LEFT: “El Aguila” by Honduran artist Dante Lazzaroni, one of 34 artists whose work is featured through July 28. ABOVE: Detail of “De las Mágicas Tradiciones Toro Fuego II” (2018) by Guatemalan artist Elmar Rojas.
Any celebration dedicated to Modernism ought to have Central America as a guest of honor. We are not talking an honorable mention or a consolation prize, but the seat next to the head of the table. That is the proposition served by the latest exhibition at Delray Beach’s Cornell Art Museum.
Running through July 28, “Central American Modernism” gives due credit to 34 artistic voices who introduced a bold visual language amid political turmoil, social unrest, underdevelopment, and financial disruption. Modernism was the weapon of choice for these master disruptors, who shook their respective homeland out of stagnation with new cultural possibilities. The show focuses on six countries: Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Mostly isolated from the international community, these small countries were slow to embrace Modernism. Once the movement took hold, each bred its own distinctive flavor and stars.
Take Guatemalan artist Elmar Rojas, whose colorful abstract depictions of bulls, scarecrow-like characters, and mystical figures contributed to the cultural development of his native country, and here, they get a room of their own. When not rendered in fiery tones and bursting with energy, as seen in “De las Mágicas Tradiciones: Toro Fuego II,” his compositions turn monochromatic with gold and silver embellishments, as in “De las Tradiciones: Señor de los Amuletos.” Rojas completed these pieces in 2018, the same year he died. To say his work is rich in symbolism is an understatement. Magic realism fueled his vision, and judging by “El Gran Toro Fuego,” that vision at times erupted like a dream or hallucination. The cool hues and folklore quality of this 1989 piece are particularly reminiscent of Marc Chagall.
Many of the 96 works on display have never been shown in public. They offer a feast of edgy creativity in the form of oil and acrylic paintings, etchings, collages, watercolors, prints, and small sculptures. They are bold and assertive and convey their creators’ drive to leave a mark.
Many of the works currently on view at Cornell Art Museum have never been shown in public. GRETEL SARMIENTO / FLORIDA WEEKLY
Some pieces featuring domestic settings, locals, and the native flora and fauna hold a strong connection to the home country. An example is the work of Benigno Gomez, whose nature-inspired works portray luscious landscapes and virgin ecosystems. The Honduran artist compulsively fills every inch of the heavily textured “Flora with Paloma” with petals, leaves, and stems. The combination of warm colors and organic shapes turns this undated composition into a fleshy living organism. Stare at it long enough, and you’ll see the lines pulsate. Two blue doves navigate the noisy field and meet in the middle, delivering a peaceful moment upon which we can rest our eyes.
Doves were a recurrent motif of Gomez. So was a certain musical quality, which can be perceived in a picturesque depiction of routine chores. Not a dull moment can be found in the action packed “Lavandera,” which documents women washing clothes by the river. Once again, the artist employs the protagonists’ postures (bending down, talking, stretching, and drying up garments) and dense vegetation to construct a dynamic puzzle. The vivid translucent colors appearing on their skirts and bouncing off the water’s surface establish a playful rhythm and harmony.
The comprehensive selection on view includes works that align with less idiosyncratic content and more universal themes.
This sentiment is represented by Armando Morales’ reductive landscapes, “Landscape NY” and “Blue Landscape,” which feature somber colors and simple shapes. We can imagine the chatter triggered by their unveiling in 1968 and 1969. The quiet, desolate scenes are of nowhere and anywhere at once. Nothing about them offers insights into Nicaragua. Another untitled piece by Morales from 1967 shares that anonymous quality and echoes Robert Motherwell’s “Elegy to the Spanish Republic” series. We take the flat colorless shape at the center of the canvas to be the profile of a woman facing a mirror, which takes the form of a silver dish floating above her belly. The figure lacks discernible traits, and the domestic setting is equally mum on context.
Some interpretations are unequivocal in their commitment to indigenous culture and heritage, even as a shiny veneer of European influence coats them.
Such is the case of “La Dama del Maiz” by Guillermo Trujillo, a key figure in Panamanian art. Rendered in pale opaque colors, the 1997 acrylic piece portrays a group of female farmers planted (not standing) on a corn field. Their elongated thin bodies mirror the plant, suggesting a sense of identity deeply rooted in purpose and functionality. Trujillo reproduces the bumpy pattern of kernels on their attire and even grants them the swaying quality shared by tall grass braving the wind. Its demure mood sets this work apart from other pieces with similar national pride, but the work is not alone in exploring our special link with nature.
We find this theme again in a surrealist acrylic work titled “Coucher du Soleil,” which in French means “the setting of the sun.” Enlarged slices of pumpkin are delivered in striking detail –to the point of seeing the white outer layer of the seeds– in this staged production by Salvadoran artist Ernesto San Aviles. As if the picture had been rehearsed, the inverted arches take their spot on a marble windowsill while the seeds sit pretty at the base. The exposed raw orange flesh is left to dry against an anemic sky. There’s something erotically suggestive about it.
Most artists featured in “Central American Modernism” received formal academic training in art or architecture and spent time in Europe, New York City, and Mexico. They devoured lessons imparted by the heavy hitters of Modernism, including Joan Miró, Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, Jose Clemente Orozco, and Diego Rivera. Having received a crash course on Cubism, Expressionism, and Bauhaus –among other modern disciplines– these Central American artists returned home profoundly inspired and ready to spread the word.
One such innovator was Costa Rican artist Francisco Zúñiga, who, at the risk of shocking the nation, produced works of a timid, timeless nature. His bronze relief “Mujer en la Puerta” displays his signature minimalist aesthetic, often incorporating women as observers and nurturers. In this 1971 piece, the main figure stands barefoot in the doorway, draped in a long garment known as a rebozo. Her severe demeanor and guarded pose denote caution. We can deduce she is protective of the younger woman and child who remain inside and appear looking out a small window. Having witnessed his radical simplicity, it comes as no surprise that the work of sculptor Auguste Rodin and German Expressionism informs Zúñiga’s technique.
While enjoying domestic fame, Central American masters like Zúñiga experience international obscurity. Its discordance bestselling author and art collector Mark Ford, who lent the works from his private collection, and Suzanne Brooks Snider, director of Ford Fine Art Gallery, set out to cure with their investigation into the rise of Modernism in the region. The ongoing exhibition owes its existence to a bilingual book they co-authored and released in 2019. If there was any doubt about the vastness of talent contained in Central America, consider that it took Ford and Snider eight years to finish the project. The show takes a reasonable hour.
