Image from Under the Mexican Sky: Gabriel Figueroa- Art and Film
From LACMA:
From the early 1930s through the early 1980s, the Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa (1907–1997) helped forge an evocative and enduring image of Mexico. Among the most important cinematographers of the so-called Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, Figueroa worked with leading directors from Mexico, the United States and Europe, traversing a wide range of genres while maintaining his distinctive and vivid visual style. In the 1930s, Figueroa was part of a vibrant community of artists in many media, including Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, Edward Weston and Manuel Alvarez Bravo, who sought to convey the country’s transformation following the trauma of the Mexican Revolution. Later, he adapted his approach to the very different sensibilities of directors Luis Buñuel and John Huston, among others. Figueroa spoke of creating una imágen mexicana. His films are an essential part of the network of appropriations, exchanges and reinterpretations that formed Mexican visual identity and visual culture in the mid-twentieth century and beyond.
The moment you enter the exhibition, a montage of Gabriel Figueroa’s films plays on one wall to your right and it’s hard not to remain transfixed. As you move throughout the show, the history of his work begins to unfold through film clips, movie posters and stills, and artwork created at the time.
This excellently curated show includes not only large and small screen selections of Figueroa’s films, but also films shot in Mexico by Paul Strand and Sergei Eisenstein, and current artwork that was influenced by him. Of the contemporary art chosen, Rodrigo Garcia’s short film, La 7th Street y Alvarado is especially mesmerizing with its slow motion vision of Hispanic revolutionaries riding horses through present day Los Angeles.
There’s so much to see in this exhibition, yet it never feels overwhelming. That said, make sure to allocate a decent amount of time, especially if you want to see the majority of the film clips. This show closes on Sunday 2/2.