I traveled to Mexico City to undertake new research that would take my work from the 1930s and 1940s to the post-war period. I was following the trails of some influential artists and cultural brokers. Many of these artists and intellectuals had spent the pre-war decades between New York and Mexico and had eventually settled back in Mexico City where they lived and worked during the post-war period.
By the time the United States emerged from World War II, interest in the Mexican avant-garde had faded; Pan-Americanism became a political relationship between the United States and Latin America rather than a cultural relationship between the United States and Mexico.
My primary research goal was to investigate projects undertaken during this period intended to shape Mexico’s international image, especially in terms of its relationships with the United States. Official cultural programs emanating from Mexico City, I discovered, did not seem to have the continuing impact I had imagined.
My first two weeks in Mexico City were spent largely at the Biblioteca Lerdo de Tejada located in the historic center of the city. There I looked over the library’s extensive and eclectic periodical collection, which included magazines such as Ahora and Asi, which are similar to Life Magazine, as well as a number of more specialized titles.
During this research I noticed increased attention in these sources to tourism and modern architecture. In fact, during the 1940s and 1950s there was a veritable explosion of new housing developments in and around Mexico City as well as the development of cultural institutions complemented by the construction of important buildings in the 1960s such as the landmark Museum of Anthropology and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (National Autonomous University of Mexico UNAM).
In addition to these examples, I noted a profusion of advertisements for commercial goods and industries that deployed international modes of modernization and modernity which seemed to be imagining a new Mexican middle class, and a new Mexico. For example, advertising focused on modern design in furniture, housing developments and new home appliances.
I spent the next two weeks at museum exhibitions and in the library at the Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art). In addition to making valuable contacts at the museum library, I began to research a group of geometric artists and architects who were fundamental to shaping Mexico City’s modern image both through large building projects and public sculpture.
A weekend trip to Guadalajara provided me with the opportunity to see a retrospective exhibition of the work of Mathias Goeritz, an influential artist and architect whose work spans the decades from the 1940s to the 1980s. Back in Mexico City, I visited the Casa Luis Barragán in Mexico City, a museum located in the former house and studio of Mexico’s most famous architect. Barragán and Goertiz were central to the development of modern Mexican architecture.
In addition to these solo exhibitions, I visited a number of museums and was pleased to see critical engagement with the role of museum collections and exhibitions in the curatorial narrative. At the Museo de Arte Moderno, for example, this took the shape of two temporary exhibitions installations that drew primarily on the museum’s permanent collection to examine the ways that Mexican modern art tends to be both collected and exhibited. One exhibition focused on the first half of the 20th century, while the second focused on the latter half.
These exhibitions sparked my interest in the role of photography in propagating an image of modern Mexico. While the earlier exhibition chronicled, among other developments, the role of photography as ethnographic and social document, the later exhibition suggested a new role for the medium. In various museum exhibitions I noted the proliferation of architectural photography and images of the city, both as works of fine art, such as in the photos of Armando Salas Portugal and Hector García, as well as the role of photography in popular media like photo-novelas (similar to illustrated novels but with photographs) and advertising.
I saw further examples of this in a trip to the Calle Donceles, a Mexico City neighborhood that is the location of many of the city’s used bookstores. I found invaluable primary research materials related to arts and architecture from the postwar period. However, among the most inspiring books I encountered was in the reading room of a trendy boutique hotel where I had coffee with friends one Sunday afternoon. I came upon a re-edition of a 1951 book by Francisco Tario with photographs by Lola Álvarez Bravo. The book was inspiring, its bizarre compositions and bohemian scenes juxtaposed with images of an old fishing village hinting at the richness of the seemingly superficial beach town.
In addition to finding new ideas and new sources through books, magazines and museum exhibitions, I was able to meet with several curators and arts professionals during my visit. These conversations were invaluable in terms of practical information and advice as well as the chance to discuss larger ideas for the future direction of my project.
Among the ideas I discussed with a veteran art dealer, for example, were the intermixing of intellectuals and politics in Mexico, the role of outsiders, foreigners or those on the margins of Mexican culture in art, intellectual pursuits and bohemian culture, as well as presidential politics and its impact on the development of the arts and culture.
I was fortunate to meet with two curators of the exhibitions at the Museo de Arte Moderno. While one meeting emphasized the role of urban intellectuals and the growth of a modern sensibility of the city, the other veered toward the idea of Mexico’s tourism industry and the development of new international cities like Acapulco. Together, these experiences in Mexico have helped me shape my ideas for future research. Even more importantly, they have inspired my continued passion and fascination with the cultural history of 20th century Mexico.
