, the differentiation has been given, and he will take his own course.

A final example of the author work could be “Pierrot with Guitar” which had his beginnings in 1919 when Juan Gris began to implement a new theme in his works: the commedia dell'arte. He paint so many pierrots and he passed by a sculptor named Jacque Lipchitz, to painters such as Picasso and Cezanne, finally Gris added the guitar that he had already employed to form a new set. This work is important because it is doubly melancholy: pierrot´s expression and the hue of colors that are reflected in it. It may well be due to author's intention to convey what was a Parisian Pierrot (a mime'm in love with the moon) or because that is the feeling of mind that the author felt for those dates.

We can say that although Juan Gris is well known today, the way he had to go to achieve it was quite difficult. We finally can distinguish three separate stages of his time as an illustrator of magazines: The first refers to when he admired the leading cubist, and tried to follow their steps from afar. There, even with his own deficiencies and shortcomings, he had a unique style; The second one refers to the time when he knows them and follows his steps closely, eventually he became known as a Cubist, he try to follow the rules of Cubism and be part of the group, however it would not be enough to live in the shadow of them, so he have to start to develop his own style; The last phase refers to the final stage of his life where he developed his style more forcefully and ignoring the trends for his co-movement. That's where he made his most significant works.

We can finally say, as Juan Miguel Llondrá "does not mean that Gris is more than Picasso or better than he nor the other hand, is different and enough"

Orquesta Sinfónica

Nacional

Concert 28, in November

26 and 28. Concert 29 in

December 3 and 5. Free

entrance in “Palacio de

Bellas Artes” 12:15

Clay Modeling Workshop.

If you want to spend a nice

weekend, visit us every Saturday

and Sunday of November, from

11:00 to 14:00 in “Museo de los

Ferrocarrileros” located in Alberto

Herrera s/n, Col. Aragón La Villa.

“Cuentos de Horror,

Capítulo II”.

Centro Cultural José

Martí located in Dr.

Mora 1, Col. Centro

Del. Cuauhtémoc

until November 29.

19:00 hrs.

“5a muestra de Artes Escénicas de la Ciudad de

México”.

This amazing event involves more than 200 spectacles

about theater, dance, music, cabaret, child and

multidisciplinary events. We count with Brazil as an

invited country.

Visit us until November the 28, so check the schedule in

http://www.teatros.cultura.df.gob.mx/index.php/danza

Exposition “El México de los Mexicanos”. You can visit it until November 30 in CINVESTAV Galleries, which are the open galleries in México City. It could be a really good experience since there are 125 photographers which were the best between 28,000 participants in the contest organized by the Banco Nacional de México through Fomento Cultural Banamex. The images are all about the vision of our country in Mexico and also in other countries; they reflect the traditions and the colors that make Mexican culture so amazing. You cannot lose the opportunity to submerge into this spectacular exposition.

Cine Club de la Revolución

Mexicana.

You can see movies like “La sombra

del Cauditllo” or “Los rollos

perdidos de Pancho Villa” in

November 27 and December 5, 18,

25 at “Museo de los ferrocarrileros”

at 16:00.

Latidos de América

We really want to invite you to see this one of a kind

experience. It is fascinating since the pictures are

high quality and the message of the whole

exposition is grateful in meaning.

It is an artwork from Ariel Carlomagno who thinks

the richness of the world resides in the diversity and

in the differences between people. It is an approach

to the minorities, to get involved in their world

which is also our, to understand that personal

identity and diversity is something we have to

celebrate. And so on, if we met other people, we

can better understand them.

As the author says “by knowing the differences we

construct peace”

You can find it from December 13, in Chapultepec

Jails which conform a total of 1.5km with 150

images 24 hours per day.

“Ludwig Van Beethoven Cycle”

You shouldn´t lose the ninth

symphony “Coral”, with Gabriel

Camacho as the Director.

Next November 29, in “Centro

Cultural Ollin Yoliztli” from 8:00 pm.

A brief look

MUAC Museum. This time we will recommend you to visit MUAC museum, which is located at

UNAM complex. There is a temporal exposition you cannot lose about Art

Povera.

The exhibition is simple yet meaningful. The pieces of the exhibition look as

simple as possible, because that’s what Art Povera tries to represent. But at the

same time all of them have a “purpose”, and this is not as simple as it could

seem at first impression. They all exist because there is an idea or a big

concept behind each one and precisely this concept needs to appear, and to

transmit something in some way so the viewer can understand “some idea”.

That’s why the physical pieces are there just standing, because they try to

impulse the spectator to find out the hidden meaning, without mattering if it is

complex to find.

Take a look at some of the experiences of our authors. You can have your own

experience too!

“Stone with a compass”

This composition- objet is very accidental which would mean casualty, something which is not

planed, simple and with no importance. However, the compass in the composition is a very

important element, it give us a special sense of position (the compass would give a specific reading

according to the orientation of the whole objet), this element changes all the meaning of the

composition, it tell us than a simple movement of the objet would change everything.

