Portraits From Latin America Exhibit a Roller-Coaster of Ideas, Intentions and Results by Gary Tischler Nothing celebrates the virtues of a group more than a celebration of individuality. Thatís one of the impressions that practically shouts out when you view the exhibition ìPortraits,î presented by the Ibero-American Art Salon now at the Mexican Cultural Institute. ìThis year, we dedicate this exhibition as an homage to all the victims of the Sept. 11 tragic attacks,î said Jorge Saade Scaff, president of the association and cultural attachÈ of the Embassy of Ecuador. ìAll of our countries have been touched by this tragedy, since many of the victims were our fellow countrymen and women. ìThe only way to promote international understanding is through the arts. Only when we are able to understand the other cultures of other nations will we be able to understand its people,î Scaff said. One of the things you notice about this exhibition is its richness and variety. There is no common identifying trait, except an apparent determination on the part of some of the artists represented to chart a different course through a genre that is, in modern times, much maligned, and difficult to energize. But thatís precisely what some of the artists, representing countries as different in makeup and outlook as their own art, have done. ìThey astonish us, they captivate us, they show their concern for society, they present a picture of our world to the world, they show us that portraits are still full of the spirit of life,î said Ignacio Duran, director of the Mexican Cultural Institute, about the art and the artists. The exhibition is a roller-coaster of ideas, intentions and results. Consider, for instance, the oddly fey work of Argentinean artist Mildred Burton whose portrait of ìNuestro NiÒo,î in an almost classical style, shows a bewildered but beautiful little boy nearly overpowered by a bow tie in the shape of a threatening black butterfly. The portrait seems a little at odds with the description of her provided by Jorge Glusberg, director of the Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires. ìThe work of Mildred Burton,î he writes, ìis a visual inventory of her disgust by and attack against false morality, the repression of desire, deceitful modesty, social submission, the cruelty of adults, abuse of power, derision of human dignity, selfish individualism, oppression and violence, emasculating fables, empty traditionalism and Faustian projects of modernism as savage as it is destructive.î And itís also very haunting. Another Argentinean, Alberto JosÈ Ciupiak, from an older generation, offers a contrast: His portrait of Robert Arlt seems almost straightforward, but it has a dark, monochrome intensity and intimacy to it. Bolivian Cecilia Wilde, on the other hand, is vividly enigmatic with her shadowed work. Then thereís Fernando D·vila, a Colombian whose female portraits are full of vivid, quick brush strokes. Antonio Eligio Fern·ndez stretches the genre with a work called ìEl Puente,î which marries modern lines with what appears to be qualities that echo antiquity. Probably the two most boundary-busting works of portraiture belong to Bernanrdo Kraniansky from Paraguay and Spanish artist Vicente Pascual, both of whom paint ideasóabstract onesóof portraits. Fernando Oliveri, on the other hand, is a sharply realistic portrait artist. The Uruguayan artist seems to specialize in colorful, sharply etched, intense portraits of old men who have seen almost everything. Thatís especially true in the portrait of an old gaucho and in the painting ìAt the Window.î Venezuelan artist Ernesto LeÛn makes you think of the giant political figure of South America, Simon Bolivar, somewhat differently in a series of three almost light-hearted, airy sketch pastels. Jaunty, too, in pop color, not to mention size, are the big paintings of Mexican artist Victor RodrÌguez. His work reflects the great 1960s pop scene, and further back, the passions of the great 17th-century French artist La Tour. Tradition has its place in the portrait of Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan by Ecuadorian artist Wilfredo MartÌnez. It would seem to be at work also in Leon Boschís ìPortrait of my Father,î except that the portrait is so intense, so full of attitude (aided by the frame within a frame) that its style seems almost brand new. Portraits of women by women range from the gentle, sensual work of Dinorah Preza-Quezada from El Salvador to that frank look of skepticism and appraisal in the subject of Guatemalan artist Sharon Helena Garveyís ìLa Mirada.î Thereís more at work in this generous exhibition than is fitting for a celebration. The exhibition opening also celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Ibero-American Cultural AttachÈs Association, which has brought different aspects of Ibero-American culture to Washington, ranging from concerts, to various genres of art exhibitions, to film festivals. ìPortraitsî is now on display at the Mexican Cultural Institute, 2829 16th St., NW, Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., through Feb. 6. Please call (202) 728-1628 for more information. Gary Tischler is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.