Beginning Sept. 10, the United Community Center’s Latino Arts Inc. presents asophisticated retrospective titled “Luis Barragán Legacy” (through Oct. 8).During his youth in Mexico,Barragán (1902-1988) studied engineering in Guadalajara, Jalisco. His later trips to Paris, where he met Le Corbusier and Ferdinand Bac,inspired him to import International Style design to Mexico City. A meeting with New York’s exiled Mexican artist JoséClemente Orozco led him to add further elements into his vibrant thoughminimalist exteriors and interiors.
Photographs, blueprintsand a video in the exhibition will illuminate why Barragán achieved his statusin 20th-century architecture. He infused the European International Style withLatin American color and textural contrasts, and his building designs wereshaped by light. Barragán’s Tlálpan Convent demonstrates his engineeringmastery, as does the cluster of towers in Mexico City named the Torres de Satélite, both built duringthe 1950s.
But not until New York’s Museum of Modern Art offered a1977 retrospective on Barragán’s work did the architect and urban planner gainwell-deserved recognition. Three years later the Pritzker Prize honored hisunique modernist legacy, which can be seen in the large-scale photographs andoriginal blueprints of the Milwaukeeexhibit.
The formal openingcoincides with Latino Arts Inc.’s “Noche de Gala” on Saturday, Sept. 18, at 8p.m. The annual fund-raiser features the 10-piece Milwaukee band De La Buena to accompanydining and dancing. The accomplished Latino Arts String Program releases itsnew CD, Los Viajeros(The Travelers). Tickets are requiredfor the fund-raiser.
Beginning Sept. 22 at West Bend’s Museumof Wisconsin Art, Milwaukee artist Francisco X. Mora exhibitsin the “One From Wisconsin” gallery. Mora’s narrative paintings referencetraditional Mexican arts and crafts. A program on Oct. 30 from 1-4 p.m.commemorates the popular Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration.
The Museum of Wisconsin Artalso opens “Here at Last! African-American Artists Who Teach at WisconsinColleges, Universities and Schools,” beginning with its Sneak PeakFriday on Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m. An opening reception takes place Sunday, Sept.12, from 1:30-4 p.m. For this exhibit, select Wisconsineducators produce grand pieces encompassing a range of mediums and culturalcontexts.
ArtHappenings
“Pause, To See”
Alverno College
3401 S. 39th St.
Suzanne Garr presentspoignant color photographs from her travels in Bhutan,Ecuador, Nepal and Thailand at an opening receptionSept. 10 from 4:30-8 p.m.
“90-Day Lawn Ornament”
Cardinal Stritch University
6801 N. Yates Road
Outside the university’sJoan SteeleStein Centerfor Communication Studies, Milwaukeeartist Gary John Gresl constructs a site-specific installation. An openingreception takes place Sept. 10 from 5-8 p.m.
“New Paintings”
Tory Folliard Gallery
233 N. Milwaukee St.
Terrence James Coffman’sevocative oils and Brook Slane’s playful mixed-media paintings promise anengaging evening at an artists’ reception Sept. 10 from 5-8 p.m.
