Mexico's impressive modern art scene from the first half of the 21st century takes over the Grand Palais in Paris starting tomorrow with works by world-renowned Mexican painters Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Jose Clemente Orozco.
The exhibit will, of course, feature paintings by Mexico's most famous muralists, but it will also feature a much more comprehensive collection of Mexican painters from the era who aren't as known outside of Mexico.
This is the first time a collection of this size of Mexican painters from the era is shown outside of Mexico, and it will offer an impressive palette of Mexican artists waiting to be discovered and rediscovered, such as Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Goitia, Marius de Zayas, Francisco Díaz de Leon, Roberto Montenegro, Ramón Cano Mailla, and many others.
“Strong Women” is the name of a section in the exhibit dedicated to Mexico's strong female artists of the time, such as Frida Kahlo, who's famous painting “Two Fridas” (1939) will make an appearance at the exhibit. The exhibit's co-organizer, Agustín Arteaga, wants to show Mexico's female artists separately and not “as an extension or shadow of their male counterparts. I wanted to portray them as the voice of their generation,” said Arteaga.
He also wants to show that Frida Kahlo, who has become a cult figure, isn't the only influential Mexican female artist of the time. Others who will be featured at the exhibit include Nahui Olin, Tina Modotti, Maria Izquierdo, Olga Costa and Lola Cueto.
“We want the public to be able to see the grandness of Mexican art and its historical importance. This exhibit allows the public to see what the Mexican scene was like during the first half of the 20th century,” continued the exhibit's co-organizer.
The collection, which runs through January 23, aims to demonstrate that Mexico's modern art wasn't exclusively a result of the Mexican Revolution, but a long process that started even before Spain's arrival to the New World.
The collection will feature works borrowed from museums such as the Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Metropolitan in New York, the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires, and more than 30 Mexican galleries, private collections and foundations.