Galería Atotonilco Open House [] Featuring Iron Crosses and Trees of Life

 Galeria Atotonilco
OPEN HOUSE

Saturday and Sunday
November 13 and 14
Noon to 5 PM

Featuring
Iron Crosses and Trees of Life
By Guadalupe Hermosillo

Directions to the gallery on our website
www.galeriaatotonilco.com

415-153-5365 or 415-185-2225

Folk Art Gallery Open House This Weekend

By Susan Page

Galeria Atotonilco, located five miles north of town in a lush country setting, is inviting the public to a gala Open House this weekend, November 13 and 14 from 12:00 noon to 5 PM. Gallery owners travel all over Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia to select authentic folk art that has been created in indigenous villages for many decades or, in some cases, centuries. The dazzling variety and quality of the folk art is unsurpassed anywhere else in Mexico, according to Alberto Ruy Sanchez, editor of Artes de Mexico.

Iron Crosses and Trees of Life

An example of ancient traditions is the hand forged iron crosses and trees of life created by Guadalupe Hermosillo, who is featured in the book, Great Masters of Mexican Folk Art. Around 1548, indigenous artists in San Cristóbal, learning from Spanish metal smiths, began making iron crosses, padlocks, latches, and door knockers. Virtually every rooftop in San Cristóbal displayed an iron cross. These earliest examples are either in museums or have disappeared over the course of more than 450 years.

More than 40 years ago, Guadalupe Hermosillo began collecting and reproducing old colonial-era crosses and then creating his own highly decorated designs. He still employs techniques introduced by the Spaniards in the 1500s, and his crosses still display a mix of both Christian and indigenous symbols. During the many years he has dedicated to his craft, he has experimented with fire’s intensity to give the metal different shades of color.

Tonalá Pottery

Another example of an indigenous tradition that has endured and evolved into spectacular works of art is the hand painted and burnished pottery from Tonalá, Jalisco, where artists have been creating work from the local abundant clay for a thousand years. The collection in the gallery includes works by Geronimo Ramos, Luis Cortez, and Ángel Ortiz, who create chargers, vases, and mythical “nahual” creatures with spectacular animals, flowers, and country or day of the dead scenes. These three artists are some of the most skilled potters working anywhere in Mexico.

Since the gallery has been collecting Tonalá pottery for fifteen years, Galeria Atotonilco has arguably the finest selection of this work anywhere, even in the artists’ own studios, where, at any given time, they may have very few pieces on hand.

The Gallery

Galeria Atotonilco’s 6,000 square feet of exhibition space features a wide variety of fine folk art from all over Mexico and an excellent selection of Mexican country antiques. The owners recently returned from a buying trip, so the gallery is filled with dazzling new items from villages in Chiapas and Oaxaca. For many of the artists in the gallery, Galeria Atotonilco is their exclusive representative in San Miguel.

Directions

Directions to the gallery are on the gallery website or type Galeria Atotonilco into your GPS. The gallery is twelve minutes north of town near the hot springs, in a gorgeous county setting and a much-published architecturally interesting building. Except for this open house, Galeria Atotonilco is open by appointment: 415-153-5365.