Inbal will honor Angela Gurría, who showed the way to female sculptors in the country

The sculptor Ángela Gurría Davó (1929-2023) managed to establish herself in the artistic field at a time when it was dominated by men, and she did so with monumental public works. She was one of the pioneers and leading figures in affirming the place of women in modern sculpture in Mexico. For this reason, her artistic career is the subject of a tribute by the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (Inbal).

Angela Gurria: Signs, An exhibition of 165 pieces, including sculptures of different formats made of marble, stone, iron, glass and wood; sketches, drawings and watercolors, produced over more than half a century, will open to the public this Thursday at the Museum of the Palace of Fine Arts. The name of the exhibition takes up the title of the monumental work Signs, 18 metres high, created by Gurría in 1968 for the Ruta de la Amistad, a sculptural corridor designed for the 19th Olympic Games. It was the first of 19 stations.

Divided into four curatorial axes: Bodies, Landscapes, Thresholds and The Mystic Garden, the exhibition highlights Gurría’s particular view from an intimate perspective, regarding the representation of the female body and the design of urban and public space.

Gurría was the first woman to be admitted, in 1973, as a member of the Academy of Arts of Mexico. In her acceptance speech she defined sculpture as an idea that uses form as a starting point for its own development and space as an element in which the geometry of that idea is expressed. For the honorary academic, The sculptor lives according to the rhythm of the material he uses. His hands are the antennas that seek to capture the sensuality of the universe..

Regarding his accession, Gurría noted: To a large extent, the artist has been limited to the creation of small interior sculptures.and regretted: In recent decades, with few exceptions, the State does not sponsor sculpture for the people..

Unlike mural painting, which makes known to the world a vision of Mexican art, the sculpture remains in the museum or in the homes of the few collectors. Very rarely does our society use sculpture for the viewing and delight of the masses..

Gurría was a student of Germán Cueto and Mario Zamora, and a close collaborator of Mathias Goeritz. Apart from Signs, let Fuenterrosa (1970), eight meters in diameter by four meters high, in the Jardín de los Amates social interest unit, Acapulco; monument To the deep drainage worker (1974-75), five towers measuring 14 by 30 meters in height, in Tenayuca; Simon Bolivar Trophy (1984), in the Chamber of Deputies, Caracas; The magical heart of Cutzamala (Tribute to Tláloc), 1985, 100-meter-high landscape integration work, and Tzompantli, 1993, at the National Arts Center, to mention a few.

In Gurría’s work, his love for pre-Hispanic sculpture and nature prevails. Regarding the former, he always expressed his admiration for Aztec sculpture: “I see the chisel, how it was made, for me it is the susmmum. “Isn’t it because I’m from Tenochca? I admit that I have relied heavily on pre-Cortesian work. That vase of hearts that is in the Aztec room (of the National Museum of Anthropology)… how amazing, what sculptors!”

He even went so far as to say that the work of his ancestors was superior Because, in addition, they are concepts, they are figurations, they are worlds in small symbols.

Choose the marbles

Armando Colina, director of the Arvil Gallery, who loaned three medium-format works for Signs, He recalls his friendly and professional relationship with the artist: “In June 1979 we exhibited a series of spectacular sculptures and drawings; however, it was in 1994 when Arvil was celebrating its 25th anniversary that Angela invited me to see her latest creations. I gladly accepted because it gave me great pleasure to admire her works and to be in her extraordinary home.

“On that occasion, I had a set of pieces carved in Chiluca stone. Unconcerned, I told her that it was a very poor material, to which she replied: ‘The cathedrals of Mexico are made of it.’ I did not give up my insistence on expressing her ideas in marble. She told me that she did not have the money to buy that material. I proposed to pay for the marbles she chose and to hold an exhibition in my gallery. Angela Gurría: Recent work It was inaugurated on January 30, 1995. For the catalogue, the critic Xavier Moyssén wrote the text Under the sign of death: The dramatic sculpture of Ángela Gurría.

“Some time later, Arvil sponsored a silver edition, with a craftsman proposed by her, of the sculpture Woman with braid, small format.”

The Proyectos Monclova gallery also provided works of different formats, from drawings with pencil and ink, mixed technique wall pieces (watercolor and ink) and medium and small format sculpture. Its director, Teófilo Cohen, told The Day: For us, at Proyectos Monclova, it is an honor to represent the legacy of an artist like Ángela Gurría. This exhibition is essential so that new and future generations have the opportunity to learn about her importance and career..

In addition, the Academy of Arts loaned four sculptures.

Among the awards he has received are the first prize for Sculpture Integrated into Architecture at the third Sculpture Biennial (1967), the Gold Medal (1980) from the Academy of Art and the Arts, Italy, and the National Prize for Science and the Arts (2013) in the area of ​​Fine Arts.

Angela Gurria: Signs It will be on display from September 12 to January 12, 2025 at the Museum of the Palace of Fine Arts.