Posted on Oct. 4: Daniel Manrique’s new mural sends a message to all
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/mural_4.jpg” caption=”Daniel Manrique”]Mexican muralist Daniel Manrique's message to the world is now on view in the new McMaster University Student Centre. The painting will be officially unveiled today (Oct. 4) at a reception.
“There is something idealistic, utopian and romantic about this image,” Manrique explains (assisted by translator and McMaster professor emeritus of modern languages John Browning).
His message? The natural world is the responsibility of human beings. Just as a mother protects her child, so must we protect the Earth.
The artist has been at McMaster for the last three weeks working on a newly commissioned diptych, painted in acrylic, that replaces a painting he created for the University 20 years ago. His new work, titled El Mundo (La Naturaleza) Es Responsabilidad de los Humanos (The Natural World is the Responsibility of Humankind), is displayed on a wall outside the Bookstore where the University Centre and the Bookstore meet.
His first piece for the University was displayed in the former cafeteria of Togo Salmon Hall. Due to renovations that converted the cafeteria into the new student pub, the painting is no longer visible.
His second painting bears a strong resemblance to his original piece for McMaster, in style, design and colour. The first mural he painted for McMaster depicted the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and represented the grief of the Buenes Aires women who lost loved ones during a brutal military regime.
The large mask in the centre of the new work with the four eyes and additional faces underneath provides a sense of depth for the image. It represents the mysteries of nature and Mexican symbolism (reminiscent of the huge heads found in the Olmec, Mayan and Aztec civilizations.) Above the mask, a woman, Mother Earth, caresses the planet in her hands and lap.
To the left and right of these central images are two figures, a woman holding a baby and a man looking inward, toward the woman. These images depict the woman as protector of the child and the man as protector of the woman, explains Manrique. The babies in the image represent the possibilities (hope) for the future. “Children are like nature in as much as they should be cared for with love and that doesn't happen. And, of course, we should be looking after the Earth and we are not. We are doing some terrible things to the Earth,” elaborates Manrique.
The geometric designs in the work, drawn and painted on two sheets of 10 ft x 7 ft canvas, are Manrique's interpretation of the cosmos. Just as human beings are made up of little things, so too is the planet Earth. Every aspect of civilization, says Manrique, is made up of little objects and all of this makes up a great whole, a great unit in space.
Manrique describes himself as a romantic and an idealist, a man who has strong hopes for an utopic world. Yet, the real world he grew up in and comes from, a suburb of Mexico City, is ridden with poverty and crime, he explains. He identifies with the solidarity movement and feels a strong affinity for people who work with their hands.
His career as a muralist and painter has taken him around the world, he says, where he has had the good fortune to view works in the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain and the Louvre in Paris, France. These works and an affection he holds for Mayan, Aztec and South African art, have been strong influences on his work.
Manrique was happy to return to McMaster to paint a second mural. Although a little bit sad that his first painting can no longer be publicly viewed, he does not hold any particular attachment to eternal works of art. His work, often painted on walls and with inexpensive materials, has always been somewhat ephemeral, he said.
Photo captions: Above, Daniel Manrique paints the mural that, below, was installed in the McMaster University Student Centre Thursday. Photo credit: Kelly Curwin (top photo); RoseAnne Prevec (bottom photo).
