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 TM
Something Seductive to Do
When It's Really Cold Outside
By Madelyn Miller
 You can always fantasize and imagine yourself
surrounded by a lush paradise. Close you eyes and dream of a warm tropical
place. Or open a a great book about beautiful gardens and dream and
fantasize about the flowers. It will make you feel warm inside even when it
is freezing outside.
Take Mexico for example. Mexico is hot. The colors of
Mexico are hot and vibrant. The gardens of Mexico are hot and vibrant and
seductive. A stunning collection of these gardens and landscapes of Mexico
awaits the reader in PARAÍSO MEXICANO: Gardens, Landscapes, and Mexican Soul
(Clarkson Potter/Publishers, March 2002) by Marie-Pierre Colle.
Colle has gathered more than 280 full-color
photographs—much as one would gather blossoms for a bouquet—that capture the
extravagant diversity of plant life and the garden aesthetic in Mexico. The
gardens may be carefully planned botanical collections or works of
surrealist whimsy; some are spaces where nature was allowed to roam while
others are as finely manicured as a model’s hand. What draws them all
together is the Mexican soul, a culture, as Alfonso Alfaro writes in the
introduction, “synonymous with plant life, and plant life was transformed
into art.”
 PARAÍSO MEXICANO showcases the spectrum of the Mexican
landscape, from its arid deserts and mountainous regions, to lush tropical
jungles and plateaus. Colle’s text chronicles the creation and history of
each garden, its designers, and its owners. Indeed, many of the gardens
found in PARAÍSO MEXICANO are the work of Mexico’s finest artists and
architects, such as the world-famous Luis Barragán, whose mystical gardens
still possess the power to fascinate any observer, and Frida Kahlo and Diego
Rivera, whose garden at the Blue House continues to delight visitors. Also
represented are the gardens of Octavio Paz, actress María Felix—whose
gardens have never before been seen by the public—and cameraman Gabriel
Figueroa Flores.
 The past is most eloquently seen in the image of the
house of Cortés, now overgrown by the jungle and in essence a garden itself,
in the chapters on colonial and hacienda gardens. The present shines in the
work of contemporary landscape designers. The scope of Mexico’s geography
and climate comes to life in chapters on the gardens outside Mexico City and
those along the coast. And the Mexican soul may be no more evident than in
the temporary “gardens” created for the Day of the Dead. At the back of the
book, Colle has included a section entitled, “Gardens to Visit,” an
extensive listing of gardens in Mexico with detailed descriptions and
contact information so that readers may visit and experience their true
beauty up close. PARAÍSO MEXICANO is perfect for the armchair traveler,
lovers of Mexican art and architecture, and garden enthusiasts who will all
find delight within its pages.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MARIE-PIERRE COLLE is the author or coauthor of several
books, including Frida’s Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with
Frida Kahlo and Mexico: Houses of the Pacific. Of Mexican-French heritage,
she began her career as a journalist in New York and has worked for such
magazines as Vogue, House & Garden, and Condé Nast Traveler. She currently
resides in Mexico.
ALFONSO ALFARO is the director of the Institute of
Investigation of Artes de México. A doctor of anthropology at the Sorbonne,
he is the author or coauthor of several books published in Mexico.
PARAISO MEXICANO
Gardens, Landscapes, and Mexican Soul
By Marie-Pierre Colle
Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers
a
Publication date: March 5, 2002 a
ISBN: 0-609-60686-7
Price:
$60.00 a Pages: 240
a 280 Full-color photographs
www.clarksonpotter.com
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