Mexico's treasures come to Los Angeles

Sunset, Oct, 1991

REVEALING A nation's soul, Mexico: Splendors of 30 Centuries movingly presents the contradictory grandeur of that country's culture. What the exhibit may lack by only touching on individual periods and styles it makes up for in epic sweep, showing nearly 400 works from ancient to modern.

The exhibit, running October 6 to December 29 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is the centerpiece of the largest celebration of Mexican culture in Los Angeles' history. (It also ran in New York and San Antonio.)

Galleries and other museums will also feature Mexican art. Some shows are part of a series accompanying the exhibit; others are part of the Artes de Mexico Festival, focusing on contemporary Mexican and Chicano art, video, theater, dance, and music. Another series, Mexico: A Work of Art, includes everything from the visual arts to cooking demonstrations.

For details on the busy schedule of events, a special telephone number has been set up; call (213) 688-2787.

LOOKING ACROSS

THE CENTURIES

Viewers accustomed to the turista genre of Mexican art have a revelation in store. The Splendors show not only explains styles and historical developments, but also portrays the enduring grandeur of Mexican culture. Its ancient civilizations are less known but comparable to early Egypt in artistic and architectural development, while modern artists like Diego Rivera and Ruffino Tamayo are among the giants of the 20th century.

With an audio tour ($3.50), the exhibit takes 2 to 3 hours to cover in any detail. If pressed for time, you might want to concentrate on the pre-Columbian sections.

About a third of the exhibit is devoted to pre-Columbian cultures: Mayan, Olmec, and Aztec. The giant stone figures are stunning and rarely seen in the United States, but the memory of delicate smaller works life a pure white alabaster mask from Tenochtitlan with bright hues for the eyes may linger more vividly. As with a fresco fragment from Teotihuacan, the colors come as a surprise and help link these works to today's decorative arts.

A particularly poignant piece is also from Tenochtitlan. A tiny bell pendant with an eagle warrior commands attention not just for its delicacy, but because it is gold. Most gold works were melted down after the Spanish conquest, and the peice is one of the few reminders of the legendary tales of Aztec riches.

As you walk from the Aztec section to exhibits on post-1521 Spansih rule, the change is jarring, hinting at still-sharp divisions in Mexico's national psyche. The rest of the exhibit traces Mexican artists' attempts to reconcile these differences. (In 1 16th-century example, a large crucifix was made of corn paste using a pre-Columbian technique; in a Siqueiros piece, a Mexican peasant has an Olmec mask for a face.) The survey stops at 1950; for later work, try Artes de Mexico.

LOGISTICS FOR VISITING

Tickets for specific times are on sale at TicketMaster locations now and, starting October 6, at the museum, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard. Cost is $5, $3.50 for students and seniors, $1 for ages 6 through 16.

Weekday mornings will probably be the least crowded, although they're the busiest time for school trips. If you can attend only on a weekend, order tickets in advance (large exhibitions have sold out in the past). Friday nights might also be a good time to attend. Exhibit hours are 10 to 5 Tuesdays through Thursdays (till 9 Fridays), 10 to 6 weekends. For details, call (213) 857-6110.

During the exhibit, the museum holds related lectures, concerts, and screenings. With the Craft and Folk Art Museum, it is sponsoring the Family Festival of Mexican Arts (with food, crafts, and demonstrations), October 6 in the park next to the county museum. Call 857-6139.

Take advantage of the craft museum's location just a block from LACMA and try a cultural doubleheader. There, the 135-object Folk Treasures of Mexico includes masks, wood statues, and pottery selected from the 2,500-piece Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection of the San Antonio Museum of Art.

The craft museum is in a temporary home on the fourth floor of the May Company store at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. Hours are 11 to 5 Tuesdays through Sundays; admission is free. Call 937-5544.

ONWARD FROM WHERE

SPLENDORS LEAVES OFF

Already under way, Artes de Mexico spreads across Southern California with more than a hundred events. It includes gallery showings as well as some innovative looks at the city's public mural tradition, with tours in East L.A. October 13 and November 9, and painting exhibitions October 6 and 26.

Through November 30, The Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard has a show that focuses on the 20th-century Mexican masters Rivera, Siqueiros, and Tamayo, as does the Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center in Westwood, from October 2 through November 11. And from October 12 through December 29, the Bryce Bannatyne Gallery in Santa Monica (604 Colorado Avenue; open Tuesdays throuhg Sundays) shows work by Mexican modernists--including a recently rediscovered local mural by Alfredo Ramos Martinez.