Dick Crispo's paintings

Saturday we hosted a closing reception for Ruben Morales artist and sculptor

Morales, who studied at Bellas Artes school in Morelia, Mich explains that he paints to create feelings or emotions, through rural and traditional Mexican scenes: an ice lolly man pushing his trolley, a woman selling pottery in a market, a country scene.
Morales, sells most of his paints on the street in Morelia.

Morales has been sponsored by the Casa de las Artesanias in Morelia. His paints are already decorating several houses in San Miguel, Tucson, Phoenix, Florida and Buffalo, NY. He has shown in Uruguay and in Puerto Vallarta

We wish to thank Ruben for all his effort, we wish him all the best for the future and we look forward to his next exhibition next year.



Bordello Art Gallery
This coming Sunday we will have the opening featuring artist Dick Crispo at 2.30 pm

Dick Crispo is a full time practicing artist, historian and ethnologist from Monterrey, CA.
His paintings are from his masks series, which deal with his personal views of the human comedy and drama and the influences of his coming to Mexico for about 50 years and his interests in his masks collection on the role of Mexican wrestlers. His first show about wrestlers was after coming back from Mexico City and seeing the wrestling matches in a large open area and particularly the wrestler Heli Capturo who ended in the arena by coming down in a helicopter, "I found it exciting and terrifying at the same time" comments Crispo.

" I won 38 awards including 2 American Arts Grantee and Awards and in 1969 the Panamerican Graphics Award in Mexico City. I was also the American Culture Specialist for Latin American with the US Department"

He looks forward sharing the work he has done during the fall stay in San Miguel.

"San Miguel is my favorite part of Mexico and I have been coming here since 1972.

The media of the paintings are water colors and graphite, he has also worked in large scale in oils and acrylic with this theme.

Go Fly A Kite

Has anyone ever told you to go fly a kite? If so, now is your chance.
Sunday morning, March 17th, San Miguel will host it's very first kite flying festival.
Teams will consist of one adult and three children. They will be given materials to build their kite and sufficient time to complete it and then send it aloft into the wild blue yonder.
The event will take place at the Ex Hacienda de San Roque and the cost will be a very affordable 50 pesos.

Holy Week in San Miguel de Allende

Casa de la Noche is just a short walk from the end of a yearly procession from Atotonilco to San Miguel de Allende in which the bloodied figure of Christ will be carried from the Shrine of Atotonilco to the Church of San Juan de Dios in the Colonia Guadalupe. It is a procession of thousands which began in 1812 and takes place every year the week preceeding Holy Week or Santa Semana. This year Santa Semana is from March 25th thru the 31st.
The procession will be met by a second throng of believers along Avenida Independencia once it reaches San Miguel. All down Independcia there will be rockets, fireworks, purple and white flowers and colorful decorations strung across the avenue. The procession will finish at San Juan de Dios around 8 am. A mass will then be performed before the huge crowd and at the end of the mass the statue of Nuestro Señor de la Columna will be placed on the high altar, where it will remain until Easter.

Cuba Fest 2013 in San Miguel

On May 30, 2000, Havana, Cuba and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico became sister cities.
This year, “Cuba Fest”, will be celebrating it’s 10th anniversary in San Miguel.
From March, 11th through the 17th  there will be performances by Cuban jazz pianist Roberto Carcassés, Arcadia Noguera and her band Colibrí, readings by Cuban poet, Waldo Leyva and the showing of Cuba’s very first Zombie movie,“Juan de los Muertos” (Juan of the Dead).  Don’t be afraid, it’s a comedy. Aren’t all Zombie movies?
Cuba Fest will pay musical tribute to Miguel Matamoros. Matomoras,  a Cuban singer/musician who died in 1971, made his first recording in 1928 and later went on to record for RCA records. He was a major influence in Cuba’s Son genre of music.
Along with all the fabulous music and cinematic entertainment (“Siete Dias en la Habana” and “Y Sin Embargo” will also be showing) there will be venders in the Jardin selling Cuban wares and most importantly…there will be Cuban food.
Events will also be held in the nearby towns of Celaya, Guanajuato, Dolores Hildago and Comenfort.
Most of the events in San Miguel will be an easy stroll from both Casa de la Noche and Casa Mañana.

