Young painting returns with force

38 artists selected for Artemergente Monterrey National Biennial 06

"The jury highlights the high technical level of the 58 pieces selected for the exhibition."

After the downturn it suffered at the end of the 90s and the beginning of the new millennium, replaced by the boom in installations, painting returns and with great force.
At least that's what the selection for the Artemergente Biennial Nacional Monterrey 06 seems to suggest, as the quality of the work of the participants who work with this technique stands out.
"We're realizing that there is a school of painting. We're seeing good art in Mexico, as there always has been," commented Jesús Drexel, local artist and member of the jury, referring to the high technical level the jury members encountered.
Along with Drexel, this edition of the exhibition, formerly known as the Regional Biennial of Young Plastic Arts, featured Guillermo Santamarina, director of the Museo Experimental El Eco, and Sylvia Navarrete, curator of the Museo Carrillo Gil in Mexico City.
“There's a growing interest in painting throughout the country, and it's what's being revived. There was a period of several years in which there was a lot of installation work that many critics called 'trash art,' and those projects didn't really have any solidity,” said the gallery owner.
“At international fairs, you see that painting is making a comeback, and it's making a strong comeback, and in Mexico it's already been making a comeback for several years,” said the local gallery owner.
The techniques used in this edition range from traditional painting to more contemporary offerings, such as cardboard pieces, cigar boxes, and even offset (metal plate) used to print images.
The first biennial, which began in 1994, changed its name for this edition to expand its reach nationwide and raise the level of competition.
Drexel was drawn to the materials used, many of them recyclable, such as simple pieces of cardboard, cigar boxes, and even offset (metal plate) used to reproduce images.
For this edition of the biennial, 563 artists from across the country, between the ages of 18 and 38, participated. However, 38 remained with 58 selected works. Among them, the three acquisition prizes of 50,000 pesos each will compete. They will also be included in the archive of Nuevo León's artistic heritage.
Local artists Alejandra Quintanilla, Jésica López, and David de la Cruz; Javier Jiménez (EMILIO JIMONE), Jimena Schlaepfer, Andrea Martínez, and Balam Bartolomé from the capital; Gustavo Villegas from Querétaro; José Arturo Ramos from Zacatecas; and Dulce Pinzón from Puebla, among others, are among those selected, who also worked with photography, sculpture, and video.
The exhibition is presented by the Casa de la Cultura, the organizing institution along with Conarte, which will announce its winners today at 8:30 p.m. The exhibition will remain open until February 18, 2007, at the space located at 400 Colón Street, in downtown Monterrey. Free admission.

Photograph: "To Be... or Not? From the 5th to the 25th," by Gustavo Villegas, is one of the works selected for the biennial that opens today at the Casa de la Cultura.

Photography, El Norte Newspaper, Life Section, Page 3, Young painting returns with force.