2021.14.2
Mujer ángel / Angel Woman, Sonoran Desert
Artist
Graciela Iturbide
(Mexico City, Mexico, 5/16/1942 - )
Title
Mujer ángel / Angel Woman, Sonoran Desert
Creation Date
1979
Century
late 20th century
Dimensions
11 x 14 in. (27.94 x 35.56 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Creation Place
North America, United States
Medium and Support
gelatin silver print on paper
Credit Line
Museum Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund
Copyright
This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s
Copyright Terms and Conditions.
Accession Number
2021.14.2
These two photographs (“Mujer ángel / Angel Woman, Sonoran Desert” and “Magnolia con espejo | Magnolia with mirror, Juchitán”) suggest Graciela Iturbide’s interest in depicting the everyday lives of Mexican women and her nation’s native peoples. Working on commission for the National Indigenous Institute of Mexico, Iturbide created Mujer angel during an extended residence with the Seri, an indigenous group that live not far from the Mexican/American border. The photograph shows a Seri woman traveling by foot to a remote cave where indigenous wall paintings reside. A sudden gust of wind lifts her dress wide, and she appears like an angel flying through the landscape. Iturbide created Magnolia con espejo during time spent in the small town of Juchitan near Oaxaca with the Zapotec, a matriarchal society in which women have traditionally taken a lead role in many aspects of society. It figures a non-binary person dressed in a dress and peering into a mirror.