Alonso`s interests grew to encompass environmental causes. He documents the landscapes of the Yucatán through his paintings while also working with a nature conservation organization called Niños y Crías (www.ninosycrias.org.mx). Here Alonso, a very humble man, takes pride in sharing the beauty of the Mexican landscape while also reminding us that preservation of our watersheds, bushes, and trees, is indispensible to the well-being of the earth. Alonso cited a prospective threat to the Caoba and Cedro trees as an example of how tourist developments are encroaching on pristine landscapes. This will surely have a negative impact on humans and nature, if such deforestation and land erosion continue.
Alonso speaks of the flamingos and the importance of grasses and watersheds to the nourishment and survival of these fragile species. A number of colorful serigraphs depict such landscapes as their settings are not always approachable by humans. One such serigraph encompasses tall wavering grasses, two-thirds up the picture`s plane. At the top of the plane Alonso introduces coconut trees whose leaves are bursting with colors of orange, amber and subtleties of reds…they appear as a canopy of fireworks in distorted proximity from the grasses. In viewing the serigraphs, it is clear that Alonso understands how the elimination of the hierarchy is important to communicate in art and hence uses form and color to do away with perspective. Many of his oil and acrylic paintings also attest to this contemporary style of painting, some of which are also rendered in shallow volumes.
Alonso`s involvement with Niños y Crías is to help children realize, as he does…that as human beings we must learn to preserve animal habitats, be mindful of discarding waste appropriately, and ensure we don`t infuse contaminants into healthy bodies of water. Additionally, Alonso also mentioned the arduous work done but not completed by the nonprofit organization (as it is, of course, an ever-engaging process) of having to tag the flamingos so that their movement can be tracked. Their travel pathways are well documented and their migrations have been spotted throughout the Caribbean, Cuba, Venezuela and Florida.
Alonso`s work is not unlike Gabriel Orozco`s art installation regarding a wildlife reserve on Isla Arena, Mexico, that is 
simultaneously a whale mating ground and an industrial wasteland. Gabriel shows the simultaneous polarities of the landscape by exploring issues of waste deposits to help raise awareness of such radical environments. And so, because of his love for nature and the need to create awareness, Alonso, too, has a tremendous preoccupation with painting the vast and diverse landscapes of the Yucatán as a way to document what now exists and to help raise environmental awareness through programs that focus on conservation.
I would like to quote Diana Thater on Human/Nature, a collaborative exhibition in which she responds to her project on wetlands: “Art changes the world by changing the way you see. People can change the world through conservation, but we have to realize that the way the world is depicted also changes the world…”
Below you will find a glimpse of Alonso’s involvement in the arts:
Marista University, Didactic Exposition and Lecture.
Panoramic from the 20th century.
Director of the Centro Cultural y Recreativo “La Ibérica” I.C.Y. Government of the State of Yucatan.
Coordinator for the New State Center of the Fine Arts. Visual Arts Dept.
Creator of the Photography and Serigraphy department C.E.B.A. Mérida,
Yucatán.
Professor of Basic Design. School of Architecture. U.A.D.Y. Mérida, Yucatán.
For a complete resumé, please visit his website www.alonso-gutierrez.com
By Learsi Detinu
Esta entrada también está disponible en: ES
