Village Squire, 1973-06, Page 24What'sgoing on...
Mexican artists exhibit at Rothmans' Galley
On June 5, the exhibition, "3 Artistas
Mexicanos," had its premier opening at
the Rothmans Art Gallery of Stratford,
54 Romeo Street, Stratford, Ontario.
The exhibition consists of a selection
of works by three of Mexico's leading
artists which reflect the vibrancy and
energy of that fascinating country.
Pedro Friedeberg is a representative of
a fantastic, imaginative trend bordering
on surrealism. Born in Italy in 1937,
Friedeberg was brought to Mexico at a
very early age. His sculpture, in which
the fine lines of sculpture and hard edge
of ink drawings mingle with a superabun-
Baphomet's handchair with Rameau's Nephew's Foot,
at Rothmans Gallery.
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dance of arabesques, constitutes a highly
individual approach to surrealism. The
noted French surrealist poet, Andre Bre-
ton, declared that Friedeberg's worlcs are
among the most fully realized works in
the surrealist manner.
In his masterful suite of lithographs,
Jose Luis Cuevas presents a panoramic
view of social Mexico. Cuevas has said
of his subjects, "It is not my intention
either to condemn or to justify it. I
seek merely to descrlbe it in terms of
my own sensibility, without imbuing it
with any message whatever." Jose Go-
mex Sicre, Art Director of the Pan Ame-
rican Union, has said of Cuevas, "Mexi-
can expressionism has provided him with
a mode of manifesting a romantic adol-
escent attitude toward life - in its saddest
and most sordid aspects - together with
that morbid interest in death which has
been one of the most characteristic ele-
ments in Mexican art since pre-Columb-
ian times." John Canaday, of the New
York Times, has added, "Surely, there
is no move refined craftsman at work
today than Cuevas; no artist who draws a
line with more delicate calculation."
Xavier Esqueda's paintings can be put
in relation to surrealism 'Op Art.' In
it can be distinguished a delicate touch
of Mexican popular heritage. Esqueda
creates original works which attract by
their freshness and move the spectator
by the interplay of shapes and colours,
which occasionally can lead to the absurd.
His the mes are relatively limited: fruits,
especially oranges; geometric figures;
mechanical parts; landscapes where the
objects in them appear as though forgo-
tten there, or simply waiting. There
is in his paintings a nostalgic 'je ne
sais quoi,' an effort to reach the infinite.
This exhibition is circulated by Roth-
mans of Pall Mall Canada Limited in
its continuing programme of support
to the Arts. This is the tenth internat-
ional exhibition offered by Rothmans
and, after its stay in Stratford, the exhi-
bition goes on a nation-wide tour to
the major centres of Canada. Roth-
mans has designed and produced a sixty -
page catalogue for this exhibition. All
proceeds from the sale of this catalogue
are donated by Rothmans to each indi-
vidual gallery exhibiting this collection.
STRAWBERRY FEST: Smorgasbord
with tempting strawberry dessert
dishes at Benmiller.United Church
on June 30. Served from 5:30 to
7:00 p.m.
WELSH COUNTRY FAYRE: The
Belgrave United Church presents this
old-fashioned bazaar every year in
the Belgrave Arena. This year it takes
place on June 30 with supper served at
5 p. m. to 8 p. m.
SUMMER CARNIVAL: Seaforth Lions'
Club's annual summer carnival on