San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts

• Home
• About us
• Exhibits
• Events
• Education
• Collections
• The Building
• Support
• National Ceramic
  Competition
• Museum in
  the Media
• Electronic Newsletter
• West Texas
  Triangle
• Green Scene

Seven Worlds:
Veracruz Ceramics

The exhibition, Seven Worlds: Veracruz Ceramics, comes to us from Mexico and presents the work of fifteen artists who currently live and work in the state of Veracruz. Mexico has had a long ceramic tradition of outstanding quality, produced continuously from the first inhabitants down to the present. The ancient cultures and ceramic tradition, as well perhaps, as the landscape itself have all contributed to the fact that a large group of ceramists has moved to this state. Artists in this region cluster in two specific geographic zones, the port city of Veracruz and the city of Xalpa. Veracruz, situated as it is on the ocean, is a place of beaches and endless horizon. The inland city of Xalpa in contrast is a place of isolation with exuberant vegetation, lush landscapes and gardens.

From an introduction to the exhibit, the curators write:

"Some of the most solid artists in the world, those who have not renounced experimentation and growth, are shifting to ceramics, which is not merely a material, but a way of life in itself. Since time immemorial, notable ceramists have existed from East to West, just as discussions or debate between sculptors and ceramists. Nowadays, this debate has lost relevance because ceramics, far from limiting, has shown itself to be a generous material to whoever works it.

In this universe of Veracruz ceramics, "seven" of the many possible worlds are given a privileged place: Seven days of the week, seven the Biblical lapse of creation, seven musical notes, seven worlds that are: sculpture, utilitarian items, miniatures, installation, relief, collaborative works, and objects. They are not strictly delimited areas; they are not mere conceptual categories; they are worlds of ceramics and they are worlds of the maker."

The fifteen artists whose work appears in the exhibit are: Leonor Anaya, Alfonso Ávila, Joel Bautista Rojo, Margarita Cházaro, Constantino Méndez, Artemio Mendoza, Elsa Naveda, Gustavo Pérez, Marta Ovalle, Tomás Owen, Maite Rodríguez, Viviana Romo, Rocio Sagaón, Valentina Sandoval and Georges Vinaver. The exhibit was curated by Graciela Kartofel, Ida Rodríguez Prampolini and Paloma Torres. The exhibit was funded through the State Fund for Culture and the Arts of Veracruz.

The sponsor for bringing the show to San Angelo is Darlene Williams.