Mexican Photography Exhibition to Open in Chicago

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAY 5, 2003

Contact: Daniel Billingsley
(816) 421-1388 Ext.201

Mexican Photography Exhibition to Open in Chicago

Kansas City, Missouri--El ojo fino/The Exquisite Eye, a photography exhibition toured by ExhibitsUSA and made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, begins its national tour at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago. Opening May 23rd, the exhibition celebrates the works of nine distinguished Mexican women photographers who were friends, acquaintances, and colleagues over three generations. The exhibition runs through October 5th.

With works by Lola Álvarez Bravo, Kati Horna, Mariana Yampolsky, Graciela Iturbide, Flor Garduño, Yolanda Andrade, Alicia Ahumada, Ángeles Torrejón, and Maya Goded, El ojo fino/The Exquisite Eye features images of Mexico and her people, confronting viewers with the essential stuff of life.

Each photographer, with her camera and "exquisite eye," reveals a finely tuned way of seeing the truths and enigmas of her beloved Mexico. Some artists share the urban landscapes of Mexico City, while others offer rural visions of the countryside and small towns. Working primarily in black and white, their documentary photographs, portraits, and staged scenes are unique and provocative. These photographers show great respect for their subjects who represent the socially, politically, and culturally diverse populations of Mexico.

This exhibition was organized by Connie Todd, curator of the Wittliff Gallery of Southwestern and Mexican Photography, Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos.

In addition to the tour, a 40-page bilingual catalogue produced by ExhibitsUSA accompanies the exhibition. The catalogue features essays by curator Connie Todd and Elena Poniatowska, author and winner of Mexico's most distinguished national literary award.

Like the catalogue, the exhibition will include bilingual text panels discussing the three generations of photographers and biographies of each artist. Each venue will also receive an extensive programming guide plus related education materials. Special funding for education programming, made possible through the National Endowment for the Arts grant, will enable two venues to develop artist residency programs and will allow other venues to schedule speakers during the exhibition's presentation at their site.

El ojo fino/ The Exquisite Eye will tour through April 2006. After its run at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, it travels to California State University-Dominguez Hills in Carson; the Sheldon Fine Arts Center in St. Louis; El Museo Latino in Omaha, the Bell County Museum in Belton, Texas; the Sidney Mishkin Gallery in New York City; the Salt Lake City Public Library; the Flint Institute of Arts in Flint, Michigan; the Milton Hershey School Art Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania; and the William D. Cannon Art Gallery in Carlsbad, California. .

El ojo fino/The Exquisite Eye is toured by ExhibitsUSA, a national museum service division of Mid-America Arts Alliance. ExhibitsUSA was founded in 1988 to create access to an array of arts and humanities exhibitions, nurture the development and understanding of diverse art forms and cultures, and encourage the expanding depth and breadth of cultural life in local communities. Over the past 14 years, more than 14 million visitors in 800 communities in all 50 states and abroad have viewed an ExhibitsUSA exhibition. .

Mid-America Arts Alliance, founded in 1972, is a nonprofit regional arts organization based in Kansas City, Missouri. It is governed by a board of directors drawn from its partner states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. Major support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, participant state arts agencies, and leading foundations and corporations. For further information, visit the Mid-America Arts Alliance Web site at www.maaa.org or contact Daniel Billingsley at (816) 421-1388.