ARENA MEXICO IN THE UK:
The Mask, its Shadow and the
Disentangling of Cultural Codes
Wrestling matches play an important role in Latin American
popular culture, with idiosyncratic heroes and villains parading
their physical abilities in the theatre of the ring. The young and
the elderly alike enjoy such spectacles, which reach communities
within such fresh and unpretentious frameworks as a Sunday fair, a
circus, or a street performance. But the art of free wrestling has
achieved special status and sophistication in Mexico, where the most
famous wrestling heroes have even become movie stars. Wrestling is
deeply embedded in mass culture, providing a supply of working-class
heroes and somehow releasing a subtext of justice that has been lost
in other arenas of life. In this way, the cathartic element of
wrestling marks its social function, for it carries the heritage of
ancient rituals which for centuries served as channels for people's
belief in good and evil forces. Some wrestlers have also engaged in
timely political activity, thus transcending the symbolic realm and
acting out public performances to serve popular agendas. A
particularly famous wrestler takes the name of Superbarrio,
(literally Super Neighbourhood) who has been engaged in the struggle
for justice of the local inhabitants of Mexico city's historical
centre, evicted in the aftermath of the 1985 earthquake.
And of course, the subject has long fascinated artists with its
employment of artifice, identity issues and aesthetic flamboyance.
Icons from popular culture have infiltrated the world of the visual
arts and film throughout the 20th century. A classic example is the
work of Federico Fellini whose films explored a world of illusion
and fantasy against the harsh backdrop of post war Italy by means of
misfits and clowns, depicting their madness and cruelty with great
poetic imagination. Rather than resorting to the one-dimensional
discourses of neo-realism, he rescued the seductive power of the
grotesque from circuses, beauty pageants and dance hall competitions
to blend innocence and kitsch with social commentary.
Demián Flores Cortés is one of those artists whose choice of the
subject matter is determined by his interest in popular culture.
Inspired by the visual splendour of the world of free wrestling, his
artworks give it a new dimension by his masterfully portraying
masked identities and enhancing romantic iconographies in elaborate
patterns. Within the arena of his prints he sets in motion and pays
homage to a world of fictional existences, producing an effect of
high pitch visual intensity.
I first came across a group of works by Demián Flores Cortés in
2002, when I was intending to organise a survey of 20th century
Latin American print-making, and was impressed by his highly complex
printing technique.
Flores superimposes different techniques - wood and metal
engraving, screen printing, off-set lithography - which somehow echo
the layers of images produced by motion during the wrestling
spectacle. I was even more impressed when I met the artist in Mexico
in 2003 and found out more. The roots of the UECLAA project ARENA
MEXICO in the UK lie in these encounters.
 
Wrestling in the Eastern Region
Once the exhibition concept was fixed, we moved on to a spiral of
productive discussions about the possibilities of framing the prints
within a programme of related events. Could we complement them with
some live wrestling? For this purpose UECLAA was fortunate to
receive the generous support of the Arts Council of England, without
whose understanding of the relevance of organising real Mexican
wrestling matches in the East of England we could not have invited
the legendary Hijo del Santo and Blue Panther to perform their magic
in Essex. It was not easy to find a venue for Mexican wrestling in
Essex but we struck lucky with Anthony Roberts, visionary director
of the Colchester Arts Centre, whose imagination and generosity is
enabling us to bring wrestling to a church building for the first
time in history.
We are indebted to Paul Tyllell of UWA (Ultimate Wrestling
Association) Wrestling for his enthusiasm and help in supplying the
appropriate wrestling ring in a country where wrestling is mainly
performed on mats. We are also very grateful to the following people
and institutions: To the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores in
Mexico and the Mexican Embassy in London for their help in bringing
the artist's works to the UK. To Jessica Kenny for lending the
project her expertise as gallery director, and Claire Birks for
involving herself so passionately in the education programme of the
exhibition. To Liz Pérez Atristain, Edmundo Hernández, Serafín
Martínez-Jaramillo and all the members of the Mexican society at the
University of Essex who have been behind the project from the start.
To Lee Pugh, events manager of the Student Union for the Dance Hall
to present one of the wrestling matches, and to London Print Studio
and Visiting Arts for making possible Demián Flores' residency in
London.
The visual exuberance of ARENA MEXICO is being enhanced and
spread by a wonderful booklet produced in Mexico with the help of
Carlos Molina, a PhD researcher in the Department of Art History and
Theory and the total commitment and generosity of Justo Sierra,
director and editor of Origina, a remarkable magazine devoted to
promoting contemporary Mexican art and culture.
And finally to all those who believe that cultural codes are made
to be disentangled and shared in the celebration of life: I wish you
all great enjoyment of ARENA MEXICO.
Gabriela Salgado
Curator
UECLAA (University of Essex Collection of Latin American Art)
London, July 2004
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