Visitors to “El Hombre Al Desnudo” (Man in the Nude) at Museo de las Artes may be surprised to learn that this impressive exhibit in Guadalajara’s premier museum had already been creating a stir long before its by-invitation-only inauguration Tuesday.
Perhaps that is because when it showed in Mexico City (after moving through Vienna, Budapest and Paris), a publicity image used on Facebook resulted in the suspension of the Museo Nacional de Arte page.
Facebook isn’t the whole world, thank goodness, but the tempest in a teapot does demonstrate that art — and depiction of naked human bodies — can still rankle people, perhaps more so in Catholic Mexico than in staunchly agnostic Europe. And, since Guadalajara is considered more conservative than Mexico City and yet at the same time a gay bastion, staff at the University of Guadalajara’s Museo de las Artes (Musa) seem to be holding their breath as the show opens, wondering what the public’s reaction will be. After all, in Mexico City (where, incidentally, the number of works shown was higher, although not the quality, curators insist), attendance was great, despite or perhaps because of the Facebook stink.
“We know it is attracting attention and we hope that is for the better and not the worse,” said Musa staffer Norma Mendoza. Her pride was clearly evident as she shepherded a visitor through the 85 pieces in five spacious salons, punctuating the tour with plaudits — ”I love this one” or “This is my favorite!”
As if to prove one point of Rennaissance humanism and the classical Greek art on which it was based — that focusing on the human form needs no apology — virtually every single piece in the show is pleasing and arresting, even the few that some might consider prurient.
Mendoza stopped briefly to indicate the painting that caused all the trouble on Facebook, a 1978 oil by Omar Rodriguez Graham that depicts a testy faced, middle-aged man, nude of course, sitting in an armchair holding a bouquet of irises, like a guy who lost his clothes just before arriving to pick up his date.
But this late and saucy piece is not completely emblematic of the show, which contains works done centuries earlier and includes some with religious themes. Notably, however, there is nothing depicting bedrock Christian themes such as the birth of Jesus or Jesus on the cross (not even a naked baby Jesus or semi-naked Jesus on the cross, which surely would have ticked off some people even though this can probably be seen in the church around the corner from the museum, just proving that context is everything).
And neither is there any highly irreverent work such as that infamous, long-ago and faraway crucifix submerged in urine, although the show does include another work by Robert Mapplethorpe.
In this incarnation of the show, the artists comprise ten foreigners and 65 Mexicans, including notables such as José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Saturnino Herrán and Ángel Zárraga. It covers two centuries and includes a very wide range of media, from drawings to installations. Very few women artists are represented; one is Martha Pacheco with her disturbing morgue images.
The fiery Orozco mural, “The People and the Leaders,” can also be seen in the same building, in the circular room known as the Paraninfo. Call ahead for guided visits to the mural.
“El Hombre Al Desnudo — Dimensiones de la masculinidad a partir de 1800” (Man in the Nude — Dimensions of masculinity since 1800) shows until October 26 at Museo de las Artes, Avenida Juarez at Enrique Diaz de Leon (near Expiatorio church). Tel: (33) 3134-1664. http://musa.udg.mx. Monday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free entrance.