Art Opening by Mary Jane Miller
Thursday, Jan. 26
Bordello Galeria, Casa de la Noche,
Organos #19 Centro.
San Miguel de Allende
Contact: millericons@gmail.com | +52 (415) 152-5762

The house holds all stories. The icons bless them all.

The stone walls of Casa de la Noche, San Miguel’s most famous old bordello, remember the clink of glasses and the laughter of women—the many Marías who once worked within them.

Now, this same house hosts a silent dialogue. Iconographer Mary Jane Miller installs Byzantine-style icons here, their luminous faces placed upon the gallery walls.

Miller’s Mary holds a complex gaze—one of repentance, knowing, and silent witness. These icons, painted in earth pigments and egg yolk, reclaim a sacred tradition to ask: what happens when the archetypal Mary meets the Marys of this house?

They find a parallel in the house’s matriarch, “La Turca,” who offered her girls protection and care. The exhibition does not judge, but illuminates. It suggests the laughter and cries heard here were also prayers for dignity.

As guests study the gold-leafed faces at the upcoming talk, they might sense a swirl of a skirt in the patio, or hear a faint echo. Is it La Turca, or the spirit of all Marys, drawn to icons that see without shame? The walls remember, and now, they reflect.

Please join us Thursday Jan. 26 for a reception and talk with Mary Jane Miller, creator of the “Marys Portraits”.

Miller will share her process and her story in creating these remarkable icon images, adorned with 24 carat gold and pewter.

This exhibit will be in place until March 10th., on the wall of Casa de la Noche, located at Organos 19, Centro, 1/2 block off Hernandez Macias

The icons on the walls—and the echoes in the halls—answer softly, together: Yes.