This lecture will explore, analyze and contextualize the diverse conceptions of modernism and modernity in the work of the Mexican painter Diego Rivera (1886-1957). It will examine the stylistic, iconographic and conceptual changes in his early work in Mexico, during his extended stay in Europe between 1907 and 1921, and their relationship to his development of a distinct proposal for Mexican muralism upon his return to his homeland, as well as the creative dialogue of his production with diverse social and political circumstances.
Diego Rivera (Guanajuato, Mexico, 1886-Mexico City, Mexico, 1957), Detail of Paisaje zapatista (Zapatista Landscape), 1915, oil on canvas. Museo Nacional de Arte, INBAL, Mexico City.
Karen Cordero Reiman is a U.S. born art historian, curator and writer based in Mexico City. She is the author of numerous publications in her areas of specialization: twentieth and twenty-first century Mexican art; the relationship between the so-called “fine arts” and the so-called “popular arts” in Mexico; the historiography of Mexican art; body, gender and sexual identity in Mexican art; and museological and curatorial discourses in Mexico. In addition she has had a continuous participation in museums as curator, advisor and researcher both in Mexico and abroad. Currently she works as an independent researcher and curator, as well as on personal creative projects that relate art, literature and history. Her most recent publications are: “Intervenciones suaves: complicidades entre arte y medios textiles” in Ana Paula Simioni, ed., Transbordar: transgressões do bordado na arte. São Paulo, Brazil, SESC, 2020; Anita Brenner: Luz de la modernidad (with Pablo Ortiz Monasterio), Mexico: Museo Nacional de Arte and Arte&Cultura Grupo Salinas, 2020, and her most recent curatorial projects are: Anita Brenner. Luz de la modernidad (Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City, 2020); We Draw the Line: Works on War, Memory and Affection. Mónica Mayer and Víctor Lerma. (London, Chalton Gallery, 2019).
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