Paul Strand-The Mexican Portfolio at Arthur Ross Gallery: January 31 |
|
January 27, 2015, Volume 61, No. 20 |
|
|
(left) Paul Strand, Church gateway, Hildago, 1933.
(above) Paul Strand, Women of Santa Anna, Lake Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, 1933.
All images ©Aperture Foundation Inc., Paul Strand Archive
Organized and lent by the Syracuse University Art Galleries. |
Paul Strand—The Mexican Portfolio will be on display at Penn’s Arthur Ross Gallery from January 31 through March 29 with a reception on January 30 from 5-7:30 p.m., including remarks at 6 p.m. and a gallery tour at 6:30 p.m.
In 1932, Paul Strand was invited by Carlos Chavez, director of the fine arts department of the Secretariat of Public Education, to document the changing landscape and people of Mexico.
During the two years Strand spent in Mexico, he traveled the countryside with his Korona and Graflex large format cameras. He explored small towns, churches, religious icons and the people who inhabited the land. Strand, like many of the artists who were making art at the Taller de Gráfica Polpular print studio, worked on this project during the period when the post-revolution government sought to establish a modern national culture that would capture Mexico’s unique character.
Twenty images were selected by Strand and published as a portfolio in 1940, titled Photographs of Mexico. In 1967, the portfolio was re-released as the Mexican Portfolio, featuring photogravure impressions.
The exhibition at the Arthur Ross Gallery will also include a portfolio of prints by Mexican artists from the Taller de Gráfica Polpular.
This exhibition is organized by the Syracuse University Art Collection. |