Embassy of Mexico exhibition looks at Nature and its colours
Leonardo Partida Prieto’s artwork titled Fernanda.
Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer
On June 29, Francisca E. Méndez Escobar, Ambassador of Mexico to the United Arab Emirates, inaugurated the group exhibition “An Introspective Look at Nature, its Colors and Textures”, consisting of 29 masterpieces by four artists resident in the UAE: Emirati Sumayyah Al Suwaidi; Mexicans Alejandra Palos Ortega and Leonardo Partida Prieto and Italian Enrico Di Maria.
Lasting till October 31 and located in the Embassy of Mexico in Abu Dhabi, the show is the sixth exhibition that the Embassy hosts at the cultural space in its premises - a space that has become an integral part of the cultural life of Abu Dhabi and its surroundings.
The title of the exhibition refers to the creative efforts of the contemporary artists where motives, cultures, minds, experiences and different worldviews are mixed — but together point in the same direction: an interpretation of the will and essence of the women who, through their looks, reflect the power of their decisions and their empathy for others.
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The inner power and introspection, the show says, gives and directs us to a necessary and continuous experience of self-knowledge. The infinity of Nature freely and abundantly offers us its colours and textures and vital experiences — something that is born even when simply contemplated.
Sumayyah Al Suwaidi is a multiple award-winning Emirati artist based in Abu Dhabi. Her passion for digital art started in 1996 and, in 2001, she launched her first collection, inspired by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
She begins each piece with a sketch, or a photograph, combining textures, colours and contrasts. Her first exhibition was in 2003 in Abu Dhabi, showcasing her work alongside many of the UAE’s pioneer artists. Shortly after, she began to exhibit her work in various galleries in the UAE and abroad in London, USA, China, France, Germany, Switzerland, Morocco and Kuwait.
Her work was auctioned by Christie’s in 2012 as part of the Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish Art sale and exhibited at Sotheby’s Galleries in London as part of the Three Generations exhibition in 2013.
Alejandra Palos Ortega was born in Mexico, and raised in the Baja California peninsula. She grew up immersed in the beauty and stillness of that place, where she developed a deep admiration for Nature and its forms.
She has exhibited her work in Mexico, Japan, USA, Mauritius, Lebanon, UAE, and Italy. She currently lives in Dubai, where she sees the world from a multicultural perspective, which is reflected in her artworks.
Enrico Di Maria was born in Modena, Italy in 1960. He has been living in many different places in Italy and around the world.
He began to paint in his mature age, starting with watercolours, and then with acrylics and oil. He is fascinated by the landscapes and the Mediterranean Sea, and by the life and the light - which is what he tries to capture in his paintings.
Di Maria has participated in various exhibitions in Italy. He has also participated twice in the World Art Dubai fair.
Leonardo Partida Prieto is a self-taught Mexican artist. At age 26, he became one of the youngest Mexicans to be selected by the National Society of Fine Arts of Paris, to be a part of the renowned Salon des Beaux-Arts at the Carrousel du Louvre.
Prieto uses his art as a channel to speak about his mind and beliefs, specially his dreams. Using acrylics as his main medium, he tries to give depth to his work by arranging the spectrum of tints, from dark to bright.
Various types of visual arts have developed in Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follows the nation’s history, divided into the prehispanic Mesoamerican era, the colonial period, the period after Mexican War of Independence, the development Mexican national identity through art in the nineteenth century, and the florescence of modern Mexican art after the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920).
Mesoamerican art is the art which was produced in an area that encompasses much of what is now central and southern Mexico, before the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, for a period of about 3,000 years.
During this time, all influences on art production were indigenous, with art heavily tied to religion and the ruling class. The Spanish conquest led to 300 years of Spanish colonial rule, and art production remained tied to religion — most art was associated with the construction and decoration of churches.
However, secular art expanded in the eighteenth century, including “casta” paintings (“lineage” in Spanish and Portuguese which was historically used as a racial and social identifier), portraiture and history painting.
Almost all art produced was in the European tradition, but indigenous elements remained, beginning a continuous balancing act between European and indigenous traditions.
After Independence, art remained heavily European in style, but indigenous themes appeared in major works as liberal Mexico sought to distinguish itself from its Spanish colonial past.
The preference for indigenous elements continued into the first half of the 20th century, with the Social Realism of Mexican muralist movement led by artists such as Diego Rivera, who were commissioned by the post-Mexican Revolution government to create a visual narrative of Mexican history and culture.
Since the 1950s, Mexican art has broken away from the muralist style and has been more globalised, integrating elements from Asia, with Mexican artists having an effect on the global stage.
