Posted on October 17, 2023 by Ed Conroy
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) today announced its collaboration with the San Antonio branch of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) to celebrate the life and work of Juan O’Gorman, one of the greatest Mexican architects and artists of the twentieth century.
UNAM San Antonio
UTSA and UNAM SA collaborate to celebrate
“Time and Memory: Reflections on Juan O’Gorman, 1905-1982”
“Two great institutions are partnering to honor the art and architecture of a man whose life and work transcend borders,” said Lisa Montoya, Ph.D., Vice Provost of International Initiatives.
(San Antonio, October 17, 2023) – The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) today announced its collaboration with the San Antonio branch of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) to celebrate the life and work of Juan O’Gorman, one of the greatest Mexican architects and artists of the twentieth century.
This collaboration is taking form this month through a series of events that includes a public colloquium on O’Gorman, a light show of his greatest works projected on buildings in Hemisfair during Luminaria, and a special Altar de Muertos in honor of O’Gorman that will be dedicated in time for Muertos Fest at the end of this month.
The first event this month, the Colloquium on the life and work of O’Gorman, will take place at the UNAM and the Instituto Cultural de México, both in the Plaza México in Hemisfair, on October 19 and 20, from 10 Am to 4:30 PM, both days. The events are open to the public.
Thirteen scholars from the UNAM in Mexico City, UTSA, Trinity University and several other US universities will deliver papers, discuss and debate O’Gorman’s career and impact on both art and architecture in Mexico, and the US. Both days will be recorded on video and later put online at the UNAM website.
“UTSA, as an Hispanic serving institution, is proud to collaborate with the UNAM’s branch in San Antonio for this important examination and celebration of such a transcendentally important figure as Juan O’Gorman,” said Glenn Martinez, Dean of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts at UTSA.
“Through the colloquium and the other events in this celebration,” said Martinez, “I hope many thousands of people will come to learn more about this remarkable man, who left an enduring legacy in San Antonio through the extraordinary mural he created in 1968 for Hemisfair ’68.
San Antonio author Catherine Nixon Cooke’s book “Juan O’Gorman: The Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas” (Trinity University Press, 2016) tells the story of that remarkable mural, supported by generous contributions from the late San Antonio philanthropist and civic leader Flora Cameron. Once hidden by buildings in the former Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, the multicolored mural, made of thousands of stones from Mexico, is now fully visible on the façade of the Lila Cockrell Theatre from the newly opened Civic Park in Hemisfair.
Each year, the Luminaria contemporary art festival draws thousands to Hemisfair in downtown San Antonio. In 2023, UNAM San Antonio will present five digitally animated videos of five murals representative of the work of Juan O'Gorman. This animation has been made by the artist Abel Zúñiga, who graduated from the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the UNAM. The murals will be projected onto the walls of the buildings in Hemisfair Park, as part of the Luminaria 2023 festival, on the evening of Saturday, October 21, 2023.
UTSA and UNAM will also celebrate O’Gorman and his life through the construction of an Altar de Muertos in his honor that will be publicly dedicated in the UNAM Gallery on the evening of October 26.
“This altar will reflect a highly imaginative design created by architecture students at the UNAM in Mexico City, based on O’Gorman’s famous homes for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo,” said Paula de Gortari, Director of the UNAM branch in San Antonio. “We are happy, as well, that UTSA architecture students are volunteering to help build this unique altar. It will be a unique, totally immersive experience for the thousands of people who will see it during Muertos Fest weekend.”
Dr. Lisa Montoya, Vice Provost of International Initiatives at UTSA, and Director of UTSA Global Initiatives said “It is my hope that this collaboration between UTSA and UNAM will be the first of many more in the years to come, helping us create bridges of knowledge, understanding and friendship that will forge better relations between the peoples of our respective countries.”
UTSA and the UNAM gratefully recognize generous support for this collaboration from Humanities Texas, the Flora Cameron Foundation, UTSA Global Initiatives and in-kind contributions from UTSA Special Collections and the UNAM’s Institute for Aesthetic Investigation, plus Digital Pro Lab. Both institutions also thank Michael Mehl and Ann Kinser for their support of an earlier photographic exhibition on O’Gorman and his work, part of Fotoseptiembre 23
For more information, visit https://unamsa.edu/juan-ogorman-2023/
— Ed Conroy
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