When: Thu., Sept. 13, 6-8 p.m. and Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Continues through Nov. 3 2018
Simultaneously honoring age-old traditions and celebrating forward-thinking concepts, Ruiz-Healy Art’s fall group show assembles works by 11 artists who — as the overarching heading suggests — were, in one way or another, “Made in Mexico.” While that title might conjure irrelevant stereotypes, Trumpian tariffs and consumable imports like avocados and tequila, it’s quietly designed to challenge viewers to contemplate both “the long history of cultural cross-pollination between the USA and Mexico” and “the interchange between traditional art-making and contemporary art practices of the selected artists.” Organized in observance of San Antonio’s Tricentennial, the exhibition echoes certain Alamo City hallmarks — including variations on folk-art aesthetics and a fine-art interpretation of papel picado — but more loudly celebrates the vast, vibrant and ever-evolving visual vocabulary of Mexico. Bouncing from magical realism and surrealism to bare-bones realism and beyond, the wide-ranging collection covers a lot of stylistic ground, including the gritty, mysterious, everyday moments captured by iconic photographer Graciela Iturbide; the pensive, black-and-white work of Carlos Amorales; the conceptual landscapes of Luis Gal; and the fantastical, geometric psychedelia of Pedro Friedberg. As all 11 artists have been part of the Ruiz-Healy Art family since the gallery’s formation in 2006, director and owner Patricia Ruiz-Healy considers the show “in many ways a look back at the roots of the gallery program.”