Harold Winslow: “Una visión de la mexicanidad” is on display in Belknap Gallery. “Masks of Michoacán” is in Gallery X. A symposium in conjunction with the exhibitions will take place on March 6 from 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m in Elaine Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library, with a reception to follow from 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. in the Hite Galleries.
The symposium, “Sanctuaries of Promise: African Americans in Mexico, France, and Russia,” will include several presentations: Christopher Fulton, associate professor, Department of Fine Arts, will discuss “Harold Winslow and Mexico.” Joy Carew, associate professor, Department of Pan-African Studies, will present her research on “Langston Hughes and Russia.” Nefertiti Burton, associate dean and member of the Department of Theatre Arts, will present “Richard Wright and France.”
“Una visión de la mexicanidad” will feature 50 works that Winslow created over a period of 20-plus years. The African American artist was born in 1918 in Dayton, Ohio. In 1940 he moved to Mexico where he studied with and was influenced by iconic Mexican painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Co-sponsors for this exhibit are the departments of Classical and Modern Languages, Fine Arts, Pan-African Studies, and Theatre Arts; the Hite Art Institute; Latin American and Latino Studies Program; and the Kentucky Institute for International Studies.
“Masks of Michoacán” features 40 wooden masks from the Mask Museum in the Centro Cultural Antiguo Colegion Jesuita in Patzcuaro, Michoacan. According to historians, Mesoamerican cultures used masks in rituals and indigenous ceremonies. Over time, elements from the indigenous and European cultures fused, producing an especially interesting syncretism in the masks. Today, the masks reveal the history, values and attitudes of the people on topics ranging from religion to politics, race and the economy. This exhibit was organized and made possible by the Kentucky Institute for International Studies (KIIS) and Ministry of Culture of Michoacan, which represents the fourth exchange of art and culture from Michoacan, Mexico.
Both exhibits will run through March 25. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. All Hite events are free and open to the public.