Nieves Orozco was the indigenous model for many Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera and Miguel Covarrubias. She studied ballet in the 1940s before she became a model for Diego Rivera. Diego Rivera inspired by the political ideals of the Mexican Revolution wanted to make art that reflected the lives of the working class and native peoples of Mexico. Rivera selected Nieves for the painting Desnudo con alcatraces (Nude with Calla Lilies) painted in 1944, one of the few paintings he completed that year. The painting Nude with Calla Lillies is on the 500 pesos bill in Mexico. Nieves Orozco married Frederick Vanderbilt Field in the 1950s. In the late 1980s she moved with her daughter to Minnesota. She passed away in 2021 in Minneapolis at the age of 96.
Poema dedicada a Nieves Orozco
1922 Tezontepec, Hidalgo – 2021 Minneapolis, Minnesota
Wise woman… made of earth and stone
…grounded and amenable… young with extraordinary purpose
Strong features…a rapture…
Wound in ribbons and grace…a startling image to be displayed
A mystical muse…an eternal being of temptation and desire
Surrounded by calla lilies…to blossom purity and beaty…
a right of passage…yellow pistils striking lust and jealousy
Relying on instinct…and acts of love…
To overcome volatility…no need for words
Unpredictability… through dramatic climate changes,
With a never-ending resilience to seed…to nest…
Existing between worlds… redefining her identity…
… uprooted to be embedded…implanted in a new habitat
Surrounded by calla lilies…a right of passage…
A symbol of triumph…a perennial… to bloom again…
purification of the departed soul
Until knees turn to clay and dust
Wise indigenous woman, whose eyes saw it all,
Dancer, model, mystical muse, wife and mother.
Survivor of times, periods and trends.
Nieves Orozco Field Ofrenda
Maria Cristina Tavera & Xavier Tavera
Installation Dimensions (12’ Height x 9’ Width x 1.5’ Depth)
National Museum of Mexican Art, 2023
The Ofrenda for Nieves Orozco Field is in honor of her life. The ofrenda highlights her indigenous identity with a connection to her ancestors (braid), her vision of almost a century and gateway to her soul (eye), her ability to re-establish herself geographically in different location (wood burrs which grow on a tree in response to a form of stress), and her strength as well as power to protect her children (hands). Finally, the calla lilies…a rite of passage… a symbol of triumph…a perennial to bloom again and again…until finally a purification of the departed soul.
Día de Muertos, Memories & Offerings
National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL
September 23 - December 11, 2022
The National Museum of Mexican Art presents Día de Muertos, Memories & Offerings. The exhibition opens with a reception and continues through Sunday, December 11th.
Our 36th Day of the Dead exhibition remembers the numerous individuals from Mexico and the U.S. who have died from COVID and other tragedies in the last year. Join us to experience this age-old tradition of honoring the lives of lost loved ones. Folk art, fine art and photography make up the exhibition, bringing to life one of Mexico’s most cherished celebrations. Artists from both sides of the U.S./Mexico border express a beautiful sense of continuity and culture during this season of remembering.
Curated by Dolores Mercado & Cesáreo Moreno.
INSTALLATION/OFRENDAS
Norbella Aguilar Peña (Chicago), Carlos Flores (Chicago), Carlos Frésquez (CO), Antonio Martorell (PR), Maria Cristina Tavera & Xavier Tavera (MN)
Alejandro Cortés, Dolores Navarro & Jorge Negrete (Universidad de Guanajuato), Moos Elementary School CPS, ONORA Studio (CDMX), Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (Chicago)
ARTISTS
Claudia Álvarez (CA), Manuel Álvarez Bravo (1902-2002, CDMX), Mary J. Andrade (CA), Rick Blanco (IL), Valerie C. Burton (Toronto), Alex Carmona (IL), Martha Driessen (MN), Luis Fitch (MN), David Joaquín Gómez González and David Gómez Sánchez (Edo de México), ), José Gamaliel González (1933-2022, Chicago), David Linares (CDMX), Felipe Linares (CDMX), Paula Linares (CDMX), Pedro Linares (1902-1992, CDMX), Ricardo Linares (CDMX), Arlette Lucero (CO), Stevon Lucero (1949-2021, CO), Serapio Medrano Hernández (Jalisco), Alejandro Mondragón Arriaga (1950-2015, Edo de México), Delilah Montoya (NM), Reynaldo Olivares (CDMX), Zeke Peña (TX), Reyes Rodríguez (Tabasco), Eric Romero (NM), Héctor Silva (CA), Israel Soteno (Edo de Mexico), TSANDA (Michoacán), Cecilia Victoriano Cruz (Michoacán)