Rare Exhibition of Latin American Master, Rufino Tamayo, Makes U.S. Debut at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, February 17 †May 27, 2007
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Rare Exhibition of Latin American Master, Rufino Tamayo, Makes U.S. Debut at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, February 17 – May 27, 2007
Largest exhibition in decades explores and reinterprets Rufino Tamayo’s life and work as one of the most renowned artists of the 20th century.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The first major U.S. exhibition in nearly three decades of the works of acclaimed Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991), Tamayo: A Modern Icon Reinterpreted will make its U.S. debut at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA), its lead organizer, February 17 through May 27, 2007.
The first large-scale examination of Tamayo’s oeuvre outside of Mexico in 27 years, this exhibition of 100 extraordinary paintings and portable murals seeks not only to present a comprehensive look at some of Tamayo’s finest works, but also to offer a contemporary reinterpretation of his complex role and reputation in 20th century art—from internationally-admired modernist icon to polarizing figure in certain Mexican intellectual and political circles. In its exploration of the many facets of Tamayo, the exhibition offers a new reading on his accomplishments and influence.
Tamayo: A Modern Icon Reinterpreted comprises Tamayo’s most significant paintings and portable murals created during his prolific seven decade career in Mexico City, New York and Paris. It presents works from his early, middle and late periods, spanning the 1920s to the 1980s. The largest section of the exhibition profiles the most notable period of Tamayo’s career, the 1940s and 1950s, when he developed a new form of abstract figuration that made him one of the most recognized and respected modern painters.
A comprehensive view of the artist’s achievements, influences and innovations, Tamayo: A Modern Icon Reinterpreted offers viewers a window onto the artist’s many geographic and creative trajectories—tracing Tamayo’s artistic evolution from the earliest paintings he made, impressionistic landscapes and Picasso-esque portraits, to his last works, meditations on his own mortality. The exemplary paintings on view conjure familiar images of Mexico—its colors, textures and centuries of indigenous and hybrid culture—that demonstrate Tamayo’s emphasis on the aesthetic and philosophically symbolic aspects of art, rather than its narrative potential for conveying powerful messages about radical social change (favored by his peers José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros). At the same time, they highlight the contradictions of Tamayo’s life and art.
Tamayo: A Modern Icon Reinterpreted seeks to fully address Tamayo’s significant contributions, as well as the controversies of his remarkable career.
Tamayo: A Modern Icon Reinterpreted is organized by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in collaboration with the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, through the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico, and the Fundación Olga y Rufino Tamayo, AC. It is curated by Diana C. du Pont, SBMA Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art, with Juan Carlos Pereda, Curator at the Museo Tamayo.
The international exhibition opens in fall 2006 at the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, in celebration of that institution’s 25th anniversary. It premieres in the United States in winter 2007 at the lead organizing institution, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. The exhibition completes its tour at the Miami Art Museum in spring 2007.
A fully-illustrated exhibition catalogue published by the SBMA in association with Turner Libros, Mexico City, and including essays by leading scholars and curators from both the United States and Mexico, will accompany the exhibition.
Tamayo: A Modern Icon Reinterpreted and the publication have been made possible through the generous support of Larry and Astrid Hammett, Houston and Anne Harte, Jon B. and Lillian Lovelace, Eli and Leatrice Luria, Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, The Challenge Fund, The Cheeryble Foundation, The Grace Jones Richardson Trust, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Exhibition itinerary:
Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, September 28, 2006 – January 7, 2007
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, February 17 – May 27, 2007
Miami Art Museum, June 21 – September 16, 2007
About the Museum
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is a leader in the collection, presentation and interpretation of Latin American art.
Tamayo: A Modern Icon Reinterpreted emerges from and builds on the Museum’s strength in Latin American art. The SBMA’s focus on Latin American art reflects the history and diversity of Santa Barbara and is firmly established as one of the institution’s principal modern and contemporary collecting areas.
In its more than 60-year history, SBMA has presented more than 40 exhibitions of Latin American art. Over the last decade, it has presented a particularly active program in this area and has enhanced the Museum’s collection with major acquisitions by artists from Mexico, Central and South America.
Tamayo: A Modern Icon Reinterpreted continues the Museum’s commitment to organizing major monographic or focused thematic exhibitions of Latin American art. Moving beyond the survey format, which in the U.S. is the standard mode of presenting this material, this more in-depth approach is intended to better acquaint audiences with the contributions of Latin American artists to international modern and contemporary art.
SBMA is a privately funded, not-for-profit institution that provides internationally recognized collections and exhibitions and a broad array of cultural and educational activities as well as travel opportunities around the world.
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is located at 1130 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA. Museum hours are Tuesday - Sunday 11 am to 5 pm. Docent-led tours of the special exhibitions are held daily at noon; docent tours of the permanent collection are offered daily at 1 pm. 805-963-4364. www.sbma.net.