Amanada May spills all about the Underground art scene in Mendoza’s main square
It’s impossible. You can’t visit Mendoza without passing though the largest bustling square, Plaza Independencia. Its benches, shade trees and large fountain make it the perfect place to people watch, picnic or just relax.
But don’t leave it at that. While you’re in the plaza, step into its cool, literally underground cultural center to escape from the summer heat and to soak up some Mendocino art. Facing the fountain, enter the Museo Municipal de Arte Moderno de Mendoza (MMAMM) from the left.
December’s exhibition features three shows; “Esténcil” (“Stencil”) by a local artist collective, Acción Anónima, “La Cuarta Pared” (“The Fourth Wall”) by the Mexican artist, Alejandro López Saldaña, and “Psico-Robot-3M” (“Psycho-Robot-3M”) by the contemporary Mendoza painter Diego Stigliano.
MMAMM December show
“EsténCil” (“stEnCil”) By AcciÓn AnÓnima
“It’s a political act, in and of itself,” agreed group member Ana Paula Soto of the often politically charged imagery. Inciting social commentary and questioning authority are often of the goals of this guerilla style spray painting, in addition to imparting esthetics and design. This is the first gallery show for the group, which usually uses the city of Mendoza as its canvas.
“We’re not opposed to galleries,” explained Soto, “but the streets allow us to bring our art to a much larger audience.” This installation is a rare chance to see all the work they’ve done in one place and features a mural-sized index map of the city with bomb symbols showing where they have left their mark.
According to Soto, the group tries to get together at least once a week so that their work is always cutting edge. One example of this, which Soto is proud of, was their stenciling images of oversized Argentine coins all around town when there was an “unexplained” shortage. (Its rumored that coins were being taken out of circulation and melted because they were worth more ounce for ounce than their actual face value).
For the exhibition, the collective has photographed each of the stencils they have painted around Mendoza and even includes the stencils themselves, cut out of thick plastic film like x-rays.
“La Cuarta Pared” (“the Fourth wall”) By Alejandro López Saldaña
Alejandro López Saldaña is a Mexican artist that has been living and making his art here in Mendoza for the past three years. “La Cuarta Pared” (“The Fourth Wall”) is his contribution to the current exhibition.
In Saldaña’s work, you are also the art. He uses optical illusion to create 3-D cube images on 2-D canvases, builds an actual room with three walls and shows a video of a busy street scene. In these spaces, you are the fourth wall as the audience, and therefore an integral part of the work.
The inspiration for Saldaña’s metaphorical pieces comes from his megalopolis hometown of Mexico City. There, he got used to seeing the white and orange striped signage announcing construction zones. He uses these stripes for the MMAMM show in an effort to remind everyone that if everything isn’t under construction, it’s at least in constant change.
“I noticed that the city changes so fast,” he explained,“and I began to ask myself, if the city is changing so fast, are the people as well?” He brings in the human element with the soundtrack of a human heart in the looping video, and of course with your presence. The audience contemplating the ephemeral nature of life is as much the art as the paint on canvas or video screen.
Psico-robot-3M (“Psycho-robot-3m”) By Diego stigliano
Diego Stigliano is a contemporary Mendozan painter that makes up the third part to the show.
In the exhibition’s program, Pilar Bosia describes his work as “a distorting prism that shows us another reality.” Which, for those of us who don’t speak art history lingo, basically means he’s showing us a really twisted version of the world as we know it. Stigliano uses painting, software and good old-fashioned drawing to create this surreal universe.
Viewing his work is easy and amusing at first, harkening the color palate and rounded forms often used in children’s cartoons. But at second glance, the subject’s grins reveal themselves as sinister. According to the program, these dark characters live trapped in
this parallel world without the power to understand it, much less to overcome it. In this way, they are quagmired as much as we are, born into largely disorganized societies that only very few can change.
Don’t miss this virulent and corrosive work.
Inaugurated the 26th of November, the show will run until the 3rd of January. According to the MMAMM administration, the first month of 2010 will feature pieces from the municipal collection of historical and modern art works of Mendozan artists. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for students and senior citizens, and free for children under 12. All enter free on Wednesdays. Open 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Guided tours (in Spanish) available 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Closed Mondays. Tel. 4257279, www.ciudaddemendoza.gov.ar. The Museum’s also hosts free concerts in its auditorium, so ask at the front desk if a show will be going on while you’re here.
Biblioteca Ricardo Tudela (Ricardo Tudela Library)
Catch up on the daily news of Mendoza in this free library by leafing through the newspapers like Diario Uno and Los Andes. Is your Spanish not quite up to par? Don’t worry, you can still beat the heat spending some time between in their air-conditioned stacks browsing their art books about local painters, photographers and architects. The library is open from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Tuesday thru Friday and is free and open to the public.
Teatro Julio Quintanilla (Julio Quintanilla Theatre)
Teatro Julio Quintanilla occupies the other side of the complex and is most alive at night. From Tuesday thru Sunday theatrical performances (in Spanish) and concerts fill their newly remodeled theatre; beginning around 9 or 10 p.m. Tickets are cheap, ranging from around $10-20 pesos per person. Reference their poster outside the entrance (facing the fountain, enter from the right) to check their upcoming performances.
“La Feria” (“Artisan Fair”)
In the evenings (Thursday thru Sunday), head down past the city’s glowing, electric coat of arms to contemplate what exactly the red hat on a stick means, and of course to visit “La Feria” artisan fair in Plaza Independecia.
Booths of Argentine artists and craftsmen line the sidewalks selling everything your inner creative could desire; mate cups, wood carvings, jewelry, children’s toys, knives, frames, boxes, paintings- you name it!
If you’re aiming to acquire the Argentine hippie look, hunt for the “trenza” vendors who sell long, beaded, friendship braids that are tied into the hair. It takes about 5 minutes to put in and at only about $15 pesos it’s worth the story.
Just off of Plaza Independencia is Avenida Mitre with it’s own mix of artsy booth dwellers. On this street the products change from eye candy to mouth candy; marinades, caramel sauces (dulce de leche,) jams and spreads are all lined up for the tasting and the buying.
Plaza Independencia is one of the better places to pick up gifts for loved ones and create lasting memories of Mendoza.
