Abstract art for August

Two exhibits opened in or near Guadalajara this month, offering a rare opportunity to view the best work of aspiring artists in Mexico who express themselves through the medium of abstract art.

pg8aThe first exhibit is on display at Jalisco’s only dedicated abstract art gallery: the Center for the Study and Diffusion of Non-Figurative Art (CIANF), located eight kilometers west of Guadalajara in Pinar de La Venta. The show is called “Primer Encuentro de Arte Abstracta de Pequeño Formato” (The First Gathering of Small-Format Abstract Art) and is the brainchild of CIANF’s owners, José de Jesús “Pepe” Olivares and Rosalia Zepeda.

Said Olivares: “We challenged abstract artists in Jalisco and all over Mexico to send us an example of their best work, but confined within a medium measuring 30 by 30 centimeters (11.8 square inches): a footprint of their art, you could call it.”

Added Zepeda: “The response has been wonderful. All the works you see here were created especially for this exhibit. We have 70 footprints on display, offering the public a unique opportunity to peruse today’s abstract art scene in Mexico within the space of three small rooms.”

I was impressed at how enticing this arrangement was. I could not take three steps without some obra (work) grabbing my attention, then obliging me to take a closer look and finally seducing me.

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