Hi Natalia,
It would be better to post this on the “badge” page: as your submission to the final badge.
Your comments on the forum are much appreciated as is your involvement with the course.
I’d be grateful for any feedback.
Thank you so much for uploading my forum participation to those forums I could not access.
I am copying and pasting my book review:
BOOK REVIEW: MÓNICA MAYER’S SI TIENE DUDAS…PREGUNTE
Author: Mónica Mayer, ed.
First edition: 2016
Printing house: MUAC, UNAM, Editorial RM.
Beginning to find out about feminist art in Mexico is achievable now, thanks to Mónica Mayer’s 2016 retrospective exhibition of her work at the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo [University Museum of Contemporary Art] of the UNAM. A regular retrospective exhibition focuses on the most relevant pieces produced by the artist; however, loyal to her feminist trajectory, Mayer placed her bet for a ‘retro-collective’ exposition, instead of a retrospective one. What made this exhibition so different is that her artistic practice helped her gather one of the most significant collections of feminist art in Mexico. Her artistic production is already, often, a co-creation, as she creates with other artists in collective groups. More importantly, one of her most significant achievements was putting together the biggest archive of feminist artworks in Mexico. To promote other women involved in her art, she took advantage of being a primary source –as she calls herself, being among the first Mexican that declared being feminist artists. The catalogue of the exhibition is, hence, an authentically retro-collective book that provides a general panorama of the Mexican feminist art’s status quo.
In the first instance, the book offers a chronology of Mexican feminist art. Due to the lack of support that women have had in the artistic sphere, the early feminist artists worked in groups; however, these groups often collaborated, which means that seeing Mónica Mayer’s art means seeing at others’ art. The first three feminist groups were Polvo de Gallina Negra [Black Chicken Dust, and ingredient to protect against dark magic], Tlacuilas y Retrateras [tlacuilos were the Aztec artists and retrateras is the feminine for portrait makers] and Bio-Arte. They worked together in art installations and events such as La fiesta de los XV años [The Quinceañera Party] to questioned the Mexican patriarchal society. Since Mayer shared in her exhibition and her book many materials she had in her archive, it is a historical document.
Like a mosaic, it brings to the table, several topics present in Mexican feminist art. It is a book that discusses the leading feminist ideas. So, in the second instance, the book gathers the views of crucial characters related to feminist art. From Latin America, she invited the art critics Sol Henaro, Karen Cordero Reiman (curator and researcher of Mayer’s exhibition), Andrea Giunta, MarÃa Laura Rosa and Pablo Helguera. They discussed how the motto ‘the personal is political’ was incorporated into Mexican activism and what it meant for women in this country. The authors highlighted the violence that women are subjected to in Mexico. It was unavoidable, considering that Mayer’s most famous work is The Clothesline, an installation of a clothesline that women used to denounce violence by hanging cards with their stories on it. It offered a recount of the feminist pedagogy taught through Mexican feminist art.
Finally, the book includes international authors such as Griselda Pollock, Amelia Jones and Erin McCutcheon. McCutcheon offers brief explanations of Mayer’s artworks; her short texts are an excellent introduction to Mónica Mayer’s art. Meanwhile, Pollock, who supervised McCutcheon’s thesis on Mexican feminist art, discusses the relevance of feminist art for a country such as Mexico. The format of Jones’ contribution is different as what is published are the letters exchanged between her and Mayer; therefore, it is possible to appreciate Jones curiosity for her work. Jones is also surprised by the lack of documentation of Mexican feminist art and recognises the importance of the archives built by feminists.
Finally, the book has another advantage that has been present in Mayer’s career. Mónica Mayer studied her Master’s in the USA; she went to the Woman’s Building and got in touch with some of the most famous feminist artists (Suzanne Lacy and Judy Chicago, for example). For her thesis, she organised a dialogue between Mexican artists and American artists. Later on, in her workshops, she read with her students their work. It makes sense that the book is in both English and Spanish. It is fair to say that Mayer’s book joins ‘retro-collectively’ the experience of feminist art in Mexico; it is also one of the most important historical documents on the matter.
