Graciela Iturbide is one of the foremost photographers of her generation who has so far received little attention in the UK.

The photographs selected here reference many key themes in her work and also point to wider themes in Mexican art history, notably Latin America's indigenous past and present, as well as the status of female artists in Mexico and more widely. With each print originating from a different stage in IturbideÂ’s career, their subject matter is diverse. Whilst the most recent work, Tecalli, Puebla, references traditional geometry in its evocation of Aztec culture, other works bear witness to IturbideÂ’s work abroad – one photograph is of the stall of a street dentist in Benarés, India (main illustration) – and to her engagements with more recent history: Autorretrato en casa de Trotsky bullet holes in the walls of the house on Vienna Street in Coyoacán, Mexico City, where Leon Trotsky lived in exile – traces of an attempt on his life by Mexican Muralists. With its specialised focus on art from Latin America, and its interest in diverse media and traditions in the visual arts of this region, ESCALA hopes to now use these prints to help wider audiences to know and appreciate IturbideÂ’s work.

Provenance

The artist.


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