Reading Time: 4 min.
The Museum of the Palace of Fine Arts presents the exhibition Mexichrome. Photography and color in Mexico, on the history of color in images, ranges from hand-colored prints to new technologies. Two hundred-eight works come from 78 collections and archives, some for the first time available to the public.
Mexichrome. Photography and color in Mexico is the product of three years of research under the curatorial direction of James Oles. This exhibition is an exhaustive analysis of the historical and aesthetic use of color in Mexican photography, beginning with the presentation of the first color film – more than 80 years ago – distributed by Kodak. The exhibition collects a meticulous selection of 208 works captured by 124 authors from Mexico, Latin America, the United States, and Europe.
Together for the first time, these images not only reconfigure and challenge the prevailing black and white photographic canon but also highlight shared themes, reveal slips and contrasts between «art» photography and photojournalism, in addition to contextualizing the work of contemporary artists – a few of whom self-identify as «photographers» – in unexpected ways. The list in this exhibition comes from 78 public and private collections and archives, both in Mexico and the United States.
The exhibition at the Inbal Museum Network is composed of a presentation that synthesizes the history of color in photography to set in context the complex technical evolution of color and its introduction in Mexico. In addition, it arranges nine thematic modules that explore, in a broad sense, the main topics addressed in the production of color images in the country. These sections provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of our country’s complex reality.
Through themes such as landscape, the representation of Mesoamerican cultures, vernacular and modern architecture; anthropology, violence, religion; the markets, and the flag, the exhibition reveals how photographers and artists, national or foreign, have woven a polychromatic iconography that captures the sociocultural kaleidoscope that characterizes Mexico.
In Mexichrome, the public will see emblematic works by the pioneers of the color photographic technique in Mexico, among them Paul Outerbridge, Juan Guzmán, Walter Reuter, Bob Schalkwijk, and Pedro Meyer. Atypical examples of color work are also presented, such as Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Héctor García, and Mariana Yampolsky, who generally leaned towards capturing moments in black and white. Additionally, some of Hugo Brehme’s early hand-colored prints are on display. The exhibition also includes a grand documentary collection compiled since 1990 by visual and conceptual artists: Francis Alÿs, Melanie Smith, Martin Parr, Teresa Margolles, Alex Webb, Daniela Rossell, Candida Höffer, Miguel Calderón, Adam Weisman, among others.
Mexichrome. Photography and Color in Mexico is open to the public since November 29, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. In addition to the exhibition, a program of guided tours and a set of parallel activities will be available to enrich the public viewing experience.
Learn more on the Museum of Fine Arts networks.
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Statement – Alan González S. ©
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