| The United States and Mexico share a history
that is long and complex. Yet in museums and in the classroom,
an artificial border has generally consigned the art histories
of the two countries to separate books, courses, and exhibitions.
Bridging the Border examined some preliminary points
of comparison between American and Mexican art through works
on paper drawn from the permanent collection of the Davis Museum
and Cultural Center. The prints, drawings, and photographs
ranged
from classic masterworks to forgotten but no less compelling
images. Many had been rarely exhibited and several were recent
acquisitions. Among the artists highlighted in the show were
Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Thomas Hart Benton, Dorothea Lange,
Leopoldo
Méndez, Edward Weston, and Hale Woodruff. Some of the
U.S. artists including Weston and Woodruff, also worked in
Mexico,
providing crucial evidence of cross-cultural exchange.
The show was organized around four broad themes: “The
City,” “Rural Traditions,” “Responses
to European Modernism,” and “Protest and Persuasion.”
These categories highlighted key points of intersection between
artists from the U.S. and Mexico in the first half of the
twentieth century. Each section of the show juxtaposed works
by artists of both countries, at times highlighting similarities
in form and meaning, at times revealing important differences.
This project was made possible by funding
from the Wellesley College Friends of Art, the June Feinberg
Stayman
’48 Fund, Wellesley College Museum Program Fund, and
the Massachusetts Council for the Arts. Cosponsored by the
Art Department.
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