By David Hoekman

I returned Saturday from a press trip in the state of Sonora, Mexico. It was my first sojourn into Mexico, and I loved it all: the friendly and hospitable people, the tasty food and the warm and sunny weather.

The trip highlighted the Spanish colonial town of Alamos and Guaymas, on the Sea of Cortez.

But the trip’s starting point was Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora.

As we left the airport in a spiffy 20-passenger bus, it was announced there would be a surprise before we arrived at our hotel. Now, after an early start and three flights, a surprise was not something I was looking forward to. As Holiday Inn used to say, “The best surprise is no surprise.”

The surprise turned out to be a stop at the architecturally stunning Museum of Art of Sonora-MUSAS (built in 2009) to view a special exhibition, “Art and Body: A Look Into the Collection of the Museo Tamayo.”

Museo Tamayo is a large museum in Mexico City devoted to the art of Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991) and other modern and contemporary masters. The museum is expanding, so part of its collection is on the road in Sonora. 

Which means we travel journalists had the privilege of seeing extraordinary works by artists such at Pablo Picasso, Fernando Botero, Francis Bacon, Francisco Toledo and, of course, Tamayo.

According to the exhibition’s English brochure, the artists whose works comprise “Art and Body” reflected on the physical, existential, spiritual and political expressions of the human body, as well as its interaction with the environment and its circumstances. “Hence, the human condition is the central theme of this exhibition,” the brochure says.

Ruben Guillermo Matiella Villaescusa, the director general of the Museum of Art of Sonora-MUSAS, said the museum was the biggest and most important museum in western Mexico.

“We have some very big names,” he said. “This is a unique collection. We are really excited to show people the culture of Mexico.”

“Art and Body” runs through April 23 at Museum of Art of Sonora-MUSAS.

Our museum visit was pleasant surprise — the first of many in Sonora, Mexico.

Thank you, Bill, for srhiang your experience and your passion for the people and traditions of a part of Mexico. Until I travel there myself, your down-to-earth stories are the next best thing.george young, (now in Albuquerque)