Guayasamín

---

Today Brenna, Ami and I hiked -- crawled, rather -- up a steep, cobblestone street west of Carolina Park to the Fundación Guayasamín, a museum housing some of Guayasamin's work as well as his collection of pre- and post-colonial artifacts. Once inside the museum grounds the sounds of the city vanished and as we walked between and within the buildings it was as if we were miles outside Quito.

We viewed the pre-colonial (500 a.c. - 1500 d.c.) artifacts first -- a hundred or so stone clay pots, figurines, bowls and few sacrificial altars. It made me wish my Spanish was better so I could both understand our museum guide and ask her questions as my knowledge of pre-colonial Ecuador is limited. The artifacts were fascinating nonetheless.

From there we moved onto Guayasamín's work. It was quite a contrast. Suffering and human injustice -- particularly that of South American indigenous people -- is the focus of many of his paintings. The anguish depicted in these works is so raw it strips away even the strongest emotional barriers. Standing before his series entitled "Las Manos"* was difficult at best; I felt as though the eyes behind the hands could see into the dark recesses of my soul. And when I looked within myself I saw what they did -- emptiness and nothing that could ease their suffering. Frequently now Guayasamin's paintings flash through my head when I see Quito's indigenous people on the streets, children and possessions strapped on their backs. Viewing his collection of Spanish colonial art seemed ludicrous by comparison. It's ironic to me that the colonists poured so much energy into illustrating the crucifixion of a man who died for their sins when so many people were -- still are -- dying because of them. Fortunately, though, we looked at Guayasamín's work one final time before leaving so the excursion ended on a more appropriate, if painful, note.

em



*If you would like to see "Las Manos" be sure to check out Guayasamín's website. Wait a moment, and the paintings will load in the center of the page.

---

Photos

La Reunión del Pentágono
One of the five "Pentagon" paintings. (photo courtesy of Brenna)