Capelo ∼ Grand Mexican Ceramist ∼ Arte Mexico Museo

Capelo, born Javier de Jesus Hernández Martínez on January 20, 1951 in Guanajuato, Mexico, is a distinguished architect, artist, sculptor, muralist, and photographer. He holds a doctorate of arts degree and is a professor at the University of Guanajuato. His studio sits atop a mountain that was once a silver mine known as La Valenciana during Spanish colonial times, and can be reached only by climbing a long, tall flight of stairs. His unique style is often characterized by bird, floral and fruit motifs using soft, blurred curves, muted colors, and fuzzy – rather than sharp – outlines and edgings in the cobalt blue used in traditional majolica. Capelo’s free-flowing painting style seems to reflect an influence of the nearby Dolores de Hidalgo majolica tradition, rather than the more controlled and precise decorating style of the Spanish-influenced majolica from Puebla. The recipient of many honors and awards, Capelo has been exhibited in national museums such as the Franz Mayer in Mexico City, and in the U.S. in 2009 at the Jordan Schnitzel Museum of Art at the University of Oregon. Capelo’s pieces are much sought after and are quite pricey, both in his native Mexico and in the U.S. While former apprentices and employees have his blessings in producing ceramics after his style at Mayolica Santa Rosa outside of Guanajuato, there are also many who attempt to copy him and sell knock-offs as his. An experienced eye is necessary to avoid this type of scam, especially because his signature is faked on copies as well.

I think it is incumbent on me to share some of my observations while writing about Capelo. Certainly his stature as a grand ceramist and artist needs no defenders. However, my view is that he has not yet received the full recognition that he deserves, nor his rightful place in Mexican folk art history. His contributions to the preservation of Mexico’s great ceramic and pottery traditions, to its growth and the revival of its popularity nationwide in the latter part of the twentieth century through today, seem to have gone widely overlooked by scholars.

Capelo has maintained a comparatively modest profile and done little in the way of self-promotion or marketing during his career. He does not have a web site, for example. In Texas and Colorado, where I have lived over the past two decades, on occasion I have found pieces by Gorky for sale in some upscale kitchen and home-furnishings shops, and in familiar chain stores such as Sur La Table. Mostly small, less costly items, like olive dishes or coasters, or the occasional bread tray, suitable for sale to a broad range of consumers. I have rarely, if ever, seen pieces by Capelo in these places. He had a shop in addition to his studio in Guanajuato for many years, but Capelo has stayed close to home. He has largely appeared more dedicated to his professorship at the University, and to supporting the arts more generally in his native Guanajuato. An example of this is the private Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Primer Depósito, founded in Guanajuato by Capelo in 2012, where his work is exhibited alongside that of other international sculptors and plastics artists. Compared with Gorky’s, for example, his work has seen relatively minimal exposure throughout Mexico, and has most often been excluded in books and articles published by the government’s national art institutions where Gorky’s has been included. (Note the Sources sections for the two ceramists on these pages as an example of this. Also, the absence of Capelo in the discussion on pottery on the Wikipedia page, Handcrafts and folk art in Guanajuato.)

This disparity in overall coverage of the two may have resulted due to several factors, including, possibly, a straightforward difference in personality and accessibility of the artists, or in their professional objectives. Perhaps some consider Capelo’s unique, stylized design vision as too far outside the parameters of traditional Talavera, although his techniques remain within its definitions. Also, I have contemplated the possibility of behind-the-scenes political motives, for publicly unknown reasons.

In any event, I hope to see this change one day. As for myself as a collector, I consider the two artists’ work equal in quality and importance, just starkly different from one another’s. My collection contains equal portions of each artist’s pieces. On a personal note, I appreciate both immensely. I confess, though, I feel a stronger, more instinctive emotional attraction to Capelo’s wistful, romantic perspective of nature.

May 2021

Sources:

Chicagotribune.com. Guanajuato, The Chicago Tribune, September 25, 2005
Latimes.com. Guanajuato, a city with an old soul, The Los Angeles Times, October 9, 2005
Mexicoescultura.com. México es Cultura, La Cartelera Nacional
Sic.cultura.gob.mx. Gobierno de México, Cultura: Sistema de Información Cultural México, Guanajuato, México
Wikipedia
Personal observations and opinions formed based on my collecting experience