Elmhurst art show has Mexican roots
Bert Cohn
Published: October 23, 2012
“Under Mexican Light,” an exhibition featuring the art of five collaborating Chicago printmakers who share the influence of the Mexican printmaking tradition opens October 30 in the Elmhurst Artists’ Guild Gallery, located at the Elmhurst Art Museum, 150 Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst, Illinois. Prints by José Andreu, René Arceo, Catherine Cajandig, Dolores Mercado and BettyAnn Mocek are included in the show.
An artists’ reception from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, November 9, is an opportunity to meet the artists and view their work. The reception in the Gallery is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
More than other art forms, printmaking is an exact art that invites the formation of tight communities of artists who gather together for mutual assistance and the use of shared equipment and studios. Over the last several decades, a vibrant community of printmakers has grown up in Chicago around a talented core of artists with Mexican roots. According to Frank Tumino, EAG curator, their work exhibits “the shared influence of the Mexican printmaking tradition, reflected in ways as diverse as their individual backgrounds.” The art of Andreu, Arceo, Cajandig, Mercado and Mocek is very much a manifestation of their own unique styles, but a common thread may be seen to run through it, he said.
José Andreu is on the adjunct faculties of Columbia College Chicago and The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Educated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Virginia Commonwealth University, he has been Program Coordinator at the National Mexican Museum.
René Arceo received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, majoring in printmaking and receiving a K-12 teacher certificate. He co-founded Chicago's Galeria Ink Works and Mexican Printmaking Workshop. He has worked for the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum and has exhibited widely in the Midwest, Mexico and Canada.
Catherine Cajandig is a painter, printmaker and muralist. She received a BAE and MAE from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Instituto Allende, University of Guanajuato, Mexico. She majored in painting and printmaking with special emphasis in lithography. She studied classical Japanese printmaking and ukiyo-e color print techniques with Ansei Uchima. Her most recent prints are linocuts and monotypes. Her work has been exhibited in many shows throughout the U.S., Italy, Mexico and Spain.
Dolores Mercado is associate curator at the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) in Chicago and former associate director of education and senior arts educator. Mercado studied at the Art School La Esmeralda in Mexico City, La Academia de San Carlos de la UNAM in Mexico City, the School of Video and the School of Visual Arts, both at the University of Guadalajara.
BettyAnn Mocek is a prominent artist, arts advocate and educator in her native Chicago. She is associate professor of art at Concordia University Chicago in River Forest and gallery director of Concordia's Ferguson Art Gallery. In 2003, she was awarded the Chicago Artists' Coalition's Service to the Visual Arts Award, and she was named 2001 Woman of the Year by the Chicago Society of Artists, for her service to the visual arts community.
The exhibition can be viewed through December 14 during regular Museum hours, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Friday from 10am to 8pm. Friday is the Museum’s free admission day. At other times, admission for adults is $5, seniors and students $3, and children under 5, free. More information is available at www.elmhurstartistsguild.org and www.elmhurstartmuseum.org.
The EAG gallery is not-for-profit, operated by the Elmhurst Artists’ Guild. It features original contemporary artworks in a variety of styles and media. Each year it hosts several group shows featuring the artwork of Guild members, an invitational show for a significant local artist, and the National Art Premiere, a nationwide juried group show. Exhibits are partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.
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