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Paris is famous for attracting artists from around the world. This month Espace Electra celebrates the vibrant Latin American artistic community that has flourished in Paris since the early '30s. Paintings, sculpture, video and installation works by artists from countries as diverse as Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil and Peru give a good sense of the cultural diversity of this immense continent. This dynamic exhibition developed around the art of Matta, Carmelo Arden Quin (who also founded the review Ailleurs during the '60s) and Jesus Rafael Soto, three internationally recognized artists who have chosen to live and work in Paris. Their work is representative of the strong surrealist and geometric abstract currents that have directly influenced modern art in Latin America. While acknowledging the important contributions of artists from the '30s and '40s, this show serves mainly as an introduction to the art being produced here now by several younger generations of Latin American artists who claim Paris as a home base. Vivre Paris-Rencontre avec 30 Artistes Latino-Américains will be on view through Apr 18, daily from noon to 7pm, closed Mon, Espace Electra, 6, rue Récamier, 7e, tel: 01.53.63.23.45, M° Sèvres-Babylone, 20F/10F. MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY MEXICAN PAINTING Works from the superb Gelman collection of modern and contemporary Mexican art are on view at the Mona Bismarck Foundation. Jacques and Natasha Gelman began their well-known collection with a painting of Natasha commissioned from Diego Rivera in 1943. Other fine portraits by Frida Kahlo, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Rufino Tamayo soon followed. The Gelman collection included works by the most significant European artists of that period. They were enthusiastic collectors of Picasso, Braque, Miro and Giacometti. However, as long-term residents in love with Mexico, they were also most open to the excitingly vital work being created by young artists from their host culture. During the '40s, Mexican art was mainly known for the monumental murals painted by Siquieros, Rivera, Charlot and Orozco that were closely identified with the Mexican Revolution. At that time the local market for modern paintings was actually very small, and works of superior quality by artists like Angel Zarraga or Tamayo were more easily affordable than paintings from the school of Paris. Like the famous Paris collector Gertrude Stein, the Gelmans found themselves in the right place at the right time to build an outstanding collection of modern Mexican painting. Through their highly intuitive selection of works they were actively engaged in promoting the aesthetic revolution proned by Rivera. They bought truly remarkable pieces, and when collecting works by Kahlo, Rivera, Siqueiros and Jose Clemente Orozco, didn't hesitate to include at least 10 examples of each. They are all well represented in the show. The Gelman collection continued to grow until Natasha's death last year. The exhibition concludes with works by contemporary Mexican artists like Elena Ciment, Paula Santiago and Sergio Hernandez. A beautiful show. Peinture Mexicaine Moderne et Contemporaine de la Collection Jacques et Natasha Gelman will be on view through May 8, daily from 10:30am to 6:30pm, closed Sun & Mon, Mona Bismarck Foundation, 34, av de New York, 16e, M° Alma-Marceau, tel: 01.47.23.38.88, free. YOLANDA GUTIERREZ Yolanda Gutierrez, one of the youngest Mexican artists on view in Paris this month, has two one-woman exhibits at the prestigious Jeu de Paume and at the Galerie Yvonamor Palix. Gutierrez is a free spirit, unbound by even the normal limitations of a studio space. Her studio is the great outdoors and her materials come from nature in the form of animal bones, shells, thorns and feathers. The precarious balance between life and death, and the necessity to preserve wildlife reserves are major themes in her innovative work. In 1995 a wildlife reservation on the island of Cozumel off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula was the site of an important project. Two successive hurricanes had devastated the area, alarming biologists who feared native birds might not return to the area if nesting materials were not available. Working closely with biologists from the Mexican Ministry of the Interior, Gutierrez created nesting structures that successfully drew the birds back to their native shores. Her signature piece "Umbral" is an installation of 28 pairs of cattle jawbones that are placed to resemble a flock of birds in flight. Like other works, Umbral gives the appearance of life to things now dead. The duality between life and death has been a recurrent theme in Mexican art, but Gutierrez brings a sharp, contemporary perspective to this familiar theme. An amazing young artist to discover. Yolanda Gutierrez's work will be on view through Apr 11, daily from noon to 7pm, closed Mon, Jeu de Paume, pl de la Concorde, 1er, M° Concorde, tel: 01.47.03.12.50, 40F. Also through May 1, Sat, 2-7pm or by appointment, Galerie Yvonamor Palix, 13, rue Keller, 11e, M° Bastille, tel: 01.48.06.36.70. *This is the first in a series of exhibits that will feature contemporary Mexican art through July 31. |
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