Claudia Zamudio Mainou had a display of her series “Mexico en mil colores” at El Centro from Oct. 29-Nov. 2. During the reception offered on Nov. 1, Mainou explained the thought behind the work, and food and drinks were provided to the guests of El Centro.
Despite the lack of an official gallery space at El Centro, the exposition of the works spoke for itself, and was appropriate to the time period. Daniel Lopez, director of El Centro stated, “It was originally supposed to come during September for Spanish Heritage Month, … but ended up being pushed back until now.” It was not intended to be at this time but Lopez feels this was excellent timing for this particular showcase, due to the emphasis on Día de los Muertos in the series.
Mainou lives in Mexico and met Lopez during a trip he took two years ago to view NEIU’s partner university in Guanajuato. This exhibition has been in progress since then. Mainou is “very excited about this first show in Chicago,” as she has previously not exhibited in the United States.
Mainou was not originally a photographer, but was drawn to it from interior design in 1992. She would like to continue her work with the idea of Mexico in color and is always searching for more traditions in the many villages of her homeland. She mentioned a village’s celebration of donkeys as being one such tradition she hopes to capture in the near future.
Daniel Lopez reports that the feedback from students at both the main campus and at El Centro has been very positive. Many Latino students from Mexico expressed delight at seeing pictures that reminded them of their culture. He has also fielded requests for other countries to be represented through artwork shown at El Centro. Lopez hopes to find work that represents many other countries, not just from Latin America but also around the world. “It has been a lot of work, but it is nice to students and the community is responding,” says Lopez.
The colorful work of Mainou adds texture to the formerly stark walls of El Centro, and about twenty of the pictures will be kept by El Centro to begin their collection of artistic, multi-cultural representations of life.