"To know a people, it is important to look at its art. It is life turned into an object with a very clear voice that tells the truth. It is a cultural portrait drawn by its spirit. As a seismographer, art expression records the deepest movements of mortal human beings.

Mexican art, as the poet would say, is clay that shines like silver."

– Soumaya Slim de Romero
Director, Museo Soumaya

Myths, Mortals, and Immortality provides an important insight into the society, visions, and traditions of one of our closest and most important neighbors. Over one hundred works have been brought from the Museo Soumaya de México in this unique exhibition, representing five centuries of Mexico's academic and popular canon. It is a substantial and diverse presentation of the rich and complex reality of Mexican art, from the Spanish Colonial period through the mid-twentieth century. From the indigenous myths and the role of the Catholic religion, to the modern day commentary and use of art to portray everyday life, the mysteries, ideas, and influences that form Mexican identity are revealed. Featured artists include Rufino Tamayo, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, José Agustín Arrieta, Juan Soriano, and David Alfaro Siqueiros.

Mexican history cannot be understood as a simplified, chronological line. Instead, it is a spiral or maze that consists of multiple facets of life and culture. Organized into eleven sections, the exhibition illuminates the issues that define Mexican art and have prevailed throughout the centuries. Some of these topics include the ancient Mexican heritage, symbolic and alive; the Nueva España Era with the exuberant Baroque spirit; the customs and the representation of the popular types used more abundantly during the nineteenth century; the portraits that make it possible for people, family ties, and ancient rites to look as though they can last forever; the superb Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes turned into a legend; the natural abundance and exuberance of still lives and splendid women; Muralism, which is the most popular face of Mexican painting; and the expressions of the fundamental devotion our Lady of Guadalupe. More than just mere topics, they are cardinal points of a cultural geography that continues to transform in all these directions simultaneously.

The artwork has been carefully selected to demonstrate the variety of influences—indigenous, European, Asian, and African—and important symbols and legends that combine to form the diverse cultural mosaic of Mexico’s identity. Though generous to the sight, Mexican art and culture never easily gives away its most intimate secrets to those who see it quickly. Myths, Mortals, and Immortality gives us much more than simply the pleasure of contemplating art—the immense pleasure of understanding a culture