While the work of contemporary Mexican artist Teresa Margolles and her collaborators in the death-metal band and performance group SEMEFO is often contextualized within a national framework or within specific artistic developments of the 1990s, meager writing exists to explore how the artist and the audience experience the work. This thesis examines the work of Margolles and SEMEFO to contextualize their work with dead bodies and animal carcasses within a historical moment in Mexico City, but also to relate it to its many venues and audiences. In it, I study the work's relationship to affect, narratives of personal experience, and to the intimate ways in which artist and audience view the dead. Studying how Margolles and her collaborators change their presentation of corpses over time and in different spaces allows readings of the artists' relationship to their underground death-metal community, their urban independent artistic community, and their international museum-based community. Through these communities, we can understand Margolles' work as part of a more specific history based on intimate interactions and expressions of mourning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Art History, June 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2007. / "May, 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-99). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Focusing on artists Frida Kahlo and Guillermo Gomez-Pefia, my thesis concerns borders of all kinds: between nations and cultures, between varying artworks, context, and audiences, and between myth and reality. These border relationships are subject to constant evolution and negotiation, and I chose Kahlo's paintings and Gomez-Pefia's performance work to illustrate how two artists have portrayed border relationships across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in Mexico and the United States, because both artists draw upon borders to hash out shifting personal, political, and cultural identities. Frida Kahlo's nationalist politics led her to portray the Mexican-U.S. border as a force of antagonism. In her modern context, this border starkly indicated a divide between colonial ambitions and domination, between the First and Third world paradigms of her time. Kahlo's consistent technique of self-portraiture led Germaine Greer to declare her "the first ever true performance artist," and in many ways Kahlo's work and life foreshadows contemporary questions of hybridity and pluralism brought to light by Guillermo Gomez-Pefia decades later. Gomez-Pefia's more direct performance pieces question dualistic borders by breaking boundaries and envisioning a borderless world, where boundaries are created and blurred organically rather than dictated by social or political elites. Like Kahlo, Gomez-Pefia's work is highly political, and his indictment of America's negative and dangerous images of Mexico and Mexican immigrants is particularly fierce. Both artists have produced impressive, controversial work that is dense and often difficult to understand, but it is also work that forces audiences to question the status quo and the boundaries we frequently take for granted.

This thesis contextualizes the work of artist Margarita Cabrera within Chicano, postcolonial, and feminist theories, and specifically places her work within discourses surrounding the United States-Mexico border. I address the evolution of Cabrera’s sculptural work from her initial Desert Plants to the collaborative, community-based workshop Space in Between, which prompted her incorporation of Florezca, a for-profit social enterprise. I discuss how Cabrera’s collaborative art-making process and founding of a corporation are strategic methods to challenge and attempt to change oppressive political systems in the United States that disenfranchise undocumented Latino immigrants. / text

This paper explores the art of Olga Costa and María Izquierdo. The history of the Mexican revolution is outlined and then presented again with a focus on women’s issues and involvement. Next is a discussion of national identity construction after the revolution, with attention paid to the role of the “Big Three,” muralists Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Siqueiros. While scholars often credit male artists for their involvement in this process, the contributions of female artists tend to be overlooked. Although the work of female artists is often portrayed as limited to their personal experiences, this thesis argues that women’s work subverted hegemonic narratives and images that homogenized Mexican national identity building, and thus reveal valuable perspectives on post-revolutionary Mexican society. Specific topics explored include subversions of representations of female beauty, challenging of the role of women in Mexican society and patriarchies in general, and the creative use of symbols in order to avoid objectifying women while representing themes pertaining to Mexico. This thesis engages with scholarly works that perpetuate traditional readings of Costa and Izquierdo’s work as primarily autobiographical and limited in scope as well as more progressive critiques that recognize the social significance of these artists. A variety of paintings are analyzed in detail, including Costa and Izquierdo’s portraits of nude and clothed women, Izquierdo’s series of allegorical pieces and still lifes, and Costa’s masterpiece “La Vendedora.” This thesis is written in Spanish.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Geography / Kevin Blake / Mexican artist and global phenomenon Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) fascinates and inspires people from all walks of life. Rather than simply approaching the life and work of Kahlo from a traditional art historical perspective, this dissertation draws from the interdisciplinary nature of critical human geography to investigate Kahlo. Specifically, this work is informed by two sub-fields of critical human geography—feminist geography and cultural geography. Kahlo’s iconic status as a feminist symbol makes feminist geography an obvious choice while cultural geography provides the dominant methodology of textual analysis. Both sub-fields are drawn together by the use of a poststructuralist theoretical foundation that views no one meaning or interpretation as fixed, but rather posits that meanings and interpretations are fluid and open to a variety of conclusions. The primary research question in this dissertation is, “How are the critical geographies of hybridity, embodiment, and glocalization developed and explored in Frida Kahlo’s art and life?” The question is answered through the geographical exploration of Kahlo’s work, life, and iconic status as a major public figure. I delve into each of the three components of the question (hybridity, embodiment, and glocalization) by connecting geographical concepts and understandings to Kahlo and her work. I extend this exploration by arguing that Kahlo demonstrates how the self both mirrors and constructs critical geographies. This research seeks to expand and deepen the understanding of Kahlo as a significant geographical figure—an artist who was intensely aware of people and place. Additionally, this research draws together diverse threads of geographic inquiry by highlighting the interdisciplinary and humanistic qualities of the discipline. Perhaps most importantly, this dissertation positions Kahlo as a critical geographer—defying the sometimes arbitrary and limited notions imposed on the discipline and its practitioners. I assert that Kahlo’s work and life are inherently a lived expression of geographical ideas that manifest themselves in a physical, mental, and emotional sense. Ultimately, Kahlo constructs an embodied geographic text—creating knowledge and helping people understand identity and place in a different way.

