Mayan Clothes, Contemporary Painters

The show Panaramico de la Plastica Yucatanese at the Center for Visual Arts in Merida, with its focus on contemporary Yucatan artists, caught me by surprise by including many pieces of women, specifically in traditional Mayan costumes.

Carol Acereto, Belleza indigena, 2008

Having been in Merida about a month now, I would no longer make the mistake of thinking the artist is idealizing the past--rather it expresses an opinion about a changing present. Acereto's painting features young girls in traditional Mayan dress, white embroidered around the square neckline. Even today in Merida women wear the traditional white shift dress to go about their lives, as do Mayan women who come into Merida for the markets. Surprisingly, perhaps, I also see younger women wearing a top in the same style with jeans--is traditional Mayan dress as in vogue as a t-shirt?

Sandra Nikolai, Chismorreo en el mercato yucateo, 2009

Sandra Nikolai's women you might see at any market, which is as frenetic as the scene above suggests, and the colors remind me of the brightly-painted buildings. The florid palette and bustling brush strokes make sense to me after walking through the sensory cacophony of the markets.

Sandra Nikolai, Otra garnachita, 2009

A tortilla maker? Whatever little street food is being made, the artist treats the subject with dignity and I love the strong lines of the hand. It seems like the Mayan heritage is being explored, and valued positively, in these works. As a middle-aged man on the street told me yesterday, Spanish was his second language--Mayan his first, and his village an hour outside of Merida continues to make hammocks as its industry.

Jaime Barrera, Homenaje a Cy Twombly, 2009

On the other hand, he spoke fluent English and worked as a waiter at a restaurant called Main St. It's a changing world. A homage to one of my favorite painters hung in the show as well, which overall testified to a variety of influences and interests among contemporary Yucatan painters.

Visitors in Mexico!

Friends have come to visit, and having the pleasure of showing Merida to them makes me realize what a special place it is. Mexicans have a saying, "Nothing ever happens in Merida," and it is meant in the best possible way. The city is a peaceful haven even within the safe, well functioning Yucatan peninsula. The turmoil and issues in the other parts of Mexico don't seem to reach here.
Today we are going to walk around the city center and look at the cathedral, the beautiful candy colored facades that hide dark rooms and spacious courtyards, and the bustling plazas with their vendors, pigeons, and children.


Maybe later we will stop at the market for a bite to eat, or at least some churros (my favorite) before dinner.

Falling In Love with Mexico

Or more specifically, the Yucatan, which thinks of itself as rather different from the rest of the country. People here are so nice--plain old nice. I've asked for directions and had a man lead me to the bus and flag it down for me, and three times when I asked the way to a certain street at a stoplight, the other driver told me to follow him. (I get lost a lot.) The people here are genuinely warm and kind, and seem completely family-oriented. Utopia.

So it's fascinating to me that every museum and religious site I go to, be it ancient Mayan or contemporary Catholic, and book about Mexico I read, stress death. I can't wait to see what the Easter celebrations have in store.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

To Do: Create New Life...

Life has been a little overwhelming recently, but in defense of my opting to sleep rather than finish my video of the SCOPE art fair preview yesterday, let me explain what I've been up to:

1) Deciding to give up our apartment in New York to keep traveling, meaning I had to come back early to pack up
2) But my flight was delayed because of snow
3) Giving me less time to pack the contents of my life
4) And move them into storage while sleeping on friend's couches and trying to get a temporary phone set up
4) Finally finding the perfect place to live in our next destination: Merida, Mexico!
5) Packing my suitcase and finding a flight for this weekend because we have to move in immediately

So between leaving one country, coming home, moving, and then planning to move to a different country...everything has been a little up in the air, to say the least. I haven't been able to say anything about this new plan because it only just evolved! While we had talked about going to Mexico, we weren't sure until a few weeks ago, and then we needed to find a place to stay. Even now, we aren't sure how long we will be staying. Merida is a beautiful city on the Yucatan peninsula, and I'm beyond excited to see it.

For the moment though, it just feels great to be back in New York--coincidentally enough, with art fairs galore! Today, I'm planning to see Verge and Independent, and hopefully the William Kentridge show at MoMA as well.