Visitors to Guadalajara might be hard pressed to think of even one large shopping center north of the border that is devoted exclusively to jewelry. In Guadalajara there are 17.
Of these, perhaps the largest, most modern and centrally located — Magno Centro Joyero — has been set gleaming for Christmas and boasts a new mobile by New York-based sculptor Nathan Carter that twists elegantly in the escalator gallery spanning the center’s full four-story height and overlooking the bustle of more than 600 jewelry shops.
MCJ isn’t exactly an undiscovered gem. Tourist buses bring clients to shop there, and it is very near the famed Instituto Cultural Cabañas and the large fountain “Inmolación de Quetzalcoatl” [Sacrifice of Quetzalcoatl] in Plaza Tapatia. And Guadalajara itself was recently declared “Jewelry Capital of America.”
Still, Magno Centro Joyero is often overshadowed by the nearby Mercado San Juan de Dios, known as a dizzying conglomeration of everything from meat to, yes, jewelry (and as “Taiwan de Dios,” among Guadalajara’s sharp-tongued commentators). Few people seem to recognize MCJ as a place to buy jewelry and components for jewelry making in styles from artesanal to good quality gold and silver.
Nor is it well known that the center boasts a sedate bar-restaurant with a panoramic view of the cathedral and Teatro Degollado, free child care, a nurse, a handicapped elevator, and, for those anticipating a guerrilla attack, a security bunker.
And then there is the Miro-esque mobile by Carter. The artist worked on the lightweight metal piece, named “GDL Tower calling Zapopan, Jal. Radio relay station One- five adjust your transmitter to Arrica seven- o- six,” from 2010 to 2012, shipped it to Guadalajara in pieces a few months ago, and then, with two assistants he brought here for a weekend in mid-October, finished it with automotive paint and installed it.
The timing of the installation of the mobile at MCJ was fortunate because, according to MCJ spokesman Eduardo Alba, just after Carter returned to New York, much of his work, stored at the Casey Kaplan gallery, was destroyed or seriously damaged in Hurricane Sandy.
Magno Centro Joyero, Plaza Tapatia between Instituto Cabañas and Teatro Degollado. For map, see www.magnocentrojoyero.com. Christmas season hours: Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sundays, Christmas and New Year’s Eve 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Normal hours Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Sunday.