Escultura Social

Despite the expectations that may have been set by the tortilla chips and salsa at the exhibition's opening, Escultura Social: A New Generation of Art from Mexico City is not really an exhibit about Mexican art or culture.

Quite the opposite, it is an attempt to break conceptions of geographical artistic limitations, focusing explicitly on artists whose work exemplifies the idea of social sculpture and whose Mexican heritage is merely incidental to their artistic output.

"They don't want to be known as only Mexican artists," said exhibition curator Julie Widholm, an assistant curator at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. "That's why I specifically titled the show 'a new generation of art from Mexico City.' It wasn't saying 'Mexican artists today.' Instead, it was rooted in place, not identity."

The show's unifying notion of social sculpture ("escultura social" in Spanish) is taken from famed conceptual artist Joseph Beuys. Beuys described it in part as "sculpture as an evolutionary process; everyone an artist"-a phrase gallery-goers must process immediately, printed as it is on the wall at the entrance of the exhibition. A principal concept of social sculpture is the democratization of art. Anyone can be an artist by realizing the unconventional sculptural constructions that result from everyday thought, speech and action.

Widholm chose to illustrate how each work correlates to social sculpture-whether the artist claims a connection with Beuys or not-by dividing the exhibition into four related categories: nature as inspiration, the use of everyday materials, social engagement with the public and text as conceptual art.

As these categories suggest, the pieces included vary widely with respect to media and ideas. Some of the first artworks that confront the viewer upon entering the exhibition are bright, visually stunning images by Dr. Lakra. A trained tattoo artist, Lakra covers the forms of vintage pin-up models with gothic and occasionally profane tattoo-like designs. In the more sculptural "Untitled (cupido)," a plastic baby doll assertively displays its naked body, which Lakra wryly inscribes with sexual and gang imagery.

"I was thinking that with a tattoo artist, the human body is his canvas," Widholm said. "What can be a better, almost-literal interpretation of a social sculpture than the tattooed human body, moving through space?"