Lilia Carrillo at the Museo Del Palacio De Bellas Artes in Mexico City
- Amanda Baldi
- Nov 20
- 3 min read
Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico City. Aside from eating delicious foods and wandering the streets of the city, I indulged in viewing some art exhibits. One of the exhibits I saw was Lilia Carrillo: Everything is Suggestion at the Museo Del Palacio De Bellas Artes.
As Mexico is a Spanish speaking country, all of the wall texts were in Spanish (obviously). Unfortunately, as someone who only speaks the smallest amount of Spanish, I was unable to garner the meanings of any texts in the moment. The museum provided a QR code at the beginning that linked to English translations; however, my phone had low internet connectivity. Later on, I had the chance to go back and read some information on Carrillo, which was both insightful and interesting compared to my contextless-conclusions. That being said, I was forced to do something I rarely do anymore - rely on solely visual analysis without context.
That being said, after learning more about Carrillo, I was utterly impressed.
Carrillo (1930-1974) lived to be only 43 years old, but in her short life she lived to become a prominent Mexican Artist in the second half of the 1900’s. Carrillo’s work is expressionistic and abstract. She uses her paints to allude to figures, cities, and varying worlds. But she not only worked with paint - Carrillo worked alongside theater and cinematic productions doing costume and set design as well. In addition, Carrillo worked as an illustrator for various womxn authors, and was often regarded as an activist artist; her works were often critiquing cultural policies, and the state during a tumultuous and authoritarian time in Mexico’s recent history.
On display, the exhibition was primarily laid out chronologically according to Carrillo’s life. However, within this the way the curators chose to display her design works also provided insightful, and useful should a viewer be unable (me) or unwilling to read wall text. The curators chose several ways to instigate smooth transitions throughout the exhibition - from smooth, rounded walls and and corners to slow textile and color transitions. The walls contained no sharp edges, every jutting out wall was rounded, calmly guiding the viewer from one piece to the next. When it came to introducing non-paint aspects of Carrillo’s work, the curator's tactic was just as graceful. They started by showing works that incorporated textiles into the canvas, burlap and lace became more and more apparent until eventually we were led to simple figurative works suggesting clothing design alongside a display discussing textiles. In addition, throughout the exhibition, the viewer was able to grasp which colors Carrillo vied for at different points in her life. Most of the early works heavily utilized earth tones and warm hues. On occasion, cold tones of blues and purples were used; however, they were utilized so infrequently their use felt like punctuation. Later in the exhibition, and thus consequently later in Carrillo’s life the use of cooler tones became more frequent. For me, it felt like we were growing and exploring alongside Carrillo as she expanded her choices and her energies grew.
The exhibition was laid out with care for an artist who had much to say in too little time. If you’re in Mexico City in the near future, I highly recommend stopping by for a visit at the Museum Del Palacio De Bellas Artes for not only their famed mural collection (including works by Diego Rivera), but also for this lovely show on Lilia Carrillo.
Alternatively, here is a virtual tour the museum posted on youtube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqD8SM0jL0c
Link to the exhibition’s texts in English : https://museopalaciodebellasartes.inba.gob.mx/lilia-carrillo-todo-es-sugerente-ingles/