BIRDJAZZ at Bordello Galeria

BIRDJAZZ at Bordello Galeria

John Hillmer Returns to San Miguel

by Kristen Fry

OK, so the guy is a little obsessed with jazz, birds, buddhas, and Mexico. Hillmer brings his third similarly-themed show to the Bordello Galeria opening this Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. Two of the shows have opened, not coincidentally, around the time of the San Miguel Jazz Festival. But oh the variations on theme!

Take “Bird in Mexican Hills”, the postcard and evite image. Floating red, orange, and yellow orbs dance with a subtle, multi-colored hand rising up in a gesture of emancipation. Likewise, a blue agave reaches up, while a (sub)lime mysteriously anchors the image buried in the ground. The bird is a long, bright-legged, spiral-eyed presence zigazagging in blue hills. Like many of Hillmer’s works—simple, colorful, earthy, full of energy and symbol.

Hillmer’s work has been playing with music for some time. In fact, his large stage murals have made appearances with Ray Charles, Keb’ Mo’, Robert Cray, and many others. His posters and designs have been used to celebrate more than 50 music, literary, and community events throughout North America.

Years ago Hillmer worked for Earshot Jazz in Seattle and discovered both jazz the music and jazz the metaphor. Recently, he completed designs for the Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival in Washington State, which appeared as a huge grandly-lit stage backdrop during performances.

It's a big art weekend in San Miguel, but don't miss an opportunity to jazz up the mix at the Bordello Galeria. A portion of the proceeds will go to Ojalá Niños, whose art, music, and literary programs work with creative kids in the campo.

BIRDJAZZ by John Hillmer, paintings & prints at the Bordello Galeria, Organos #19 (1/2 block off Hernanez Macias). Saturday 5-9 p.m., Sunday 1-5 p.m.

The Great Mexican Construction Adventure

Barbara Edell Poole, owner of Casa de la Noche, discusses her love of 

building and construction projects.

Closing Night Reception for Artist Ruben Morales

Works by Rubén Morales
Closing Reception: Sat, Oct 30  6-8pm
Bordello Galería
Órganos 19
Telephone: 152 0732

By Misty Haskett
Bordello Galería will be hosting a Closing Night Reception for the Ruben Morales exhibit  on October 30th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. If you haven't had the chance to view this work in person, now is the perfect time!
This special exhibit features his first-ever carved stone pieces, as well as Morales’ newest paintings in a variety of sizes. His style continues to appeal with its uncomplicated themes of Mexican street life. Morales’ impressionist renderings of typical Mexican subjects may seem simple at first, but the combination of economy of marks, rich colors and light allows these seemingly naïve paintings to reveal a more complex and intentional piece of art.

Morales regards Diego Rivera as his favorite painter, though only his subject matter reflects Rivera’s style; they both pay tribute to the common man and woman. But Morales impressionist works are technically looser and more flowing than Rivera’s.

Morales, 66, says, “I try to create a feeling or emotion, maybe portraying melancholy or sadness.” He does this through faceless subjects in everyday situations; a woman selling flowers, an old man walking with a cane or a girl washing clothes. The mood is evoked with simple gesture, posture, and color applied in broad strokes.

Still a simple man with simple ways, Morales sells most of his work on the street in Morelia, and despite significant outsider acclaim, his work continues to be fresh and affordable. He has been noticed by international collectors who have sponsored gallery exhibits in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona; Florida; and Buffalo, New York as well as more locally in Puerto Vallarta. He has been shown in Uruguay and in the well-known state-sponsored Mexican collectiva “Casa de Artesanias” in Morelia. Most recently he received award- winning recognition at the “Salon International des Createurs du Siele” in France.

Please join us at the Bordello Galeria for this last chance to view the current works exhibit.  Admission is free!