inkfibre: artista del mes: lourdes grobet

About a year ago, my dear friend DE introduced me to the work of Lourdes Grobet. It happened when I accompanied her to the frame shop to pick out the perfect mat that would do justice to the amazing image she wanted to mount. I was immediately drawn to the artist's distinct aesthetic in the depiction of a Mexico that was blatantly forbidden to me while growing up in the city. Nowadays, outside the restrictions and dogmas of a rather culturally sheltered (read bland) upbringing, I'm able to recognize and admire the vision of portraying and commenting on a lifestyle, a social phenomenon of unapologetic fervency for wrestlers and fans alike.

©Lourdes Grobet. Solar, archival pigment print, 20x20 in. (edition of 15), 1980

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in Mexico City in 1940, Lourdes became another artist directly impacted by the "ruptura" movement, with a remarkable academic background and a most impressive group of preceptors: Kati Horna, Gilberto Aceves Navarro and Mathias Goeritz. The artist is mainly known for her Lucha Libre photographs, however, her body of work is extensive, polarizing and in constant transformation, representing the traditions of a segment in Mexican urban culture.

IN HER OWN WORDS: MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM HER INTERVIEW WITH ANGÉLICA ABELLEIRA

"The teachers that most influenced me early on were Mathias, Gilberto and 'El Santo'--The Man In The Silver Mask."
"Photography was a solution to all my concerns: image, technique, mass reproduction and social relevance. I consider this last quality fundamental, because it's how you participate in the course of history. At one period in time painters were the visual documentary-makers. It's a role that photographers play in the present: writing history through images."
"...the members of my family were all sports fanatics and body worshipers. That pointed me towards wrestlers, whom I hadn't been allowed to see live because of gender issues. I had promised myself not to take photos of indigenous people or with a folkloric bent, but when I started taking pictures of the wrestlers... I found that underbelly of Mexico I was so interested in. Meeting the wrestlers gave me a new perspective. The one that most impressed me was El Santo. He's someone I also consider a teacher of mine."
"If I hadn't been a photographer I would've been an anthropologist."