S
E says it was remedies Varo who suggested Leonora Carrington painting on Mexican issues. His world was passing into dreamlike spaces, blue horses, mythological animals, Celtic gods, gigantas and minotaurs.
Except in “The magical world of the Maya”, which was a commission of the Museum of Anthropology, its Mexican connection is not very evident or explicit, nor in the case of her friend and companion Remedios Varo. On the contrary, in the case of Frida its Mexicanity is evident and exultant.
His contact with the Mexicans began in Fiore Café, at Boulevard Saint Germain, in Paris, where surreal artists met and where Renato Leduc went to give, accompanied by Picasso, who introduced Leonora. Then, and after many adventures, Leduc would marry her, to take her to Tlalpan Square and in particular, to the Jalisco canteen, where she used to write, take tequila and consume the famous cod cakes.
Leonora becomes very soon from his parents and of English aristocratic life, to go to Paris, where he linked to the surrealists in their own right. There, you could say, its feminist militancy begins, which will accompany her a lifetime. In Mexico, the poster entitled “Women Consciousness” (1978) would mark an important milestone in feminism, where he plays with black-white dualities; Reconfigura the myth of biblical paradise and integrates Egyptian, Christian and pagan influences.
From that time, the lithography entitled “Domingo” (1978) stands out, which gives rise to thinking about the name of the character or the day it arrives. An intriguing and seductive proposal, which invites you to discover its meaning and its implications. In two planes, interior and exterior; the street and the home, the private and the public; It is present, at the door, a character who projects his sinister shadow inside.
The chieftain, of a hat and Mostacho, called Domingo or its presence, which appears that day, projects all its power, on the home, in a dominant, macho and phallic shadow. His shadow and reflection is introduced into the chicken coop and, in the midst of fright, Mom Gallina remains firm looking at him and projecting, at the same time, a challenging and powerful shadow.
Shadow, gray, feminisms and machismo game found, which serves to celebrate the centenary of surrealism.
