Descending into Chilangolandia

Another view

Covarrubias and Orozco in New York

July 16—The Fabulous 20’s: Orozco and Covarrubias in New York at El Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil.
Great topic, whacked curation, interesting work. Miguel Covarrubias and Jose Clemente Orozco both hung out in New York during the 1920’s and 30’s. Both received government funding. A young Covarrubias arrived at 19 in 1923 and Orozco, 44, arrived for the second time in his life in ‘27. Covarrubias had great success in the commercial realm as an illustrator/caricaturist landing jobs in popular magazines such as Vanity Fair. Orozco had a tougher time with the burgeoning gallery scene but did finally land commissions for murals not in NY, but at Dartmouth College in California. The show contained little text and biographical information about the artists. Instead it included reproductions of images and headlines from magazines and newspapers as an attempt to contextualize the work. Images such as the KKK burning crosses and blacks bodies hanging from trees were obvious and inflammatory images doing little to provide viewers with an understanding of the complexity of Racism especially in New York and it’s manifestations in the world of culture and music. Overlooking these poor curatorial choices, the real pleasure of the show lay in the images themselves. It included very little work by Orozco (probably due to the lack of work from this time period in the museum’s collection) and felt more like a Covarrubias solo show. (Over a dozen drawings were on loan from Mexican writer/cultural critic, Carlos Monsivais) Although their work diverges in many ways they both took an interest in Black America. Covarrubias drawings, simple playful, quick energetic lines that dance celebrated the dynamic, vibrant cultural life of Harlem. Images of dancers, musicians, and ballroom scenes abound. I’m surprised Covarrubias hasn’t gotten the flack that’s been generated around Memin Penguin with his exaggerated, big hipped black skinned, over exaggerated smiles and rear ends caricatures.

Descending into Chilangolandia

June 2005