Visual art is a language that crosses other boundaries. During my anatomical drawing class, I sketched many of my peers. The representation of themselves was impactful. By drawing their portraits in a realistic way, I was showing them how I saw their beauty, by valuing the details of their face that made them individuals. As the class progressed, some of my peers in that class became really good friends to me. It did not matter that I was completely unable to understand the dramatic icebreaker game we were playing on the first day of class, or took extra time to understand each assignment, and that I couldn’t really join in on many casual conversations. My visual language was stronger than my spoken one.

I found that typography was its own language inside of visual art. That class was the easiest for me to understand by far. Even though we were studying brands and advertising in Spanish, I was able to understand what the type was communicating to the same degree as any of my Spanish speaking peers. I was fascinated to discover that serifs often give an elegant and classic look, while san serifs are more modern and sleek. These basic facts about fonts translate to whatever written language is using the font. I found that incredible. Although my professor may not have been able to understand my portrait zine that had captions in English, I am sure the handwritten statements communicated to him that it was a deeply personal work.

The fact that my work was based around art is what allowed me to be successful during my study abroad semester. I did improve on my Spanish speaking, and toward the end of the semester I was able to communicate in Spanish in a way that I had never expected to be able to. But I also came to understand that learning a language by immersion is one of the most difficult endeavors one can pursue in their adult lives, and it requires a high level of gentleness toward the self, and the ability to forgive oneself for the inevitable mistakes one makes.  As I struggled to make my voice heard in a language that was foreign to me, art stayed by my side as a constant reminder that I will always be able to express myself visually.

In Mexico city, we saw first the History of Mexico in the stairway of the National Palace. This mural and the others in the upper level hallway show in depth both the violence and national pride of Mexico in a really raw way. Rivera depicts both slavery and the accomplishments of the Mexican indigenous people. The size of this mural is important, and seeing it in person was much different than seeing it online when I originally learned about it. The mural is larger than life and is overwhelming, much like the complex history of Mexico.

To complement the murals of Diego Rivera, we next went to the Blue House of Frida Kahlo. It was pretty unreal seeing where she worked, lived and suffered. Looking at  some of her unfinished work and her lesser-known work reminded me of how technically (as in classical technique) talented she is. It was also very moving to see photographs of her I had never seen before.

It is interesting to consider how internationally renowned Kahlo is, which I think she is much deserving of. However I began to wonder if we celebrate her at the expense of  other Mexican female surrealists.

Next, we saw the Templo Mayor, the Aztec temple that was buried by the Spanish. It has been uncovered in the middle of Mexico city and is juxtaposed with the church that is right next to it. The Museum for the Temple is like a monument itself, it is really well designed and has countless incredible pre-cortesian artifacts. My favorite artifact was the Coyolxauhqui disc. It is truly awe-inspiring and I  spent a long time looking at it.

At the Museo Nacional de Arte both me and my mom were really impressed by an exhibit about Carlos Mérida. He was a prolific artist who celebrated Latin American culture and also innovated abstract art. His is some of my favorite abstract art I have ever seen, and I think it’s really disappointing he is not included in the general art history canon that I was educated in.

While in Puebla we had to go shopping for some of the traditional pottery called Talavera. It is unique in that the designs are often three dimensional, and the paint is very strong. Mom bought four bowls in this style.

We saw much more art than this but these were a few highlights! I hope that I can continue to learn about Mexico’s artistic legacy while making some of my own art soon.

¡Hasta Luego!