Oaxaca´s Emerging Artists Displayed at MACO

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• Published on Thursday, 16 February 2012 10:46
• By Brendan Missett

The vigor of Oaxaca's art scene is visible in the galleries that occupy its downtown corners and the colors that pop off the canvass as local artists drum their works. Its art is integral to the character of the city, and an outcome of its bewitching backdrop. The Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca (MACO) is perhaps the best example of Oaxaca's artistic tradition and its ongoing contributions to the art world. Its position near the Santa Domingo Plaza and just a few blocks from the zócolo makes MACO a routine stop for both casual tourists and serious art aficionados.

The building, located at 202 Alcalá Street, between Morelos and Murguia, is a handsome colonial structure that sits directly next to the city's public library. Upon entrance, visitors are pulled into the rectangular rooms that trace periphery of the the building's two floors, where the paintings are displayed. The museum's center is open to the air, and the atmosphere is bright and breezy. Two open-air patios at the back end of the building, reaching out into the city, obscure the boundaries of MACO and provide visitors a sunny spot to sit and relax. The peripheral rooms are large and sparse, giving the exhibited works plenty of space to enliven the walls.

MACO's collection comes from artists from around the world, though much of its gallery space is used to exhibit works from Oaxaca's most celebrated painters. Permanent exhibitions are dedicated to Oaxaca natives Francisco Toledo, Rodolfo Morales, Rufino Tamayo, Rodolfo Nieto and Francisco Gutierrez. Oaxaca's influence is visible in the works of Tamayo, which often depict subjects of a rustic lifestyle, made surreal by tricks of geometry and color, and stark cartoonish accents. Morales, meanwhile, uses brightly colored, parochial scenes to deliver a sense of the area's intimate community.

During my visit, in mid-January, I also encountered several lesser-known artists, whose attention-grabbing paintings served to enrich MACO's impressive gallery. The works of Oscar Rafael Soto, such as one entitled Destrucción Compositiva, are manic and abstract, illuminated by drips of color that create a phantasmal, postmodern landscape on the canvas. Luis Hampshire, from Oaxaca, exhibits several smaller works that place dark and obscured painted figures on the backdrop of a magazine advertisement's glossy sheen, and the American painter Karen Dana Cohen reveals her bold and severe style. One Cohen piece, entitled Cualquier cosa puede ser una prisón (Anything can be a prison), depicts a family grimly positioned around a dining room table in a room that is tinted with grisly red hues.

Paintings like this one took such command of my attention that hours ticked passed before I could bring myself to leave the museum.

MACO's prestigious collection is well served by the museum's calm ambiance. As on the streets of Oaxaca, the museum's tempo is measured and easy-going, and marked by contemplative pauses. On Sundays, the museum offers free admission, inviting Oaxaca's visitors to spend the closing hours of the weekend amid the beautiful images that the region has inspired.