The University of Guadalajara’s Museo de las Artes (MUSA) is currently showing “Retroverso,” an exhibit of watercolors, object art, drawings, photographs and paintings representing the six-decade career of Sergio Zepeda, one of Jalisco’s most recognized artists and architects.
Born in Guadalajara in 1942, Zepeda studied painting and graduated as an architect from the University of Guadalajara, where, as of 1969, he taught for 30 years. He held various positions in the UdeG’s Faculty of Design, School of Plastic Arts and the University Center for Art, Architecture and Design (CUAAD).
Zepeda has participated in around 100 exhibits, published three books and penned dozens of articles on different themes. In 2003, he curated the “Hermanarte” a collective exhibition in the United States that showcased artists from Guadalajara and its U.S. sister cities, and has coordinated cultural exchanges in several countries.
As an architect, Zepeda oversaw the design or redesign of the Municipal Cultural Center in Zapopan; the Museum of the History of Medicine in the Old Civil Hospital and the gallery of past mayors at Guadalajara City Hall, and coordinated the adaptation of the historic Casa de los Perros in downtown Guadalajara into the Museum of Journalism and Graphic Arts.
Zepeda’s art is mostly abstract. According to MUSA’s online synopsis of the “Retroverso,” he “creates his work from images, notes and experiences that he uses as a starting point to develop an artistic (vision) that culminates in the creation of pieces full of great symbolism.”
Retroverso is open at MUSA through October 15. MUSA is located in the UdeG’s old rectory building at Avenida Juarez 975, one block from Avenida Enrique Diaz de Leon. While taking in the exhibit, plus others that may also be up at this first-class art venue, visitors can view the magnificent world-famous murals by Jose Clemente Orozco in the Paraninfo auditorium. MUSA is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free entry.