The exhibition features works by Mexican and Cuban artists

A collective exhibition pays tribute to Alejo Carpentier
Structured in four themes: nature, architecture, music and the “wonderful real”, the exhibition brings together works by Mexican and Cuban artists

Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980), writer, journalist, musicologist and cultural manager, is one of the greatest exponents of culture in Latin America. He distanced himself from the predominant trends of his time to rethink the aesthetics of Latin America, offering a reflection on ancestral history, rites, traditions and customs, where diverse cultures are amalgamated into expressions that are genuinely representative of our identity.

This was expressed by Cecilia Santa Cruz, director of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana (SPM), a venue of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL), on the occasion of the inauguration of the collective exhibition Constellations of Latin America. Tribute to Alejo Carpentier, carried out in collaboration with the Cuban Embassy in Mexico, structured in 4 themes: nature, architecture, music and the “wonderful real”, the exhibition brings together works by Mexican and Cuban artists
Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980), writer, journalist, musicologist and cultural manager, is one of the greatest exponents of culture in Latin America. He moved away from the predominant trends of his time to rethink the aesthetics of Latin America, offering a reflection on ancestral history, rites, traditions and customs, where diverse cultures are amalgamated into genuinely representative expressions of our identity.
This was expressed by Cecilia Santa Cruz, director of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana (SPM), a venue of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL), on the occasion of the inauguration of the collective exhibition Constelaciones de lo latinoamericano. Tribute to Alejo Carpentier, carried out in collaboration with the Cuban Embassy in Mexico, structured around four main themes: nature, architecture, music and the “wonderful real”.

The exhibition features artists from the SPM and Cuban creators, curated by Samuel Hernández Dominicis, and is part of the activities for the 75th anniversary of the venue. Among the Mexican artists are: Hermenegildo Sosa, Mauricio Vega, Aida Petit Jean, Alicia Morales, Luz María Pizá and Rafael Merino, while from Cuba the following artists participate: Fayad Jamís, Ernesto González Puig, Luis Miguel Valdés, Enrique Martínez, Alfredo Sosabravo, Rafael San Juan, José Omar Torres, Ricardo Silveira Miró and Lesbia Vent Dumois.
This exhibition, said Cecilia Santa Cruz, “is an expression of the Latin American scene that shows reality through various forms of expression in daily life, in its artistic and literary manifestations, in the richness of forms, landscape and architecture, the result of various manifestations of the native peoples, African Americans and the cultures implanted by the old continent.”
She added that, today more than ever, the union of efforts will allow to strengthen the cultural ties between the different nations to consolidate our social, artistic and cultural values, paying tribute to one of the most influential personalities of the 20th century, Alejo Carpentier, an essential figure of literary renewal for his tireless work to unite the peoples under a Latin American identity.
For her part, Norma Rodríguez, cultural counselor of the Cuban Embassy in Mexico, stressed Carpentier's deeply Latin American consciousness, and Mexico plays an important role in that, because in several of his texts he declares that his first trip to this country had a capital meaning in his life.
“When he met Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, he was impressed by a new way of painting, especially by Diego, who greatly influenced him, as did Alfonso Reyes. That is in many of his writings, and in Mexico, he published several of the first editions of his great novels. He always had an enriching relationship with this country,” added the diplomat.
The prose of Alejo Carpentier, author of major works such as The Century of Lights, transcended for his notion of the “wonderful real,” which influenced writers such as Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar, among others.
The exhibition Constellations of the Latin American. Tribute to Alejo Carpentier can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, located at Colima 196, Colonia Roma Norte, Cuauhtémoc, CDMX.
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