At Casa Azul in Coyoacan, Mexico City, one of the largest collections of folk art ex-votos (also called retablos) hangs along with pre-Columbian art and memorabilia collected by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.
Traditional ex-voto/retablo in Casa Azul, the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City
They were avid supporters of artists who had no formal training but who represented the naive, populist art of Mexico.
I am broken but I am happy. Frida Kahlo Retablo by Hollie Taylor
Ex-votos are small devotional paintings that offer thanks or prayers to a saint for a gift granted, wish fulfilled or for good health. It usually includes a hand-written note of gratitude at the bottom of the painting.
After a foot amputation, Kahlo gave us this inspiration, interpreted by Hollie Taylor
Hollie Taylor is a North Carolina artist who loves Mexico and Frida Kahlo. On Friday, April 8, the North Carolina Crafts Gallery in Carrboro, hosts an opening reception for Hollie and artist colleague Madelyn Smoak from 6-9 p.m., Dreaming of Frida: Hollie & Madelyn at Casa Azul.
Hollie has adapted the ex-voto concept to offer thanks to Frida for her courage, strength, femininity, resolve and creativity by creating Frida Retablos. These are small devotional wall plaques with many of the icons and sayings that represent Frida Kahlo.
Looking for Frida Kahlo + Diego Rivera in Mexico City Art History Study Tour
Kahlo studio at Casa Azul, just as she left it
As we know, Frida’s health issues — childhood polio and a debilitating accident at age 18 that rendered it impossible for her body to carry a child — defined her and shaped her art. French artist Andre Breton named her a surrealist, a brand she refuted.
I paint because I need to. Frida Kahlo Retablo by Hollie Taylor
She was a woman who painted her emotions and that is what makes her a great artist. We can identify with her pain, passion and joy.
I paint self-portraits because. Frida Kahlo Retablos by Hollie Taylor
Hollie captures the spirit of Frida Kahlo in the retablos she created for this show. At the gallery, the retablos are offered at $58 USD.
Shrine to Frida Kahlo by Hollie Taylor
You can order your retablo from Hollie at a direct-from-artist price. They are lightweight, ready for hanging, made from collected objects on hand-painted rice-paper covered foam core.
Looking for Frida Kahlo + Diego Rivera in Mexico City Art History Study Tour
Hollie also teaches retablo workshops in her Chapel Hill home studio. Email her at hollietaylorart@icloud.com her for details about ordering and scheduling a workshop.
Hollie Taylor Novak, mixed media artist
Artist Gabo Mendoza Show Opens, Thursday, June 16 at Galeria Arte de Oaxaca
Your invitation to join Gabo this Thursday, June 16, 7 p.m.
I’ve written about Gabriel “Gabo” Mendoza before. His work might seem whimsical at first look. But it is filled with meaning, emotion, character and ripe for interpretation.
Woven handmade paper painted with a child’s scream or song. You decide.
Gabo’s subjects are street people, many representing the underbelly of Mexico: poverty, disenfranchisement, sex workers who are mothers, children who are homeless, uneducated and uncared for.
Young boys (or are they men?) on the street with artist Gabo Mendoza
Dreaming of bicycles and a way to get away
Gabo plays with language in his paintings. Words and parts of words appear and trail off the paper or canvas, giving a sense of incompleteness, impermanence. Bici is Spanish for bicycle. Where’s the B in the painting above? Broken off or away or a shadow or dream?
The family comes together as a unit of friends, substitute for those who are absent
Portrait of Gabo Mendoza in his Xicotencatl workshop taller
Doesn’t every child want a puppy to play with? or maybe it’s a goat!
And they went into the ark, two by two, one male, one female …
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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture
Tagged art, artist, Gabo Mendoza, Gabriel Mendoza, Mexico, Oaxaca, painting