The small size of the compass compared to object’s

dimensions is very notorious; it means it is small in the

composition but the most important element of it.

There is a geological fact in the stone, several layers can

be seen at a lateral point of view, (perhaps this fact is just

casualty but it can be the artist decision). I would give it

the meaning of random or fortuitous concepts.

Rebeca

As a consequence, I was part of the work of art, I was inside it. And then, one is asked a fundamental

question: in with side of the mirror I am? In that precise moment, there is no right or wrong answer to the

question. As the spectator is in both sides simultaneously loosening consciousness of what is real and

what is not. The author is saying “I don´t want you to stare at my creation, I want to stare at how my

creation evolves” At that instant time stopped, and nothing else mattered. Except me, being a work of art

and my camera with which I pretended to capture stopped time.

This interaction between art and the spectator makes them feel the work of art; it makes it their own

work of art. The spectator no longer feels distant with art, but on the contrary, feels part of it.

Gabino

I have a connection with this piece because it makes me think about what big could be my own

“best experiences ball” if I would started to collect it. These must be about something in specific

and so it could take years in order to be a substantial sphere. I guess people forget about the

things they really enjoy or really matters, even the best experiences in their life; we just forget or

we focused our attention in daily problems, but we never collect the amazing things, or even

the bad ones, but just to maintain it in order to remember, to have the possibility to look

forward and then back and discover how much we pass through. Personally I consider it could

be funny and at the same time grateful.

“Where I am?”

In minimalist art as well as art Povera the spectator has to interact with the

work of art in order to understand it. This work of art is an excellent example.

The work of art was simple: a mirror showing picture of its author’s back,

printed on its right side.

When there is no one in front of the mirror, the work of art probably looses

sense. In other words, it is not complete until the spectator can see his or her

own reflection (as well as the reflection of the museum and everything that is

going on, on that instant).As the picture of the artist is facing towards the

mirror it seems that he is the one admiring the work of art instead of the

actual spectator.

In the middle of a salon, a big newspaper ball is located. At first

impression you will like it because the way it looks. How could the

artist compress the newspaper up to doing such a big and a perfect

shape? It really provokes the spectator to be there, just waiting for

nobody to be looking so you can push it and roll it in the entire

space. It could be funny until you know something about the art

work and it acquires a biggest meaning. In this piece, the artist

collected the notices about something specific, some events that

were important in his life, and then he put them together.

“Newspaper ball” Arely

Our very own Art

Who determines what can be considered as

art? This is an old and complex question…

In order to be considered a true artist,

some kind of validation from art world is

needed.

Regretless of what the “art world” may

think, the authors were feeling a bit

artistic. This was the result:

“Sister of Mercy” Hand

painted plaster mask

“Those years”

f/4.3

1/60 seg.

ISO-3200

“Bee on a

flower II”

f/5.6

1/160 seg.

ISO-64

Guide of Art Museums

you should visit Centro Cultural de España. Guatemala 18, Col. Centro http://www.ccemx.org Centro cultural estación Indianilla. Claudio Bernanrd 111. Col. Doctores www.estacionindianilla.com.mx Colección Andres Blaisten. Av Ricardo Flores Magón no. 1. www.museoblaisten.com Laboratorio Arte Alameda Dr. Mora 7 Col. Centro. www.artealameda.inba.gob.mx Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felgueréz. Calle Colón esq con Seminario s/n. Zacatecas. www.arts-history.mx/museo felguerez Museo de Arte Carrillo Gill. Av. Revolución 1608 Col. San Ángel. www.macg.inba.gob.mx

Museo de la Basílica de Guadalupe. Plaza de las Américas No. 1 Villa de Guadalupe Del Gustavo A. Madero. www.mubagua.org.mx Antiguo palacio del Arzobispado. Moneda 4, Col. Centro Histórico. www.shcp.gob.mx/dgpcap Museo del Estanquillo Isabel la Católica 26, Centro Histórico. www.museodelestanquillo.com Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes. Av. Juárez y Eje Central s/n. Centro Histórico. www.museobellasartes.artte.com Franz Mayer Museum. Hidalgo

45. Centro Histórico.

www.franzmayer.org.mx

Museo Dolores Olmedo Av.México 5843 Col. La Noria, Xochimilco. www.museodoloresolmedo.org.mx Museo Mural Diego Rivera. Balderas y Colón s/n, Centro Histórico. Museo Nacional de Arte. Tacuba 8, Centro Histórico. Museo Nacional de San Carlos. Puente de Alvarado 50. Col Tabacalera. www.mnsancarlos.inba.gob.mx Museo Tamayo de Arte Contemporáneo. Reforma y Gandhi, Bosque de Chapultepec. www.museotamayo.org Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros. Tres Picos 29, Polanco. www.saps-latallera.org