Exhibitions

[ Current: Mo'Joe ] [ Exhibitions at Cafes ] [ Craft & Folk Art ] [ Somart SF ] [ Santa Cruz ] [ Hastings SF ] [ Fresno ] [ Phoenix ] [ Michigan ] [ UNESCO ]
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Exhibition: June 1—July 31, 2011
Reception: Thursday, June 16, 2011: 5:00p.m. to 8:00p.m.

Maya Traditions
New oil paintings by Mario Gonzalez Chavajay. This exhibition of five large format paintings by Mario Gonzalez signals his emergence as one of the most important of the contemporary Maya artists.

Cafe Que Tal
1005 Guerrero Street (near 22nd St.)
San Francisco, CA

In 1993 I committed myself to mounting a show at the Krasl Art Center, the first time the paintings would need to be shipped. This was a big step for me and I was very nervous about it. Besides the normal framing which I would do myself (over twenty new paintings), I would need to build the crates for shipping the paintings. But then six weeks before the exhibition was to be shipped, I was called up for jury duty and left with no one to help me.

Running concurrently with the Michigan shows, the exhibition at the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum featured works by two of the more naive Tz'utuhil artists Lorenzo González Chavajay and Victor Vasquez Temó.

Artes Americas in Fresno California presented the largest and best mounted exhibition of Tz'utuhil Mayan paintings up until this time. Margo Blum Schevill loaned traje [traditional dress] of several Tz'utuhil towns to this exhibit.

The Museo Chicano, Phoenix Arizona was almost a disaster when the building housing the museum sprung a leak in the roof and was condemned by the city. Fortunately the Museum moved to a new and better space and reopened the exhibit almost a year later.

Tz'utuhil Mayan Painters was the largest (100 major paintings) and most important show of contemporary Mayan paintings ever assembled outside of, or possibly even within, Guatemala. The exhibition was drawn from a number of private collections. Most of the important Tz'utuhil artists were represented by numerous examples of their best paintings, many of which had never been shown anywhere before.

Victor Vasquez Temó worked exclusively with Arte Maya Tz'utuhil since he started painting. He is the only Tz'utuhil artist to have visited the United States before having a painting exhibited in Guatemala. He is also the first artist from his village to come to the United States and this exhibition marks his second visit. This show at Hastings College of the Law is a retrospective of many of his best paintings he painted during his time with Arte Maya.

Merrill College

There have been two exhibitions of Tz'ututhil painting at La Galeria. The first was an overview of the best Tz'utuhil paintings. The second exhibit presented the works of Rafael Gonzalez y Gonzalez together with those his grandson and namesake Pedro Rafael Gonzalez Chavajay.

UNESCO produced a book called "Arte Naif Guatemala" and had a reception for the artists when the book came out. The Reception was hosted by Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú and President of France Jacques Chirac. This book opened a door for the artists many of whom had long been struggling without recognition. The book covers not only the Tz'utuhil artists but also the Kaqchikel artists from San Juan Comalapa and Patzicía, and a few artists from other communities. I was fortunate enough to be in Guatemala at the time of the reception. Although this event was not one of Arte Maya Tz'utuhil's it significantly affected many Tz'utuhil artists..

September 4, 2004 to January 2, 2005

The Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya began at the National Gallery in Washington DC and then came to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. It included over 130 of the most important Maya masterworks from collections in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, the United States and Europe. The San Francisco exhibition also included four paintings of the present day Maya culture loaned by Arte Maya Tz'utuhil.

Ritual Memories: Contemporary Maya Painters

September 10 to October 8, 2004
Reception and Music: Friday, September 10 ($5)
Gallery Hours: Tues—Sat 10am—5pm ($2)
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission Street
San Francisco CA

Jointly by the Mission Cultural Center and The Mexican Museum Ritual Memories showcases thirty paintings by fourteen Tz'utuhil Maya artists. The paintings focus on Maya rituals and healing traditions.

Artists of the Maya Lineage

September 3 to 22, 2004
Reception: Friday September 3, 5:30—7:30
SOMArts Gallery
934 Brannan St.
San Francisco, CA
Gallery Hours: Noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday—Saturday

The image above is of an enormous painting by Guatemala born Carlos Loarca containing imagery drawn from Maya beliefs. Paintings by Tz'utuhil and Kachiquel artists are also in the exhibition. Included are paintings by Mario Gonzalez Chavajay, Matias Gonzalez Chavajay, Mariano Gonzalez Chavajay, Antonio C. Ixtamer and Kachiquel artist Paula Nicho Cumes [painting right], arguably the best self taught female Maya artist living today.

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To contact us write: Arte Maya Tz'utuhil, P.O. Box 40391, San Francisco, CA 94140. Telephone: (415) 282-7654. Email me at