Mythic Constructions: Carlos Mérida and Paul Klee

Mythic Constructions brings together the work of two pivotal twentieth-century artists: Carlos Mérida and Paul Klee. Though separated by geography and cultural background, both artists drew deeply from mythological sources and indigenous traditions to create abstract and semi-abstract compositions that challenged conventional modernism.

Mérida, a Mexican painter and muralist, synthesized Pre-Columbian imagery with European modernist techniques, creating a distinctive visual language rooted in his country's cultural heritage. Klee, the Swiss-German painter, developed a highly personal abstract vocabulary informed by his travels, his study of children's art, and his fascination with non-Western cultures.

This exhibition explores the parallel investigations of these two artists, examining how they transformed mythic and cultural narratives into visual form. The works on view reveal surprising affinities in their approaches to color, composition, and the relationship between figuration and abstraction, while also highlighting the distinct contexts and philosophies that shaped their artistic practices.