“The problem is not the Colon de Reforma, the problem is still in Building H of the CU”

Speaking of sculpture, the artist says Pedro Reyes, The problem is not getting rid of the memorial to Christopher Columbus at the Paseo de la Reforma, “The real problem is building the H”. The sculptor and the architect refer to the building erected inside University city Changed the visual image of Sculptural space, One of the most famous works of earthly art in the world.

Reyes, who led the defense of the action from the Salvemos el Espacio Escultórico group, is Monumental amine. General dimension of the sculpture, exhibit displays The Museum of Modern Art Until June; Although it cannot be seen due to the pandemic, the online tour is an experience that brings the exhibition together in theaters: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=qzJFqmCYujy

Exposure is not a fact separate from a cause Let’s save the sculpture space, Exactly the opposite; Associated with the defense of this work created in 1979 which is one of the timeline of the exhibition; The other is 1927 when the Free School of Sculpture and Direct Sculpture was established.

The issue of the sculpture space is a live one, and he asserts: “You have to keep talking;

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The archeology is not a chronological sample, nor is it a history of sculpture. It is a selection of “quality” works: more than 400 pieces between StatuesAnd the PicturesAnd the RecordsModels and videos with interviews or tours of the spaces. It is about the works of 100 Mexican and foreign artists.

Sculptural space. The most important work of art on Earth in Mexico.

“The exhibition is about the general dimension, it is not the history of sculpture, it goes to the public, but not only the antiquities. It is not a call to do mega projects, it is a review of quality evidence. Everything there is of quality and quality in terms of the accuracy of the statue’s life in its social context.” Says Pedro Reyes In the interview. He acknowledges that there are omissions and that the show abounds in the transition from photography to abstraction, geometry, land art, and concepts, and that it shines a light on form and plastic.

He regrets that in recent decades sculpture has been excluded from Artistic speeches: “I came from the generation of the 1990s, where they didn’t talk about sculpture, but about composition, about art of manipulation. I fought for it because I have a conceptual career but I’m interested in visual arts and formal solutions.”

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Implemented with the support of a grant from BBVA Foundation, The exhibition is also a tribute to sculptors who barely know each other and who have been little stressed in art history For artists left aside in the transition from photography to abstraction; Refers to little-seen works; For projects that are now missing: O’Gorman’s Cave House, Or the Gucadigose Group project in Villahermosa.

“The exhibition contains constants from pre-Hispanic elements that appear, for example, in the sculptural space that contains references to Monte Albán or Cuicuilco, but it is a 21st century experience. Mexican is both in metaphorical experiences and in what is considered a sculpture in the most classical terms. “.

Engineering includes Gelsen Gas and others

The show contains moments and characters to emphasize: the sculpture space itself; Action Gillis Cabrera And its museum of sculpture. Matthias Goeritz; Friendship Road, the Pedregal with Anahuacalli and its gardens or with the CU Stadium. The videos pay tribute to living creators like Geles and Hersúa, and provide a journey through the spaces the sculpture has created.

When asked about the balance that he achieves in work and the relationship of these women and men to sculpture, Pedro Reyes replied: “There is a kind of epic. I am very interested in knowing the story and prolonging it. The issue of carving in stone and relating to rock is a constant issue from nationalism to the space of sculpture. It is still alive. It is practicing. The aim of the exhibition is to introduce that vocabulary, to inspire this practice to keep alive and not get excited by failed examples; it feeds on examples that have proven to be good. “

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The exhibition begins with what came next Mexican RevolutionBut the tour is open, and each model builds their experience.

“In the nineteenth century the Academy forbade pre-Hispanic sculptures from defining the style of sculptors. Those who The Mexican School They clearly notice this pre-Hispanic sculpture and use it in their solutions. This is interesting in some numbers, like Louis Ortiz Monastery; You can see his transformation: how it begins with pieces like the Monument to Nezahualcóyotl and then moves further into the abstract. distance World War IIPunishment begins to form, and sculpture changes rapidly: from abstract to kinesthetic, it becomes immaterial, and many sculptors are punished.

Exhibit replays, for example, Francisco Zونيñiga (Of Costa Rican descent), whom Reyes considers “better than Rodin”; The Colombian Romulo Rozo, whose sculptures contain figurative elements such as zarpi that becomes an abstract form; And other foreigners, such as Elizabeth Catlett and Kiyoshi Takahashi; For Mexicans, like Federico SilvaAnd the Angela GuriaAnd the Pedro CervantesAnd the Jesus MayagwetiaLuis Barragán, Juan O’Gorman, Manuel Felgeres, among many others.

The works of Manuel Felgraz and Jesيسs Mayaguitia.

How did you get to Gillis Cabrera

In one of the gallery’s videos, Reyes talks to the artist Gillis Cabrera, A 94-year-old woman who is a champion of sculptural history. She was the first woman to professionally sculpt in Mexico: She exhibited her work at the age of 22 at The Mont Orindine Gallery. Not having the support of museums or galleries, he created the Sculpture Museum on Avenue Xicoténcatl, in 1966.

About how he got to Gillis, Pedro said: “I looked for it and there was nothing on the Internet. Nobody ever supported it. We’ve studied Goeritz a lot, but others of this generation are not much, and there are wonderful sculptors: Rosa and Fedencio Castillo a Mardonio Magana. The Geles Cabrera Sculpture is something you fund, and it’s a museum authored like El Eco, an example of public sculpture. “

“What do artists have in common?”

For all of them, art was very important. What makes sculpting good is not the argument. The show is kind of Contraceptive In the sense that the sculptures are defended by their physical properties and their formal idiosyncrasies.

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– These artists were influenced by ancient Mexican sculpture. Did they have a strong relationship with this topic?

Everyone had seen or knew the culture of Mexico very well, and in many different decades, these constants appeared from the past of the ancient civilizations of Mexico, but always with an avant-garde discourse.

Regarding the deletion, Reyes says: “There are omissions. I haven’t put some names that are examples of transgressions or the use of money from the treasury. After the sculpture space there is a lot. Monumental sculpture Bad, but I can’t rate the bad. I tried to show how important it is. “

“One can understand gigantic by size, but there are scales wasted; a monument is not just a statue.”
Pedro Reyes, sculptor and curator

“How do you see the concept of gigantic change?”

One can understand mega by volume, but metrics are wasted; A monument is not just a statue, a monument is a site: the forest can be a public monument. I love statues, people attack them and before decolonization people attacked statues a lot. We do not need monuments to Columbus but one has to distinguish between imperial monuments and Effects of decolonization; Most of the sculptures in Mexico are one with a clear decolonization agenda, for example, the Revolution Memorial, Monument to Nezahualcóyotl, Anahuacalli, and CU Stadium They are monuments that have been decolonized, and have already given birth to a new identity where the modern state is linked to the past of its ancestors, and expresses it in its own language that does not copy it from Europe. Because you see the capital of the United States and want to look like Rome or a classic city.
We are born aesthetic. It is plastic rhetoric as evidence. Sculpture cannot wander with explanations of barriers, and it has to defend itself with evidence of its very existence.

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“What do you think of this call to throw sculptures?”

I don’t think Kowloon is a problem, the real problem is Building H. Because what is being done there is the affirmation of what we can do as a country. Colón has this connotation, but the sculpture space is a unique synthesis of the values ​​that we have, I think you should evaluate the significance of the memorial, if it resonates with your values ​​as a community.

What do you think of the public sculpture account in recent years?

The only artists who have sought to sell projects to the government are not necessarily the best. It is a problem that deserves analysis beyond the purpose of the exhibition. My motto is limited to memorizing these things and not necessarily an issue that I address.