Devotees of modern and contemporary art (including those who know the difference) will want to know about the Raul Anguiano Museum of Art in Guadalajara and take in its current exhibit by international artists entitled “Maniera: Una formula para perder la identidad” (Maniera: A formula for losing your identity).
The show, which lasts until September 21, is put on by a collective that was formed in Spain and includes Mexican and Spanish artists, plus an American and a Turk. It has the laudable aim, evident in its title and modus operandi, of downplaying the individual artist and his or her creativity — something of a sacred cow among artists — and, instead, emphasizing the debt an artist owes to others.
In a museum named after Raul Anguiano, you might expect to be able to see work by this Guadalajara native who worked in the pictorial Mexican muralist style. After all, his most famous painting, “La Espina,” was auctioned by Christie’s in New York in 2004, two years before the artist died, for 156,000 dollars. However, the museum’s permanent collection remains in storage, leading some to question its name. Meanwhile, two large-ish rooms in the smallish museum are filled until September 21 by “Maniera,” while an upstairs room hosts fanciful, architectural re-creations of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
“Maniera” consists mostly of installations, videos, found art constructions and the like — normally inscrutable forms that leave most viewers cold and seem to be geared to the few who know the artists and what they are trying to accomplish. There is a smattering of equally inscrutable paintings but if you are lucky enough, as I was, to snag a willing museum staffer to explain things, the insights may make you laugh (as in the case of a work by U.S. artist Justin Thompson consisting of photos of artwork seized by Mexican Customs), cry (in the case of a work by Adriana Cerecero that decries environmental damage) or simply appreciate the artists’ style or technical abilities. My guide and I also laughed when I mistook a wall plate with light switches for one of the works in the show.My guide also kindly explained to me, in Spanish, the crux of the show, which otherwise might have taken hours of perplexed study. Many of the artists’ first completed works, displayed in the salon to the right of the entrance, and then, in the second salon, completed the work again, but this time using the style of another artist in the group. This process is briefly explained in a handout and in wall plaques that accompany each piece, but between the Spanish and the strangeness of the process, little can be absorbed. (“Maniera,” according to my guide, is an Italian term coined in the 16th century to denote artists who work unabashedly “in the manner of” another artist.)
Museo de Arte Raul Anguiano bears the distinction of being the Guadalajara municipality’s only museum outside the historic city center. It is on busy Mariano Otero, a couple of blocks from Avenida Chapultepec and the Niños Heroes monument. It is painted a screaming green with orange letters, presumably in order to be better seen – and it works.
Museo de Arte Raul Anguiano, Mariano Otero 375, Colonia Moderna, Guadalajara, one block southeast of the glorieta at Chapultepec-Niños Heroes. “Maniera: Una formula para perder la identidad” shows until September 21. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Phone: (33) 1377-7909, 1201-8744. Cost to enter: 20 pesos.