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[Above: Untitled by Anonymous, yarn in wax on wood, part of the NMMA's La Vina Sin Fin exhibit.]
As Chicago marked the somber 40th anniversary of the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests, PIlsen's National Museum of Mexican Art opened its 22nd annual La Vida Sin Fin exhibition in honor of the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday, celebrated each Nov. 1 and 2. Running through Dec. 14th, the exhibit's paintings, etchings, photography and installations are dedicated to the victims of another historical coup, the Tlatelolco Massacre, which devastated Mexico City just months after the violence in our own town.
As Chicago marked the somber 40th anniversary of the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests, PIlsen's National Museum of Mexican Art opened its 22nd annual La Vida Sin Fin exhibition in honor of the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday, celebrated each Nov. 1 and 2. Running through Dec. 14th, the exhibit's paintings, etchings, photography and installations are dedicated to the victims of another historical coup, the Tlatelolco Massacre, which devastated Mexico City just months after the violence in our own town.
Ten days before the 1968 Summer Olympics celebrations commenced in Mexico City, thousands of student demonstrators gathered in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas for what was supposed to be a peaceful rally protesting the government occupation of the local university and overall democratic reform. But by nightfall, armed forces surrounded the square, firing live rounds into the crowd and killing hundreds of student protesters and bystanders.
In the midst of unanswered questions that linger 40 years later, artists from Pilsen and as far away as California, Texas, Oaxaca and Mexico City have created works in memory of those killed at Tlatelolco and others who have died in the past year.
A common Day of the Dead tradition is to build a private altar, or ofrenda, which pays tribute to the departed with flowers, skulls and personal items. One ofrenda in the exhibit honors the late Robert J. Loescher, founder of the School Of The Art Institute of Chicago's Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism, who died in 2007. It features a large backdrop of a gruffy, bearded figure and his original birth certificate. In another, the singer and musician Lydia Huante Mendoza is memorialized with a lonely guitar and an oversized record, while her music plays in the background.
The most striking part of the exhibit is the room dedicated to the victims of Tlatelolco. On one wall, five white pillars holding dried flowers in vases stand like soldiers; another wall is plastered with pop art pictures, newspaper clippings, photos of men in lineups and half-naked women, and a poster that simply reads "PAZ" (peace).
A flat panel television broadcasting archive footage of the day that took so many lives and spawned the voices of a lasting youth movement was particularly moving. Watching the grim black and white photos as Lydia Huante Mendoza's soft folk rhythms played gently in the background, there was a certain sense that, finally, so many souls were able to rest in peace knowing they had been remembered.
Related links:
Feature: Art Review: Point of Views @ Flat Iron Arts Building, 10/11/08
Feature: Drag City dredges archives for celebration of art and music
Feature: Oh, What A Night: Chicago celebrates with President-elect Obama in Grant Park
In the midst of unanswered questions that linger 40 years later, artists from Pilsen and as far away as California, Texas, Oaxaca and Mexico City have created works in memory of those killed at Tlatelolco and others who have died in the past year.
A common Day of the Dead tradition is to build a private altar, or ofrenda, which pays tribute to the departed with flowers, skulls and personal items. One ofrenda in the exhibit honors the late Robert J. Loescher, founder of the School Of The Art Institute of Chicago's Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism, who died in 2007. It features a large backdrop of a gruffy, bearded figure and his original birth certificate. In another, the singer and musician Lydia Huante Mendoza is memorialized with a lonely guitar and an oversized record, while her music plays in the background.
The most striking part of the exhibit is the room dedicated to the victims of Tlatelolco. On one wall, five white pillars holding dried flowers in vases stand like soldiers; another wall is plastered with pop art pictures, newspaper clippings, photos of men in lineups and half-naked women, and a poster that simply reads "PAZ" (peace).
A flat panel television broadcasting archive footage of the day that took so many lives and spawned the voices of a lasting youth movement was particularly moving. Watching the grim black and white photos as Lydia Huante Mendoza's soft folk rhythms played gently in the background, there was a certain sense that, finally, so many souls were able to rest in peace knowing they had been remembered.
Related links:
Feature: Art Review: Point of Views @ Flat Iron Arts Building, 10/11/08
Feature: Drag City dredges archives for celebration of art and music
Feature: Oh, What A Night: Chicago celebrates with President-elect Obama in Grant Park
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