Talavera Installation
Completion: 2009
Location: Coral Gables, FL
Talavera Cocina Mexicana is a sophisticated combination bar-and-restaurant that prides itself on its authentic, classical Mexican cuisine with a modern twist. The design of the Talavera Mural brings a similar contemporary aesthetic to traditional Mexican styles and figures. The textures of the brushstrokes and sculpture bring a sense of immediacy to the established elements of the imagery, such as the patterns on the vases and the historical figures on the wall. The figures, shown only from the shoulders up, depict familiar Mexican faces that range from renowned artist Frida Kahlo, to political revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, to enmascarado El Santo, among many others. The variety of their roles, placed in the context of unifying backgrounds behind their portraits, highlights the way different elements interact coalesce into a history and a present. No single element, whether it be arts, politics, leisure, or religion, can define a culture alone; their integrated experiences foster a society greater than the sum of its individual parts.
The mural’s layout is integrated into the interior architecture of the building and extends to the decorative vases throughout the room. This surrounds the restaurant guests with a fully immersive experience, coordinating both two- and three-dimensional elements to work in synchronization with the overall atmosphere of the restaurant. The blue and gold color palette coordinates the individual pieces into a singular work of art, to enhance the sense that restaurant guests are having a collective experience of culture through both the cuisine and the room’s ambience.
The mural uses oil paints on canvas, in addition to the twenty oil painting portraits and seven 36”x24”x24” ceramic vases. The use of broader, more classical artistic elements in the oil paints, canvas, and ceramic evokes ideas of the historical precedents for the pieces, placing emphasis on and lending authority to the subjects of the work. This allows the viewer to contemplate history in a lively, modern setting, and focus on the rich Mexican heritage of a prevalent contemporary style.