Text and Photos by Robert Adams
DON ALONSO Gutiérrez, generally acknowledged as Yucatan’s most renowned living artist, says he became a painter to avoid having to talk to people. But ironically, Merida officials so much wanted to hear what he has to say that they invited him to deliver the keynote speech at the city’s 476th anniversary ceremony in January.
Reflecting on this irony during a recent exclusive interview at his apartment/studio in Colonia Mexico, Don Alonso chuckled and shrugged at life’s sometimes unpredictable turns. The 81-year-old lion of Merida’s art scene said he is very alarmed about the White City’s “anarchical development” that is sending the city sprawling in all directions — north, south, east and west.
“This is a worldwide illness, killing off nature. It’s a serious thing. There are many ethical questions concerning development. The basic interest is money.”
Don Alonso can look out the window of his modest third-floor apartment and glimpse the problem of which he speaks — the continuing sprawl of development along Prolongación del Paseo de Montejo. He notes the “enormous” growth of shopping malls and commercial plazas during the 30 years he has lived in the apartment that also serves as his art studio.
“We must save nature if we are going to save ourselves,” said Don Alonso, referring to the “decadence” and “superficiality” he perceives as the characteristics of the age in which we are living. He reflected that he sees parallels between the decadent and superficial art of the current age and the general malaise of modern life. This he attributes to a widespread lack of ethical values in our culture.
“There was an age of marvelous art after the (Mexican) Revolution,” he reflected. But that period gave way to what Don Alonso perceives as art lacking human values. He detects the same lack of ethical values in the U.S. and European art scenes. He cites the case of the American artist Jeff Koons who married the Italian prostitute-turned-politician Cicciolina to become famous.
“To be a real artist, you need to be an ethical person,” he said. “But we are living in an epoch of decadence.”
The walls of Don Alonso’s studio are filled with examples of his accomplishments in many diverse styles and genres of art. These works range from highly realistic human portraits to abstract impressions of people and objects.
As classical music wafts quietly from his stereo, Don Alonso recounts how he convinced himself he could be an artist and make his livelihood in this way. He points to a portrait he painted in the early 1960s when he was a young student living in Madrid. The portrait is of an “abuela” (grandmother) of a Madrid family that he knew. The painting, which shares features with some of the greatest Dutch masters of portraiture such as Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer, convinced Don Alonso that he himself was a painter. “Yes, in truth, I can be a painter,” he recalls concluding after completing the work in his mid-20s.
While Don Alonso has lived in several of the world’s art capitals including Madrid, Paris, London and Mexico City, he chooses to make his home in Merida, where he was born in 1937. His ceramic murals and mosaics adorn several of the city’s important buildings, including the Siglo XXI complex. In addition to his painting, he has published several short works of philosophical fiction. He is active in conservation efforts. It would be fair to refer to him as a local treasure.