Hi Natalia,
It would be better to post this on the “badge” page: as your submission to the final badge.
Your comments on the forum are much appreciated as is your involvement with the course.
I’d be grateful for any feedback.
Hello,
Thank you so much for uploading my forum participation to those forums I could not access.
I am copying and pasting my book review:
BOOK REVIEW: MÓNICA MAYER’S SI TIENE DUDAS…PREGUNTE
Author: Mónica Mayer, ed.
First edition: 2016
Printing house: MUAC, UNAM, Editorial RM.
Beginning to find out about feminist art in Mexico is achievable now, thanks to Mónica Mayer’s 2016 retrospective exhibition of her work at the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo [University Museum of Contemporary Art] of the UNAM. A regular retrospective exhibition focuses on the most relevant pieces produced by the artist; however, loyal to her feminist trajectory, Mayer placed her bet for a ‘retro-collective’ exposition, instead of a retrospective one. What made this exhibition so different is that her artistic practice helped her gather one of the most significant collections of feminist art in Mexico. Her artistic production is already, often, a co-creation, as she creates with other artists in collective groups. More importantly, one of her most significant achievements was putting together the biggest archive of feminist artworks in Mexico. To promote other women involved in her art, she took advantage of being a primary source –as she calls herself, being among the first Mexican that declared being feminist artists. The catalogue of the exhibition is, hence, an authentically retro-collective book that provides a general panorama of the Mexican feminist art’s status quo.
In the first instance, the book offers a chronology of Mexican feminist art. Due to the lack of support that women have had in the artistic sphere, the early feminist artists worked in groups; however, these groups often collaborated, which means that seeing Mónica Mayer’s art means seeing at others’ art. The first three feminist groups were Polvo de Gallina Negra [Black Chicken Dust, and ingredient to protect against dark magic], Tlacuilas y Retrateras [tlacuilos were the Aztec artists and retrateras is the feminine for portrait makers] and Bio-Arte. They worked together in art installations and events such as La fiesta de los XV años [The Quinceañera Party] to questioned the Mexican patriarchal society. Since Mayer shared in her exhibition and her book many materials she had in her archive, it is a historical document.
Like a mosaic, it brings to the table, several topics present in Mexican feminist art. It is a book that discusses the leading feminist ideas. So, in the second instance, the book gathers the views of crucial characters related to feminist art. From Latin America, she invited the art critics Sol Henaro, Karen Cordero Reiman (curator and researcher of Mayer’s exhibition), Andrea Giunta, MarÃa Laura Rosa and Pablo Helguera. They discussed how the motto ‘the personal is political’ was incorporated into Mexican activism and what it meant for women in this country. The authors highlighted the violence that women are subjected to in Mexico. It was unavoidable, considering that Mayer’s most famous work is The Clothesline, an installation of a clothesline that women used to denounce violence by hanging cards with their stories on it. It offered a recount of the feminist pedagogy taught through Mexican feminist art.
Finally, the book includes international authors such as Griselda Pollock, Amelia Jones and Erin McCutcheon. McCutcheon offers brief explanations of Mayer’s artworks; her short texts are an excellent introduction to Mónica Mayer’s art. Meanwhile, Pollock, who supervised McCutcheon’s thesis on Mexican feminist art, discusses the relevance of feminist art for a country such as Mexico. The format of Jones’ contribution is different as what is published are the letters exchanged between her and Mayer; therefore, it is possible to appreciate Jones curiosity for her work. Jones is also surprised by the lack of documentation of Mexican feminist art and recognises the importance of the archives built by feminists.
Finally, the book has another advantage that has been present in Mayer’s career. Mónica Mayer studied her Master’s in the USA; she went to the Woman’s Building and got in touch with some of the most famous feminist artists (Suzanne Lacy and Judy Chicago, for example). For her thesis, she organised a dialogue between Mexican artists and American artists. Later on, in her workshops, she read with her students their work. It makes sense that the book is in both English and Spanish. It is fair to say that Mayer’s book joins ‘retro-collectively’ the experience of feminist art in Mexico; it is also one of the most important historical documents on the matter.