with gods. Not only does it allow them to "meet" gods, but also to communicate with them, ask for Huichol. The growing demand has thus interrupted the "right" traditional way of creating

S’inscrivant à la croisée de l’histoire des expositions et des relations culturelles internationales, la thèse a pour principal objectif l’étude de la construction d’une certaine image de la nation mexicaine à l’étranger à travers l’art et de la manière dont celle-ci a été perçue par des audiences diverses dans différentes contrées. Pour ce faire, la thèse propose une étude de la présence de l’art mexicain dans l’espace transnational analysant des phénomènes de circulation, médiation et réception autour de la première grande exposition d’art mexicain itinérante en Europe. Entre 1952 et 1953, l’exposition Art mexicain du précolombien à nos jours a été présentée successivement à Paris, Stockholm, Londres et Mexico. Cette manifestation culturelle participe d’une longue génèse qui remonte aux années 1920. Après plusieurs tentatives échouées, l’idée de présenter une exposition d’art mexicain en Europe émerge à nouveau dans le monde de l’après-guerre, impulsée par le gouvernement mexicain et une constellation d’acteurs européens étatiques et non-étatiques qui ont fait que le projet se concretise en 1952. La thèse étudie les enjeux que cette manifestation a répresentés pour ses promoteurs, ainsi que la manière dont son discours curatorial consacre une certaine rhétorique nationaliste qui insiste sur la continuité du génie artistique mexicain à travers les époques. L’étude des réceptions et des va-et-vient au sein de l’espace euro-américain est alors menée à travers l’analyse des diverses représentations autour du Mexique exprimées par les publics européens, ainsi que par les manières dont la société mexicaine resignifie les réactions européennes vis-à-vis de l’art mexicain afin de les adapter au contexte local. Ensuite, ce travail se concentre sur les adhésions et les rejets exprimés au Mexique par rapport à ce portrait de lo mexicano impulsé depuis l’État. La thèse démontre comment cette exposition est devenue par la suite un modèle pour la présentation de l’art mexicain à l’étranger, décliné à plusieurs reprises dans les décennies suivantes comme le fer de lance de la diplomatie culturelle mexicaine. / Located in the intersection of the fields of History of Exhibitions and History of International Cultural Relations, this thesis studies the construction of a particular image of the Mexican nation abroad through the medium of art, and the ways in which this image was perceived by diverse audiences in different countries. The thesis analyzes the circulation, mediation and reception of Mexican art in a transnational context for the first major traveling exhibition of Mexican art in Europe.Between 1952 and 1953, the exhibition Art mexicain du précolombien à nos jours (Mexican art from pre-Columbian times to the present day) was successively presented in Paris, Stockholm, London and Mexico City. This cultural event draws upon a long prehistory that dates back to the 1920s. After several failed attempts, the idea of presenting an exhibition of Mexican art in Europe reemerges in the postwar period driven by the Mexican government and a constellation of European state and non-state actors, leading up to the opening of the exhibition in Paris on May 20, 1952.The thesis studies the stakes that various promoters had in the exhibition as well as the ways in which its curatorial discourse crystallized a nationalist rhetoric that stresses the continuity of the mexican artistic genius through the ages. It further investigates the different receptions and interactions within the Euro-American space by analyzing the various representations of Mexico articulated by the European publics; conversely, it examines the ways in which Mexican society resignifies the European reactions vis-à-vis Mexican art and adapts them to the local context. Moreover, this work scrutinizes the approvals and rejections expressed by the Mexican public with regard to the particular image of lo mexicano promoted by the state. The thesis demonstrates how this exhibition became a model for the display of Mexican art abroad, reappearing several times in various declensions over the following decades as a trademark of Mexican cultural diplomacy.

The underrepresentation of Mexican art song has left classical singers with few Spanish-language repertoire options. Currently, the music of Spain dominates this scene and Mexican art song has yet to earn a place in academic curricula and concert halls. Manuel María Ponce (1882-1948) retains an important position in Mexican music. However, Ponce's vocal repertoire—consisting of over 150 songs—remained dormant for many decades after his death due to its misclassification by music aristocrats in Mexico that greatly affected their diffusion. Consequently, few copies were published during Ponce's life, making them difficult to find. The need in the singing community for repertoire of this kind has raised many questions not only about its existence and availability, but also about its origins and relationship to the established Art Song canon. To promote the diffusion of this underrepresented repertoire, a style analysis of Ponce's Romantic Mexican Art Song is offered through the lens of his writings about Mexican Song. The analysis includes vital information about the origins, form, style, and subjects of these songs. Tangible examples of these traits are provided from Ponce's Doce Canciones Mexicanas along with historically-informed suggestions for singers and translations of the text with IPA transcriptions.