Mexican Modern Day Sculpture

These years Mexico’s Modern Day Sculpture is a coming together of the Old Mexican World with new world perception. Mexico went through a radical transformation between 1920 and 1940 due to the end of the revolution. The end of the revolution brought unleashed energy of transformation that was unparalleled. It brought excitement and creativity to the artists and the intellectuals, as new identities, personal and cultural were being formed. New manifestos and ideologies popped up daily.

Old San Carlos Academy, now known as the “Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes,” was one of the casualties of the New Mexican Spirit. The academy was wedged in European roots and Mexico had no desire for its romantic, schmaltzy or typical religious traditions. Mexico sought after its own authentic voice. Mexican artists desired modern day sculpture that would have continuity between Mexico’s pre-Columbian past and the Mexico of their day. They found a home in the Muralist movement and in a redefining of the sculptor’s aesthetic.

At the academy, the ideals of the sculptors as well as the painters had lost their credibility. They had a new vision which was to reconnect with their pre-Historic past, in this case with the sculpture of the period even though some of the “new age” sculptors were also finding their own voice.

Famous sculptures Rivera and Siqueiros, influential voices of the time, spoke out for direct carving so as to work the way their pre-Hispanic ancestors had done while the new generation of sculptors wanted to cut directly into the material.

The rising generation of sculptors discovered the work of the ancient civilizations and studied it looking into the alter pieces and carved work on the exterior of churches that were created during the vice-regal period. Still, they would not leave the European based training they had been given. They were taught to be accomplished draftsmen. They were also taught proportion, scale and the power of the monumental or the turgid.

Mexico’s modern day sculptors looked to the passed for inspiration and to their European knowledge. The challenge was to recognize the diverse face of the Mexican culture and the racial blending of Europe and the new world and unite it with the new materials- cardboard, wood, stone and bronze. The combination of their Mexican inspiration and their European knowledge have greatly contributed to Mexico’s Modern Day Sculpture.

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