Diego Rivera = Overrated

I don't get the deal with Diego Rivera. Everyone sings his praises, though his art was rudimentary. Plenty of Los Angeles murals outshine his, except maybe in Venice Beach, where murals go to die. It was interesting when he married the eccentric and infinitely more talented Frida Kahlo, but otherwise, holy Crayola. Was it his soul that people admired? Becasue he may have been a painter "for the people," but he was also a gluttonous philanderer shameless enough to bed Frida's sister Cristina.  He can paint all the tubby, barefoot field workers he wants, but he seemed indifferent to human suffering, considering how much he caused.

Am I being too hard on the man who shares the same last name as Geraldo? Maybe. My favorite painter is John Singer Sargent, so it may be an issue of taste. I just know that when I walked into Tinsmith, a breathtaking Mexican gallery illuminated by handcrafted tin (pictured above) I couldn't believe that Diego Rivera was the best Mexican artist we could come up with. You can find this amazing Mexican craft gallery in Old Town San Diego.

The art in Tinsmith is an ethereal mix of the camp that's Dia de los Muertos and the exquisite refinement of Renaissance art. We're so busy praising crudely painted calla lilies, that we tend to overlook this unrivaled medium. Tinsmith is definitely worth a visit.

That's what I'm talking about.

This? Yea not so much.