Sure, it has been several weeks since the IB Visual Show, however, the pieces represented – they linger long beyond the takedown of the whole exhibit.  Let’s take a look at some memorable second half exhibits.

Natalia – Somehow I had in the space of time confused Natalia with Camino and yet, you can’t confuse or forget her pieces.  One you can come into the Upper School Library and still see today in tribute of students that disappeared right here in Mexico.  You come across it and you just suck in your breath, between the individual pieces and the sand, it is just ALOT to take in, and wonderful at the same time.  Then you shift to some awesome solitary pieces and sculpture, and again, you see related skills from this first piece to the sculpture, but then Natalia’s own distinct pieces that utilize black & white, and color, and scuplture, and you begin to become overwhelmed with the realization of how much time was invested with so many arears of art being crammed into a school year – and the talent that these artists have begins to settle on your shoulders.

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Layla –The first thing you notice are the design Layla created the soft fabric, colors, pattern. draws you in instantly, almost resembles rice paper.  The variety of images she depicted of individuals in casual repose, as well as the brightness in her art, it is easy to see the variety of styles Layla tried.  Certainly Layla has been able to depict feminine styles as well as bringing strength to her style as the same time, feminine touches do not mean weakness and Layla shows that in her exhibit, she shows feminism means daring, boldness, and stepping forward.  Mermaids.  Her sketches are magic in themselves and is it ironic I am not reading Zoraida Cordova’s series that focuses on “Merpeople?”  Not sure but her sketches were magical, the added colors?  Even more so.

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Paloma – Milan Kundera and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. “Art is a distortion that reveals the truth.”  What a great quote.  You do get the feeling that Layla does achieve revealing the truth found in what she exhibits.  I couldn’t help but notice the glimpses of Memento Mori we represented in our Repentino. 2015-2016 issue, and the combination of face, body, and attention to the idea of details to reach viewers.  The inclusion of magazine covers of Madden, statements about society,  and the explosion of colors found in other exhibits – it is as if Paloma was looking anywhere and everywhere for a diverse array of voices.  Her video demonstration of salt versus sugar with younger children was very creative in getting across the message of truth.  We know of the innocence and truth evident in younger children, and seeing expressions that matched the tests – it went right with the ideals Paloma was trying to get across.

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Sara – If one thing stood out than anything else, it was the sense of Sara finding herself and her identity through her art exhibition – you felt this as you walked through her exhibit.  You sense this theme of “completeness” of an indvidual as you walk through.  Having the advantage of experiences later, I can still picture her in FAME in the ballet studio when I came across her ballet shoes at the start of the exhibit.  In stating that she makes and creates her art for no ne but herself is a testament to the “trueness” she find in the art she does create.  While the pieces connected to ballet are light and draw you into her interests, the choice of a black background contrasted with the abstract and bright colors seem to represent her finding and discovering herself in both optimistic and dark times.  Through it all, it seems her art remains hers, through the use of hands, eyes, facial expressions, videos that bring back past ASF members, but it all is very personal.  I like the fact that in this exhibit Sara does not refer to any specific artists,  reinforces the idea, that most influence comes from her own ideas, inspirations, and discoveries of herself.

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Jorge –Wow.  Again, I have the advantage of writing this after FAME, and seeing the art Jorge brought to his character in FAME, the openness and free-hanging of this exhibit tells a huge story about Jorge as an individual. Combinations make you feel as if you are on the street and see some of the most amazing murals on the city block, while others come alive OUT of the wall and seem to belong in one of the best open studio apartments.  From the single pieces, to wings that reach out to you and fill all that your eyes try to take in, to the airbrushed feel pieces in front of you, there is a softness and yet a strength to each piece that holds you in place for long moments. Transparent.  An eye on so much emotion.  Creativity brought to the forefront.  The combination of vividness and exotic seems to be a part of every piece on exhibit.  The space that Jorge created not only with his pieces but with his physical arrangement of walls and hung pieces works perfect ad brings you back for a few more looks and visits.

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Jimena – One thing you experience with the IB Visual Exhibit is meeting the artists as if you have met them for the first time.  Jimena’s exhibit did this, as I noticed the intricate attention giving to architecture, buildings, and structure.  I never knew this was a part of Jimena’s ability, but what an ability it us.  The use of colors, shapes, architectural plans, all shows this innate mathematical and visual space talent.  Between the actual architectural plans, to the use of shapes, materials, to the use of color – her exhibition showing the use of space, it is so creative and physical from the moment you walk into her exhibition area.  There is a connection between the organization found in a building, as well as the organization of the human body, but all of Jimena’s pieces seem to flow and ebb together, not only as one exhibition, but as their own individual pieces as well – it felt as if I was in the middle of a museum as she depicted in a floor plan on display.

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Maria – Again, I felt as if our whole theme represented this year through Memento Mori was represented in so many ways here, as soon as I walked through Maria’s exhibit.  Layers.  I felt this word especially more than any other.  The details she spent walking the line of life and death, from white to black, contrasted with the black walls, walls that lead you from so many areas and directions, loved.  Her variety of materials – even utilizing light, as well as, if you happened top be there ona  different day, that contained a fabric over the created skeleton, all have a visual message as you find yourself in the middle of it all.  I kept thinking over and over, Ying and Yang, life and death, how the two are so closely connected.  Then it hit me when I got to Maria’s exhibit.  This has been by only initial pass through and I only now as beginning to get how closely related all had a connection to the overall theme,

  and once was not enough.  This might have been the beginning of April, but the pieces still resonated with me, and still were in my memory for their different reasons – and more realizations.

I ended up going through the exhibit one more time, this time from end to beginning, no one was there any longer, and each piece still radiated so much right back to me, the style and structure that went into their exhibit space, the order, the meaning of the individual pieces, and only then, after maybe the second or third pass, and began to realize the amount of time and work that goes beyond just the creation of the pieces, but the creation of the space, the creation of the underlying meanings and you can be nothing but wowed.   I stated that during the production of FAME, I was amazed to see the students outside of these exhibits, outside of the stage, and the same is true here.  After this seeing this exhibit, and  analyzing the above, as well as the pieces from this post, and then this post, and you put them all into a collective”together”, and you find it difficult and next to impossible, to walk away from a 2015-2016 year with leaving all this depth behind.  If it is this for a spectator, can you image as the artist when it comes to capping and to graduation?  There is much more depth to take in than on the surface or on a canvas and you certainly realized this is the IB Visual Exhibit.  I was fortunate to be a part of just this simple realization and aspect and artists?  Thank you so much for sharing so much of yourselves in a final year of your journey into what looks like to be an amazing and fortunate journey forward.