Art: Rodrigo Imaz at the MAM: everyone lost

MEXICO CITY (process.com.mx).–As outrageous as it is revealing is the expansive intervention presented by Rodrigo Imaz (1982) at the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Mexico City.

Titled “Free kick”, the exhibition is divided into two sections: the placement of 100 punctured soccer balls that, converted into flower pots, house different plants, and a sculptural group with seven small-format pieces made of marble, which reproduce the shape and the size of balls struck out.

The flowerpot balls are spread throughout all the museum’s exterior spaces, including the sculpture garden, which is distinguished not only by being the only one in this capital, but also by being integrated with pieces by established artists. The sculptural group is located inside the museum in a prominent place: the center of the stairs, under the splendid dome.

The presence of “Tiro libre” in the MAM is outrageous, first, because neither the artist’s career nor his proposal have the artistic level to occupy interior and exterior spaces of one of the most important museums in the country; and second, because Rodrigo Imaz is family and emotionally linked to Claudia Sheinbaum, the presidential candidate of the party in power and the “Let’s continue making history” coalition.

This circumstance raises questions both about the deontology – ethics applied to professional activities – that governs the government museums of our country, and in the performance of officials who replace their professional commitment with complacency towards their superiors. Regarding this, the observation is referred to three officials: the director of the MAM, Natalia Polack; the director of the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL), Lucina Jiménez; and the Federal Secretary of Culture, Alejandra Frausto. The latter is of special importance, since in addition to being generally responsible for the performance of INBAL, it also has under its indirect mandate another venue in which the same Imaz proposal was presented, from January to March of this year: the Museum of Art of Tlaxcala. What interests does Alejandra Frausto have to allow the exhibition of such an irrelevant project in different venues financed by the public budget?

Born in 1982 in Mexico City, Rodrigo Imaz is the son of Claudia Sheinbaum’s first husband, Carlos Imaz Gispert, with whom she was married from 1987 to 2017. Family related since the artist was 5 years old, their emotional ties have been exhibited in different publications. For example, when Rodrigo’s son, and Claudia Sheinbaum’s grandson, was born in May of last year.

Currently an adult of 42 years, Rodrigo Imaz is an artist who, although he has a fine drawing work, has not managed to position himself as a relevant brand in the visual arts scene. Openly influenced by the famous Gabriel Orozco and Damian Ortega, Claudia Sheinbaum’s stepson does not have a legitimizing history of exhibitions.

Based on what its website reports, its individual exhibitions begin in 2022 – with Sheinabum being head of government of CDMX -, in venues that belong to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and that do not have a vocation artistic, such as the Palacio de la Autonomía, where the punctured balls project was exhibited for the first time in 2022. And in this regard, it is pertinent to raise the question about the relationship of his father, Carlos Imaz, with UNAM.

Supported by a curatorial discourse that, structured by Fernando Gálvez de Aguinaga, adapts to the vocations of the venues in which they are presented, the flowerpot balls fail to establish coincidences between the concept and the visual resolution. Based on what the press release issued by INBAL states, the flower pot balls are meant as bowls of life that weave a metaphor about life and death. By being converted into a flowerpot, they aim to raise awareness both about the ecological crisis suffered by the earth and the commercialism of football.

Absurd as a concept and grotesque in its visual resolution, the “Tiro Libre” intervention reminds us of other artists who, from the concept and with great intelligence, have approached soccer. Among them, the Mexican Gabriel Orozco – who has a splendid photograph of a struck out ball – and the Guatemalan Dario Escobar.

During the opening of the exhibition last Thursday, April 4, the director of the MAM, Natalia Polack, made no effort to hide her arrogance and social disdain when responding to questions from the press that “Not with children.” An irrational response, since Rodrigo Imaz is a 42-year-old adult who must and can answer for himself.

Who lost with this exhibition? The artist lost in the first instance, which showed his desperation to have museum legitimacy and that he will be remembered for taking advantage of political power; Natalia Polack lost because she demonstrated her museum-like servility; Lucina Jiménez lost because she showed that she does not have the capacity to serve the society that pays his salary; and Alejandra Frausto lost because she revealed desperation to look good with power.