Hecho en México

What creativity might awaken if you wandered a twisting callejón at dusk, only to be caught up in the joyful swirl of a callejoneada, where music, laughter, and dancing fill the streets? What inspiration might spark if you glimpsed sunlight spilling through an arched doorway, revealing a hidden courtyard overflowing with color and life? These fleeting, vivid moments are the heartbeat of Hecho en México, Kyle Ragsdale's newest body of work, created during a two-week residency alongside international printmakers in the idyllic and colorful city of Guanajuato, Mexico. This engaging collection will hang in the Harrison Center's Annex Gallery throughout the month of May, inviting visitors into a world shaped by color, beauty, and layered memory.

Building on the process-driven style seen in his Italy series and his November 2024 show, Ragsdale expands his visual language with a new approach he calls "transfer painting"-works created through a rich layering of multiple plates, collage, etching, painting, and the tactile force of the printing press. Each piece carries between four and ten layers of imagery and texture, coming together in compositions that feel wholly original and alive. Though rooted in printmaking, there is nothing mechanical or predictable about these works; instead, they pulse with the energy and spontaneity of pure artistic invention.

Themes of movement, celebration, and strength ripple through the exhibition. The escaramuza charra—Mexican cowgirls known for their fearless, sidesaddle precision—return here as striking figures, echoing Ragsdale’s earlier explorations and deepening the visual conversation. Their bold, graceful presence mirrors the rhythms of Guanajuato itself, where music drifts through alleyways, parades wind into the night, and the spirit of festivity is never far from view. In Hecho en México, Ragsdale opens a window into Mexico's rich cultural tapestry, blending place, process, and community into a series of vivid, layered works.

Hecho en México can be viewed throughout May, Monday through Friday in the Annex Gallery, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or browse our online gallery.