CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 5/23/2019

Days and nights of demons in 'Phyllis Galembo: Mexico Masks Rituals'

“Man with Skull Plaque” (2013) is reproduced from photographer Phyllis Galembo’s new monograph, Mexico Masks Rituals, launching with events tonight at Green-Wood Cemetery and next week at Howl! Happening. This photograph was made during the Catholic/Cora Semana Santa festival in Sierra Madre, where “the stars of the show are the Judíos (Jews), the underworld spirits who sacrifice the sun,” according to text contributor George Otis. “Beginning on the Wednesday of Holy Week, traditional order is suspended: community governments shut down, the Judíos take over, and the world is symbolically turned on its head. During three days and nights the demons run through the villages to the sounds of flutes and drums, performing a series of highly organized and choreographed rituals and dances, with little food, water or rest in between.”