Ulrich hosts Mexican art exhibit

"Travels in the Labyrinth: Mexican Art in the Pollak Collection" features works by the leading figures in 20th-century Mexican art, as well as a selection of Mexican folk art. The show opens at the Ulrich Museum of Art Friday, April 26, and runs through Sept. 1.

The show features the works of notable artists such as Diego Rivera and Francisco Zuñiga, creator of the "Three Women Walking" sculpture east of WSU’s Rhatigan Student Center.

The owner of the collection, Harry Pollak, was a longtime Wichita resident and businessman. He now lives most of the year in Florida, but still has business interests and friends here.

"We were eager to do the show to underscore Mexico’s many contributions to the history of modern art, which fits right in with our mission," says David Butler, Ulrich Museum director. "Wichita has a large and growing Hispanic community, and we, through the exhibition, will have an effective way to reach out to that segment of the population. We will be advertising in local Spanish language media, have exhibition labels in both English and Spanish, and are making other efforts to encourage our local Hispanic community to visit the Ulrich and to make them feel welcome when they do come."

The museum plans to have bilingual docents for tour groups.

According to the exhibition catalog, Pollak characterizes his collection as "hard core Mexican painting with Mexican subjects."

The panorama of contemporary Mexican art ranges from retablos from churches throughout Mexico to international styles such as surrealism, expressionism and abstraction. Retablos are devotional paintings offered in fulfillment of a vow to a particular saint.

The image of the Mexican woman is a recurrent motif in Pollak’s collection, according to the catalog. Zuñiga, whose classic concept of a woman as a monumental earth mother of fertilization and silent suffering, is represented by four drawings and three sculptures.

A late addition to the collection is Gabriel Fernández Ledesma’s "Madre e Hija," in which a woman wrapped in a rebozo (a large scarf) gives an emotional caress to a small child in a white dress.

"Niña Campesina," a painting by Máximo Pacheco of a woman carrying a basket, is among the many works in the collection that have been exhibited in Europe.

Other artists who focus on the iconic Mexican woman include Armando Amaya, Miguel Covarrubias and Ricardo Martínez.

There will be a free, opening reception from 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 26. Museum hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and noon-5 p.m. weekends.

- Compiled by Julie Rausch