October 12 through December 12 this year, Mexican Folk Art from the collection of Mingei International Museum will open as a part of the first collaborative exhibition with the Athenaeum Art Center (AAC) at Bread & Salt in Logan Heights. The installation, a collaborative curatorial effort between AAC Bilingual Manager, Daniela Kelly and Mingei exhibition staff, will consist of works emblematic of Mexican popular culture such as Day of the Dead imagery, articulated paper mache dolls, devils, mermaids and more.
Mingei’s folk art will complement an exhibition by two Tijuana artists, Cesar Vazquez and Maik Jimenez. Vazquez combines traditional drawing with non-conventional techniques and has recently exhibited in San Diego with Deviate/Landscape at the San Diego Art Institute and Convergence: A Binational Art Exhibition at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. Jimenez also produces works on paper inspired by pop culture and graffiti. He has shown extensively around Tijuana, including Instituto de Cultura de Baja California (ICBC) and the Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT).
Both Bread & Salt and the AAC have become important art and community centers for the region in recent years, as well as incubators for the San Diego art scene at large. Kelly, reflects the concerns and interests of the surrounding community in her programming, which includes the preservation and celebration of Latin American cultural traditions.
Adding to this inaugural collaboration in the AAC gallery will be a festive Logan Heights community Day of the Dead altar during the Dia de los Muertos weekend, November 1-3.