Des Moines, IA – The Des Moines Art Center presents an exhibition featuring work by Manuel Álvarez Bravo, known as the father of Mexican photography. “Manuel Álvarez Bravo: Collaborations,” opens Saturday, October 25, 2025, and will be on view through January 18, 2026.
Álvarez Bravo began his photography career in the 1920s in the wake of the Mexican Revolution, and over the next seven decades, he founded a portrait studio and fine arts reproduction business, contributed editorial photography to myriad publications, created film stills, and more. He also launched a number of cultural initiatives that led to fruitful collaborations with Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, André Breton, Luis Buñuel, Gabriel Figueroa, Octavio Paz, and many more.
This exhibition aims to challenge the persistent myth of Álvarez Bravo as a singular figure at the pinnacle of his field and argue that collaboration was an inherent part of his creative process. With over 100 photographs and ephemera, “Manuel Álvarez Bravo: Collaborations” illustrates that working with others was central to the artist’s creative process.
The show features sections dedicated to various kinds of collaboration, including: the artist’s early career and relationship with his first wife, fellow photographer Lola Álvarez Bravo; commissioned work for books and magazines; portraits of the Mexico City intelligentsia; engagements with the Surrealist movement; film stills taken during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema; and a book project with renowned poet Octavio Paz.
The Des Moines Art Center is offering a suite of programming to compliment the exhibition including a panel discussion this Sunday hosted by the exhibition’s curator Mia Laufer; Aurelia Álvarez Urbajtel, Álvarez Bravo’s daughter and director of the Director of the Manuel Álvarez Bravo Foundation in Mexico City; and artist Aliza Nisenbaum, the Art Center’s 2024-25 Toni and Tim Urban International Artist-in-Residence who has a current exhibition, “Aliza Nisenbaum: Día de los Muertos” on view in the A. H. Blank Gallery through January 11. Other programming includes a gallery talk, guided exhibition tours, and a special Open Book presentation by CultureAll. Event details are listed below.
RELATED PROGRAMMING
Opening Celebration
Friday, October 24 | 5 – 7 pm
Macomber Lobby and Anna K. Meredith Gallery
Free; No registration required.
This event will also celebrate the exhibition, “Aliza Nisenbaum: Día de los Muertos.” Last fall, the Art Center invited Nisenbaum to meet with pivotal members of the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) committee, learn about the event’s history at the museum, and photograph the 2024 celebration, as part of her two-year term as the Toni and Tim Urban International Artist-in-Residence. Inspired by her visits to the Des Moines Art Center, Nisenbaum created five paintings to commemorate the 25-year history of the Día de los Muertos celebration at the museum.
Panel Discussion
Sunday, October 26 | 1:30 pm
Levitt Auditorium
Free; Registration required. Limited seating.
Open Book Community Storytelling Program with CultureALL
Saturday, November 15 | 2 pm
Free; Registration required.
Gallery Talk with Senior Curator Laura Burkhalter
Sunday, December 14 | 1:30 pm
Anna K. Meredith Gallery
Free; No registration required.
Free Guided Tours
Saturdays | 1 pm
October 25, 2025
November 15, 2025
January 6, 2026
Free; No registration required.
“Manuel Álvarez Bravo: Collaborations” is accompanied by an ambitious catalogue with essays by Mia Laufer (Chrysler Museum of Art, formerly Des Moines Art Center), Dr. Monica C. Bravo (Princeton University), Aurelia Álvarez Urbajtel (Archivo Manuel Álvarez Bravo), Dr. Rachel Kaplan (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), Héctor M. Orozco Velázquez (Colección y Archivo de Fundación Televisa), and Dr. Kristen Gresh (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), and a poem by Octavio Paz (translated by Eliot Weinberger).
Support for this exhibition is provided by the Harriet S. and J. Locke Macomber Art Center Fund, the Jacqueline and Myron Blank Exhibition Fund, and Richard L. Deming, MD.
Admission to the museum, galleries, and all events listed above are free and open to the public. Museum hours are 10 am – 4 pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10 am – 7 pm on Thursdays and Fridays, and 10 am – 5 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The museum is closed on Mondays.
For more information or images from the exhibition, contact Senior Director of Communications and Marketing Amy Day at 515.271.0344 or [email protected]. Visit desmoinesartcenter.org for additional event details and registration information.
About the Des Moines Art Center
The Des Moines Art Center is a vibrant, AAM-accredited institution located in the capital city of Iowa that welcomes over 300,000 visitors annually from across the country and around the globe. Its historic campus consists of three buildings designed by major architects of the 20th century—Eliel Saarinen, I. M. Pei, and Richard Meier—incorporated into the natural landscape of Greenwood Park.
The Art Center is home to one of the strongest collections of 20th and 21st century art in the region, and it hosts a series of ground-breaking exhibitions and lectures each year featuring artists known regionally, nationally, and internationally. The experimental spirit of the art for which the Art Center cares for is reflected in its creative offerings, including a celebrated education program that prioritizes access and collaboration, an art school with studio classes for all ages, and the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park, situated on 4.4 acres in downtown Des Moines. The Art Center is committed to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, which are incorporated into every facet of its mission and identity.
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