Down the stairs and past the sculptures of the McNa
y Art Museum, visitors are transported to locations of the past and present. Hispanic and Caribbean heritage are celebrated with the Ferias, Parques y Plazas exhibit. Museum-goers are greeted with abstract brush strokes, intricate hatch lines, lively photographs and vibrant expressive colors that tell stories of the joys, struggles and the mundane of the community. The exhibit is a celebration of tradition and different human societies in a visual expression.
Over 40 pieces of artwork are on display, featuring 24 artists. Each one depicts community and culture in their own form. Walking onlookers are hit with color — almost all the paintings and photographs are filled with different intensities. Various mediums are displayed throughout, from water colors to oils, linocuts to lithographs. Observers are surrounded by artistic diversity and distinctive atmospheres to complement each one.
George Overbury “Pop” Hart’s “Market Place, Trinidad” is what its title states: a market place in Trinidad. The solids of the water color fill in the black and white detail of the graphite. At first glance, it may look like a blobby mass of blues, browns and greys. Taking a long second look will reveal the full structure of the painting. The discernible sketches of the graphite and unshapen watercolor shows the fast pace of the market; trade, conversation and negotiation are rendered onto the paper in a layered form. The painting is a work of life, a moment in time frozen on the page.
Along with the bustle of reality, there is struggle. This is shown through the linocut “Rumbo al Mercado” by Leopoldo Mendez, an artist who fights for the rights of indigenous people. The artwork is a print from a scene in the Benito Alazraki film “Raices,” a film that illuminates the hardships Mexico’s indigenous people face. The film’s young couple is shown fighting for their lives, trudging their way to the livestock market. Mendez, using his medium, draws the attention of the audience to the trials of these characters — human barriers that most can relate to.
The world is not just filled with sunshine and grey, however. There are times where it is mundane. Marion Koogler McNay’s “To Market Navajo Weavers” shows the tedious work of weaving. Three women adorned in vivid garments decorate the canvas. One designs a new textile, a second woman fiddles with a spool of thread and another explores their place of work while a baby is nestled into bed on the floor. Their dedication is evident in their focus, heads trained on the task at hand. The repeated event of making textiles, captured and rendered in a watercolor medium, a painted day in the Southwest.
The good, the bad and the drawl of existence are all experienced through the people of another era. These paintings are depictions of past heritage, and that history inspires artists today. Adriana M. Garcia, for example, is a woman whose works are filled with a powerful color scale and smooth texture that personify families and cultural traditions. Her mural “De Todos Caminos Somos Todos Uno (From All Roads, We Are All One)” is featured in the exhibit through a photo and an acrylic study on canvas. The mural is meant to be a celebration of all San Antonians, going back to early Yanguana people who first settled by the waters.
The Ferias, Parques y Plazas exhibit can be enjoyed at the McNay Art Museum until April 12 in the Charles Butt Paperworks Gallery. Take a trip into history detailed in paint and see how it has influenced the paint of today. The museum’s hours are 12-5 p.m. on Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. For more information, visit the museum’s website at mcnay.org.
