Photo credit: Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Mexican, 1902 – 2002, Frida Kahlo, ca. 1930, Gelatin silver print, Courtesy of Stan and Nancy Kaplan, 2019, IL2019.17.11 © Colette Urbajtel/Asociación Manuel Álvarez Bravo

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art presents an exhibition of work by one of the 20th century’s most celebrated photographers: Manuel Alvarez Bravo (Mexican, 1902-2002). Manuel Alvarez Bravo: Specters and Parables will open Dec. 8, 2019, and run through March 1, 2020. Bravo is recognized as the first modern fine art photographer in Mexico, but his unique visual legacy has intrigued viewers and inspired other artists around the world. Although his work was inflected by avant-garde modernism of the 1920s and 30s, his practice always remained grounded in the complexities of Mexican society. This exhibition, curated from the collection of Stanton B and Nancy W Kaplan, includes work spanning throughout Bravo’s life; some photographs often reproduced and quite well-known, others less familiar, highlighting the range of Bravo’s personal style as he explored the poetics of the everyday.

“Like many of the artists of his era, Bravo was influenced by indigenismo—the embrace of the country’s indigenous people and culture as positive attributes of its identity," says Christopher Jones, The Ringing’s Curator of Photography and Media Arts. Jones will lead a tour of the exhibition Dec. 19, 2019, at 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The Ringling will be celebrating Mexican culture throughout the month of December. In addition to the Bravo exhibition, the Art of performance series will feature Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol’s presentation of Tijuana. This Mexico-city based theater ensemble has created a suite of works that explore ideas of democracy in the 21st century, and blends them with narrative collages from Mexican history. Tijuana is the staged result of a real anthropological theater experiment undertaken by Lagartijas ensemble member Gabino Rodríguez. The play will take place Dec. 6 and Dec. 7 in the Historic Asolo Theater.

Photo credit: Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Mexican, 1902 – 2002, Frida Kahlo, ca. 1930, Gelatin silver print, Courtesy of Stan and Nancy Kaplan, 2019, IL2019.17.11 © Colette Urbajtel/Asociación Manuel Álvarez Bravo