An art scene, in Puerto Vallarta? The easy-going, tourist-friendly port on Mexico's Pacific coast may not be immediately associated with cutting-edge contemporarty art, but a festival coming up at the end of this month may help permanently shift those perceptions. L.A. gallerist, curator, and editor Pilar Perez, a Vallarta native, is organizing Puerto Vallarta Arte Contemporaneo 08: Extended Borders, Shifting Cartographies.
The invited artists include many prominent Mexican/American cultural producers: Ruben Ochoa, Sandra de la Loza, Ruben Ortiz Torres, Vincent Valdez, Shizu Saldamando, Francis Alys, Marco Ramirez Erre, Eduardo Abaroa, and others. Panelists include Mariana Botey, Alma Ruiz, Rita Gonzalez, Cuauhtemoc Medina, and more. I'll be participating on a panel about cross-border youth subcultures.
"There are about 20 commercial galleries in the city, but most are very traditional and show only painting or sculpture, and the market is oriented to tourists," Perez told me in an interview. "We hope to broaden the scope of the cultural experience — as well as the media presented — and provide a missing and necessary link to the existing international contemporary art world."
Vallarata is not the only emerging Pacific city positioning itself as a focal point for contemporary art in the new century. Also in June, San Jose, Calif. is hosting 01SJ: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge, and in 2009, my hometown San Diego, Calif. is hosting Beyond the Border. From these new urban poles, I'm sensing an energy and flexibity that you're less likely to get in established art capitals like Los Angeles and Mexico City.
For more on the over-all scene in Vallarta, see here. Vallarta is the inaugural festival's definite "hook," Perez assured me. "Five days at the beach, a nice hotel, an interesting group of people, and art. Did I mention margaritas?"
* Image above, a work in progress by local Puerto Vallarta artist Javier Rodriguez, titled "Epifinia Futbolera."