Weaving through an old city and a new museum

Antiqua is the 2nd oldest city in Central America with cobblestone streets and eroding facades… but lots of restaurants and fun shops.  It is only an hour from the capitol.  The first stop for Johann and me is the bookstore, Turerto (one-eyed).  We next meet the director of CIRMA, a foundation for the investigation of Meso-American social studies.  We give him 2 books and he gives us one.  We lunch at a gourmet restaurant and the daughter of Goyri Gonzalez, one of the artists in our first book, joins us.  She shows us her colonial home complete with b & b right in the middle of town with a spectacular view of Volcan Agua.

It is a walking town but we drive to a suburb, Santa Ana, to visit the museum, La Nueva Fabrica, exhibiting the work of contemporary, conceptual Mayan artist, Antonio Pichillá.  He is internationally known and represented in many museums.  Infront of the museum is a restaurant within 2 buses. And inside the current exhibition as well as a photo exhibit & collection.  It is super interesting.  The indigenous culture is very strong and growing here, despite barriers put up by government and society. 

The large woven X represents the 4 colors of corn… one of the sacred elements of the Maya.  Rituals are demonstrated in videos, and the textiles are beautifully crafted.  There are 25 different groups of Maya here in Guatemala and they all have unique languages.  The sticks wrapped in cloth represent the elders that govern the communities.  Smoke and striking are means of healing.

After coffee and a tasty pastry, we head back to Guatemala City and stop to meet a curator and art critic.  Rossina Cazali is currently curating a show for the Guatemalan artist I know as Margot Fanjul (a pseudonym) at the Sofia Reina Museum in Spain.  She is skeptical at first about our project, but warms to the idea as we speak. 

And like the exhibit we see today, Johann and I start to weave an idea of what contemporary art is … at least in Guatemala… and perhaps all of Central America.

Antonio Picilla

Guatemala’s Sculptor of Expressions

I arrive in Guatemala in the evening.  Again, my bag of books is questioned and, again, I pass with a smile.  I really think being old helps… it certainly does when I ask some young man to lift the almost 70 pound suitcase onto the customs inspection ramp.  A few steps away my trusty associate, Johann finds me and takes over the unwieldy beast.

We are greeted by an auspicious sculpture as we enter the boutique hotel Adriatika in Zona 14.  We are meeting the well-known artist tomorrow in his studio.  The art in the hotel creates a pleasant, sophisticated ambiance.  Besides the sculpture, I like a photograph by Luis Gonzaléz Palma.  My room is huge complete with a kitchenette, washer/dryer and a great view of one of the eight volcanoes in Guatemala, Volcan Aqua. 

Meeting Max Leiva is a treat.  He is tall, handsome and amiable. I have been seeing his work for many years – in Mexico, Miami and Central America.  I am always in awe of the divergent expressions in his bronze figures and also like his abstract works.  The story he tells us about his decision to become a sculptor is interesting… you can read about it in our upcoming book, Central American Contemporary Art.  He tells us of his year of working with Dogoberto Vasquez in Guatemala and I can see the influence in his abstract pieces.  His figurative works are influenced by the textures of the Swiss sculptor, Nag Arnoldi. 

The studio is filled with sculptures in all stages of production… clay, resin, bronze. I see expressions of love, rejection, awe, confusion on the faces, their heads darkened and Maya inspired.  Like birds on a wire, some figures perch to watch us.  We are fortunate to see the process of patina being added using gas and flame in an outdoor work space.

Max gives us books and takes the time to personalize one of them with an excellent pen drawing and a dedication to me; my partner, Mark Ford, will be envious.  Veronica, Max’s accountant/assistant helps us with some contacts and as we leave, I see a life size sculpture looking up at the sky in a contented awe.  That is exactly how I feel about this visit

Volcan Agua

Luis Gonzalez Palma