Tijuana's art scene is very young.

There's no venerable tradition of art history here that explains what is happening now in terms of what came before. And, as art critic Lucía Sanromán explains, too often, this means that Tijuana art and artists are studied in relation to the mythologies of the city, Tijuana's rapidly expanding urban footprint, or border dynamics.

This is what makes the show "The 70s: a transcendent period for the arts in Tijuana" (Los 70. Un período trascendente de la plástica en Tijuana), on exhibit for one more week at CECUT, so important. Curated by Roberto Rosique and on view since July, the show brings together the work of twenty-eight artists whose trajectory from the 1970s to the present has shaped the contemporary art scene in Tijuana.

The importance of the 70s and 80s in Tijuana, according to Armando García Orso, Deputy Director of Exhibitions of CECUT, was the genuine independence of art movements: collectives and cultural institutions independent of the government brought artists together to live, work and create.

In the 80s, artist and architect Felipe Almada opened Nopal Centenario (Lugar del Nopal) as a center where bohemian culture could flourish, creating a space for artists, writers and musicians to gather. This was an unconstrained space, according to Benjamin Serrano, where pure art and pure sexuality could flourish. The artists in Tijuana established rich collaborative projects of jazz, poetry, theater and art with El Campo Ruse, an alternative space in San Diego.

Likewise, the art space Rio Rita, started by García Orso, was an art space Tijuana's Centro for another collective of artists who linked the arts to a civic vision. The group sponsored anti-violence programs and invited social workers to give presentations, but also started a film club, held art exhibitions, started a cultural magazine.

The show in CECUT gives us a glimpse--through painting and fine arts--of this vibrant cultural boom. And not only that, in a city famed for its lack of history, the show will remain as an essential document of Tijuana's earliest art trends and movements.

More information here on Exhibits at CECUT

jill.holslin@sandiegored.com