“Espejo de la memoria”, by artist Clara Ledesma, and the Fernando Báez Guerrero Collection, at the MAM

“Espejo de la memoria”, by artist Clara Ledesma, and the Fernando Báez Guerrero Collection, at the MAM
Santo Domingo, December 9 2015

As part of an institutional program initiative whose primary objectives are to study and assess the contributions of collectors and cultural patrons in the Dominican Republic, the Ministry of Culture, in coordination with the Museum of Modern Art, opened the exhibition titled “Clara Ledesma / Espejo de la memoria”.

The exhibit, comprising nearly fifty pieces by deceased teacher Clara Ledesma (1924-1999), including paintings on canvas and wood and drawings on paper and cardboard, was selected, following rigorous curatorial criteria, from the massive private collection of Fernando Báez Guerrero.

In her welcoming remarks, María Elena Ditrén, Director of the Museum of Modern Art, said that the opening of the Clara Ledesma: Espejo de la memoria exhibit marks the closing of the Museum’s 2015 exhibition program, and that Ledesma’s work reached the highest levels of mastery and quality, which are fundamental in the context of the national arts and in the history of the Caribbean art, and of the Dominican Republic in particular.

Amable López Meléndez, chief curator of the Museum of Modern Art, informed that the curatorial proposal of this great exhibit includes some masterful paintings and a wide selection of excellent aesthetic works on paper. They were created between 1956 and 1989 and make up a significant and representative body of work, not only of her global work, but also of the magical and attractive symbolic universe that Clara Ledesma brings to modern Dominican visual arts.

About the presentation of this rigorous selection, Fernando Báez Guerrero stated that it is an honor that the Museum of Modern Art, under the direction of María Elena Ditrén and its chief curator, Amable López Meléndez, decided to welcome the Clara Ledesma/Espejo de la memoria, made of more than 80 works from his collection, at the biggest art gallery in the Dominican Republic.

“On this occasion, I am pleased to say that I have met my main goal as a collector, by sharing an important part of my collection of teacher Clara Ledesma’s work. I have spent more than 25 years acquiring and treasuring the work of one of the most original and paradigmatic personalities in Dominican art. My gratitude to the Museum of Modern Art, the Ministry of Culture, to Abil Peralta Agüero and all those who made possible this important exhibition and this new recognition to the memory of a great teacher,” he added.

All the pieces that are part of the Clara Ledesma/Espejo de la memoria collection have been assessed and studied by renowned historians, curators and art critics of Dominican art, among which are Danilo De Los Santos, Myrna Guerrero, Abil Peralta Agüero and Lilian Carrasco. Each of these specialists has highlighted the originality, vitality and uniqueness of Clara Ledesma’s visual universe; the transcendental potential of her extraordinary artistic legacy; her great social understanding and commitment, and her incontrovertible contributions to the integrity of the status of women in the Dominican Republic.

The exhibit will be open to the public until January 31, 2016, on the second floor of the Museum of Modern Art in the Dominican Republic, Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 pm. The MAM is located at Ave. Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Plaza de la Cultura Juan Pablo Duarte, in Santo Domingo.

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