A small municipal gallery located directly behind the Basilica of the Virgin of Zapopan has opened with a bang, debuting with 23 large-format photos by acclaimed photojournalist José Hernández-Claire.
“Fe, Ritos y Tradiciones de Jalisco” [Faith, Rites and Traditions of Jalisco] is a free exhibit that greets visitors to the Centro Municipal de La Cultura, a bustling two-story building that for decades has been a fixture in Zapopan, with a theater, lending library and music school.
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The show is a good opportunity to glimpse the work of Hernández-Claire, who has had an impressive international trajectory. He studied urban design and photography at New York’s prestigious Pratt Institute of Art, then architecture at the University of Guadalajara. His work has appeared in prestigious and well known newspapers and magazines in Mexico, the United States and Europe and his resume is studded with honors received in those places.
In this show, which celebrates religious events such as the Day of the Virgin of Zapopan (appropriately enough, considering the gallery’s location and patronage), be prepared to see crystalline colors, sharp detail and elegant cropping, all done with a high and apparent degree of comfort in shooting in public locations where pomp mixes with personal moments — the uncertainty of a nurse lined up in an early morning rain waiting for a parade to start, an old woman leaning to kiss the bloodstained leg of a wooden Jesus, her cheek almost brushing a collection basket with a few pesos inside.
The cultural center’s hours are convenient — 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Friday — and getting there is an easy stroll a block behind the high walls surrounding the Basilica.
The art gallery is the newest facet of the cultural center and is under the direction of established artist Toni Guerra.
“Fe, Ritos y Tradiciones de Jalisco” shows until April 7. Calle Vicente Guerrero 233 between Avenida Hidalgo and Javier Mina. Information: (33) 3818-2200, X 3807.{/access}