Galeria Atotonilco Open House: Trees of Life in Mexican Folk Art - August 25, 2018

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Event Category: Art Openings and Exhibits

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  •  Galeria Atotonilco  Open House

    Featuring
    Trees of Life in Mexican Folk Art

    Saturday and Sunday
    August 25 and 26

    Noon to 5 PM
    415-185-2225

     For directions to the gallery,

    see our ad in this issue or visit our web site:

    www.galeriaatotonilco.com


    Trees of Life: Symbols of Abundance

    By Susan Page

    Some form of the “tree of life” has been found in all Mesoamerican cultures including the Aztec, Maya, Mixtec, and Olmec, and continues to be a strong theme in Mexican folk art today. It is a symbol of the abundance of the universe, depicting the connection between heaven and earth, the four sacred directions, and the lineage of humankind.

    The central idea of the tree of life is the unity and connection of everything and everyone in the universe. Mystics from all religions report that enlightenment, or the highest sacred vision, is the realization that separation is an illusion, that in fact, everything in the universe is part of “being,” the way a drop of water is a part of the ocean. Trees of life are a graphic representation of this unity. They reach from the heavens – often with angels or some depiction of God at the top, to creation with Adam and Eve, to deep into the earth, depicted by gardens with deep roots, or sometimes as hell!

    In contemporary Mexican folk art, the Tree of Life has become a kind of “canvas” for artists to present a variety of subjects, from daily life in the village, to indigenous dress and traditions, to folk art from all parts of Mexico. Many include religious themes such as the story of Adam and Eve or the Virgin of Guadalupe. Some show off the mermaid who, because she represents both land and sea, becomes a symbol of the duality of the universe.

    Contemporary Artists

    Gallery owner Mayer Shacter recently returned from two villages famous for their trees of life: Acatlan and Izucar de Matamoros, both in the State of Puebla. In Izucar, the most famous family is the Castillos, several of whom still do exquisite work. Their trees of life are striking, painted with minute, intricate designs and can be expensive. We purchased some stunning Castillo pieces for collectors. The other Izucar family whose work we love is the Balbuena family, who create colorful works in the Izucar tradition that are much more affordably priced and that brighten any table setting or room with a piece that honors a venerable Mexican tradition.

     

    The trees of life in Acatlan, Puebla, were started by Heron Martinez, who worked prodigiously throughout the last half of the twentieth century and died in 1990. His work is highly collectable. He had no direct descendants, but several families have carried on the tradition he started in their own workshops. The work is distinctive because the clay is burnished and left with its natural color, which ranges from brown to dark red. Acatlan trees of life are beautifully proportioned, with themes such as mermaids, peacocks, or Adam and Eve.

     

    All are invited to the gallery open house, Saturday and Sunday, August 25 and 26, noon to 5 PM each day. The event includes refreshments and the opportunity to view the Shacter’s extensive private folk art collection. Directions to the gallery are in the Galeria Atotonilco ad in this issue.


    Dear Friends of Galeria Atotonilco! We are excited to announce that Galeria Atotonilco has received the following award from the Worldwide Business Review:


    Best Cultural & Contemporary Art Gallery

    Latin Amerian – 2017

    Excellence Award for Mexican

    Cultural Preservation & Promotion


    Since “Cultural Preservation and Promotion” is precisely the passion that drives our gallery, we are amazed and pleased to be recognized for this particular achievement. This award belongs to you too, our loyal clients and customers, and we can never adequately express our gratitude. Our gallery would not exist without you, and we know that you share our zeal for keeping folk art alive. Please take pleasure in this award, for you helped to make it happen. Why is it important to “preserve and promote” Mexican folk art? In the first place, many examples of Mexican folk art date back to pre-Hispanic times and have been carried forward for thousands of years. To lose these highly refined skills, honed over generations, and the resulting works of art that provide enormous visual pleasure and carry centuries of history, tradition, and spiritual energy would be a tragedy. The dances and rituals and the arts that still abound in hundreds of villages are a big part of all we love about Mexico. It is truly a “culture” like nothing we have in the non-Latin Western Hemisphere. These people have a deep connection to the earth, to the natural order of the universe, and to ancient myths that carry great wisdom. In the second place, the people keeping traditional folk art alive are artists, families, and villages that depend on the sale of their work to survive. The support of traditional arts and of the families who create it are deeply intertwined. In our travels, we experience this history quite vividly. We visit ancient indigenous villages that have simply been gradually updated over the centuries and may (or may not) finally have paved streets. One village, high in the remote mountains of Guerrero, still has no running water in the town. But that village is all about creating lacquer gourds in a way that only they know how to do, because they have honed the craft for hundreds of generations, long before the Spanish arrived. They know exactly how to grow the sizes and types of gourds they need, when to plant, when to harvest. They know how to dry the gourds, make difficult decorative cuts and clean the gourds. They grind their own mineral powders and crush chia seeds for the oil that gives their lacquer its distinctive luster. They have developed the skills required to apply layers and layers of chia oil and mineral powders and then to burnish each layer to a deep shine. And then, amazingly, they all possess the artistic talent and skill to cover the piece with exquisite geometric detail and floral designs. How can so many individuals in that village possess the esoteric knowledge and highly refined skills required for each of these steps? It’s in their DNA, that’s why. And no one else on the planet has that particular DNA. We are often asked if younger generations are carrying forward the artistic traditions in a village. When they began at a young age, and they can see that thier parents are making a living, they do keep creating the art. Even when the children become educators, lawyers, engineers, medical professionals, still, they assist the family when they can, and they create special works for the town or regional competitions. They are often the ones who dream up creative innovatons while retaining the traditional craft, something we like to see and encourage. However, if they see their parents struggling to make ends meet, never selling enough of their work, the children will turn away from that route to poverty, leave the village, and work in the cities or go off to college or into a more lucrative business. That is why it is so important to purchase—and to collect—Mexican folk art. We know that many of you share our passion to keep these arts—and these families—flourishing. Congratulations on actually receiving an award for following your passion. With warmth and gratitude, Mayer and Susan


    P.S. We just returned from five weeks on the road, all over the south of Mexico and Guatemala, having filled the van to overflowing with new

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