Review: "De Tierra"

Courtesy of Friends of Elisabet Ney

A new exhibition of sculpture by Alejandra Almuelle adds further beauty to that familiar gem anchoring the quietly busy, tree-lined Hyde Park neighborhood: the Elisabet Ney Museum.

But: Who was Elisabet Ney?

Born in 1833 in Münster, Province of Westphalia, Ney was the first woman admitted to Munich's Royal Academy of Fine Arts. She left Germany as a political refugee in 1871, wound up in East Texas, and – after years of struggling to farm and raise a child – she renewed her long-deferred sculpting career in Austin. Formosa, built in 1892, was the home and studio where Ney created her iconic figurative sculptures and held salons and generally supercharged the cultural and intellectual scenes of this then-young capital city.

And now that lovingly preserved historic venue, officially the Elisabet Ney Museum since 1911, presents "De Tierra," highlighting the work of Alejandra Almuelle. So the next question must be: Who is Alejandra Almuelle?

Born in 1962 in Arequipa, Peru – a country where the abundance of clay has made it a sort of language for artistic expression – she spent a few years in Pizac, in the Sacred Valley of Cuzco, a center for ceramic-making. After she moved to Austin in 1988, her work with clay addressed the functionality of the medium as well as its sculptural expression. The artist's had exhibitions of her sublime figurative explorations all over town in the past three decades, showing in such places as Gallery Lombardi, Cloud Tree Studio, Dimension Gallery, Moya McIntyre's superlative "The Femme Abstract" showcase, and more. Now, here in the stonework building in Hyde Park, Almuelle's works are displayed alongside Ney's impressive oeuvre for greatest resonance.

"This show has two parts," Almuelle said. "There are mortars and pestles made with terra cotta and porcelain, in honor of the working people, in honor to the dedication and time that working with one's hands requires. And there are four urns, as a commentary on the body as place and receptacle of memory, like the land itself." These pieces, part of the artist's ongoing exploration of what tradition means and the ways in which it's embodied over time, complement the storied creations of Elisabet Ney, adding a singular, modern view of personal history to an array of sculptural portraits that, now historical, were once contemporary. The juxtaposition provokes an eerie sensation: Which of these collections of sculpted apparitions, a visitor might wonder, is haunting the other?

"It is really a sweet feeling to place eight small pieces next to Ney's large works," said Almuelle. "As a guest artist I feel welcome, and embraced somehow, in her space. I clearly remember going to the Ney Museum for the first time, more than 30 years ago. Moving to Austin gave me opportunity to grow beyond the constraints of my place of origin – I'm not sure, if I stayed in Peru, I would have been able to develop my work." But, like Ney in her own time, Almuelle does continue to develop her work. "I'm currently creating a solo show for Women and Their Work that will open next year."

For now, Hyde Park's cultural treasure holds your chance to witness this display of the enduring beauty of figurative clay shaped well by human hands.

"De Tierra"