Book Description
Alan Eliot Goldberg has navigated pot-holed roads to remote, sleepy Mexican Villages in pursuit of folk art for almost 60 years that resulted in a 1,000 piece Mexican Folk Art Collection he recently donated to The Mexican Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate. In the spring of 2020 everything changed in Oaxaca as covid-19 spread throughout the region. To limit contamination the villages sealed themselves off from the outside world, but the virus spread rapidly. As a result of this action, the artists had little or no sales for their folk art and therefore no sustainable income. Alan Goldberg organized a Covid-19 themed folk art competition and the entries were so compelling he decided to undertake an art book featuring pieces from the competition. The book is in two parts. The first part explores the surrounding landscape, heritage, and culture of the indigenous Oaxacan people, and opens a window into the artists imagination, the way they meet adversity with humor, bewilderment and resilience as they cope with Covid-19. The second part is a catalogue containing photographs of the artists and a description and photographs of their work. One critic remarked, Alan Goldberg's beautifully illustrated book presents a difficult subject in difficult times treated ln a straightforward way, naturally as life itself.
