Arroyo de la Plata posada 2013

Posada 2013 Mexico Explorer TV

a bunch of my friends, Mexico my país is so wonderful and fun and and and……..

Mis amigos – una posada Mexico Explorer TV

Eddie Gomez in Mexico 2013: Master Class and Performance

We had the opportunity to talk with Eddie Gomez during his Mexican tour in August, get video of a master class and concert. He and his musicians are great as well as generous performers/teachers. This Jazz & Blues Festival in August in Zacatecas is in its 6th year, events are at the Manuel Felguerez Abstract Art Museum Thursdays thru Sunday, a nice close-up concert experience.

Barrels .. Barriles

Fun with barrels: a vineyard asked several artist friends to decorate some commemorative wooden barrels, and we had a chance to speak with the great painter Juan Carlos Villegas, a short montage of some of his paintings at the end here. Also had some video barrel fun.

LOS COSMICOMICOS: “El Secreto….A traves de los vasos”

LOS COSMICOMICOS ….El Secreto … A traves de los vasos

This video is the primiere of El Secreto, at the October 2013 International Street Theatre Festival in Zacatecas, Mexico.

Unlike last year´s large scale work La Princesa de los Vientos, in this project the audience is not fixed, they follow the action across a large triangular shaped plaza.  In the video here Detras del Escenario the participants describe the process.  Highlights are the great mobile pirate ship, the antique underwater look of the musicians, and the friends of Lucia descending from a tall smokestack in harnesses into the staging area.  Luckily for me here no translation necessary as its visual and sound images ..enjoy!

COSMICOMICOS El Secreto … Detras del Escenario

The COSMICOMICOS are a theatre group, now together 10 years – you can see some of their previous works on this site like Princesa de los Vientos (2012) and Los Colmillos del Oeste (2011).  In this video we interview Director Sergio Salinas, Dramaturge Paola Reyes, Production Director Juan Chavez, Costume Designer Susana Salinas, Set Designer Sandra Santiago and Musician/Arranger Jesus Sanchez – and we take a look at rehearsal footage shot in the Palacio de Convenciones of Zacatecas, obviously for a piece this huge you need a big space.

The COSMICOMICOS have now been together about 10 years, growing out of a street theatre and improvisation base into larger and more complex pieces.  This year they toured Venezuela, an upcoming Colombia tour is in the works, and as Juan says here each step involves more contacts and further challenges – for instance for some of the pirates featured here its their first time in front of a crowd of several thousand, so the nerves are up.  For the music, composed and principally performed by David Duron & Jesus Sanchez, the University of Zacatecas Symphony recorded tracks and performed live.  So its bigger and better all the time…

The masks in the central scene are designed and fabricated out of resin by Mexico City/Zacatecas sculptor Hugo Calderon.

For you English speakers I promise subtitles when I get caught up!  In any case, the upcoming video of the primiere of The Secret needs no translation – its pure large scale visual and audio imagery.

http://loscosmicomicos.com  to take a look at the scope of the COSMICOMICOS´work, and to get in touch.

Juan Manuel Garcia WOODCUTS

Juan Manuel Garcia is an artist and writer who is part of the “affordable art” movement – these prints were displayed in the format of a “tendero”, a shopkeeper, and priced at $100 MXN per print, less than $8 USD.  His work covers personal as well as traditional themes, and as you see the woodcuts are strong and vibrant.  If you want to buy a few let me know and we´ll figure out how to ship them.  This exhibition was sponsored by El Pasillo A.C. community arts center, which is involved in all sorts of arts promotion and production including interchanges between artists in Tijuana,  Zacatecas and Los Angeles CA, and lots of expositions around Mexico.

Life Drawing with Maestra Susana Salinas

Susana shows various techniques and methods to work with a live model.  This workshop was sponsored by the group Construccion de la Imagen formed by artist MiguelAngel Ortiz Bonilla.

SANTUR Jazz Trio

This jazz trio from Zacatecas, Mexico was featured in the 6th Festival de Jazz y Blues of that state. The concerts and master classes are held at the Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felguerez, a beautiful space for this event.