Staff Picks: Day of the Dead

The second half of the nineteenth century was, famously, a golden age for children's literature-in Mexico as well as in North America and Europe. José Guadalupe Posada (1851-1913) and Manuel Manilla (1839-1895) are the two leading icons of children's illustration in Mexico, and together they developed a huge body of engravings and illustrations for cheap, ephemeral, "penny press" collections of Mexican fairy tales. In the early part of the last century, these fragile publications-once so ubiquitous and loved-received scant attention, until they were brought to a wider audience in the 1930s by the French artist Jean Charlot (who encountered them while visiting Diego Rivera). Published on the 100th anniversary of Posada's death, Illustrations for Mexican Fairy Tales gathers these vibrantly colorful works by both artists for the first time, many of which were done for the famous Mexican penny press publisher Antonio Vanegas Arroyo. Affordably priced, and with a wealth of color reproductions throughout, this extremely giftworthy collection includes a facsimile reprint of one of Posada's most beautiful and acclaimed booklets as well as an essay by the respected curator, collector and writer Mercurio Lopez Casillas.

Posada: A Century of Skeletons

Published by RM/BBVA.
Text by Juan Villoro, Mercurio López, Helia Bonilla, Montserrat Gali, Rafael Barajas.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Posada’s death, A Century of Skeletons collects nearly 1,000 reproductions of original prints, including dozens of engravings never before published. Over the last century, Posada’s satirical illustrations with their signature "calaveras," or skeletons, have become synonymous with the imagery of Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations. Often guised in various costumes, such as the Calavera de la Catrina, the "Skull of the Female Dandy," Posada’s Calaveras also satirized the lifestyle of the Mexican upper classes during the reign of Porfirio Díaz. His prints and lithographs utilize a distinctive blend of black, white and middle tones and his works in type metal, zinc and wood make dramatic use of proportion and disproportion. Reflecting on various aspects of Posada’s life and work, this volume contains essays by Juan Villoro, Helia Bonilla, Monserrat Galí and Rafael Barajas, as well as a study by Mercurio López that organizes a significant part of Posada’s work chronologically, and with regard to the printmaking techniques employed. It also includes two complementary sections: one examining the technical transition from lead to zinc in engraving and a second giving examples of the iconographical sources for Posada’s work.

José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913) studied lithography as a young man and opened a commercial print shop in the 1870s, focusing on advertising, book illustration and broadsides. After the shop was destroyed in a flood, Posada relocated to Mexico City and began moving toward cheaper methods of printmaking. It was there that Posada began contributing his satirical cartoons to news flyers and periodicals, using his adept imagery to communicate with a largely illiterate public. Though he died virtually unknown, Posada has been acknowledged by Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco as the godfather of modern Mexican art.

Lourdes Grobet: On The Eye's Edge

Published by Turner.
Essays by Victor Muñoz and Ruben Ortiz.

One of Mexico's leading contemporary artists, Lourdes Grobet is a photographer who, for the past 20 years, has set her camera lens to look at Mexican popular culture, from female wrestling to northern emigration, from neo-Mayan architecture to Cuban immigration. Beyond photography, she has also tackled architecture, installation art and graphic design, collaborating with numerous institutions in Mexico and abroad to realize her projects. Throughout her long career, she has sometimes been associated with the Fluxus movement, and has had a great influence on the younger generations of Mexican artists, including Gabriel Orozco and Ruben Ortiz. Some of the institutions with which she has worked include the Museo de Arte Moderno of Mexico City, Museo Carrillo Gil, Museo Nacional de Arte, Museo de Bellas Artes, Museo Esteudio Diego Rivera, Fondo de Cultura Economica editorial, and Secretaria de Educacion Publica, among others. Grobet's work has been exhibited both individually and in group shows in the United States, England, France, Holland, Sweden, Venezuela, Brazil and Mexico.

Dr. Lakra

Published by RM.
Text by Dr. Lakra, Gabriel Orozco.

A refined woman gazes elegantly from the cover of a mid-twentieth-century Mexican magazine--its title, Blanca Sol, lays bare the publication's Eurocentric character--but the cover girl's loveliness is compromised by the penciled-in skull that replaces the right side of her face. In another image, a sleek gentleman who might otherwise be debonair becomes fearsome and fierce with the addition of a pattern of contoured lines, like Aztec facial tattoos, over his entire face. This is the work of Mexican artist Dr. Lakra, who superimposes mystical, ancient or funerary symbolism--gang tattoos, bones and skulls, Aztec warrior heads, spider webs, serpents and demons--onto vintage advertisements, girlie pinups, Japanese prints, baby dolls, cast skulls and the like, attaining an effect that resembles a Dia de los Muertos altar slyly erected in place of a kitchen table in the home furnishings section of a Mexico City department store. "In one way or another, the noncivilized human, the nonrefined, the primitive, is always being repressed, in a way that's almost criminal," Dr. Lakra, who also works as a tattoo artist, has said. "I think that through these themes you can define the essence of culture." This lavishly illustrated volume contains 120 color images of Lakra's work, plus a contribution from renowned Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco.

Born Jerónimo López Ramírez in 1972, Dr Lakra is an artist and tattooist based in Oaxaca, Mexico. Lakra has shown his work internationally, at Tate Modern in London, The Drawing Center and Andrew Kreps Gallery in New York, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston and elsewhere.

Dulce Pinzón: The Real Story of the Superheroes

Published by RM.

In our thirst for Hollywood action heroes and caped crusaders, we sometimes overlook the everyday heroes in our midst. U.S.–based Mexican photographer Dulce Pinzón (born 1974) pays homage to Mexican immigrant workers in New York, heroes who sacrifice extraordinary hours in extreme conditions for very low wages, all for the sake of families and communities in Mexico who rely on them to survive. The Mexican economy has quietly become dependent on the money sent from workers in the United States, while the U.S. economy has quietly become dependent on the labor of Mexican immigrants. These color photographs present these immigrants in their work environment, but dressed in the costumes of popular American and Mexican superheroes. Short texts present the worker’s “secret identity,” their hometown and the amount of money they send to their families each week.

The Eye of the Beholder: Julia Pastrana's Long Journey Home

Published by Lucia|Marquand.
Text by Laura Anderson Barbata, Jan Bondeson, Grant Kester, Bess Lovejoy, et al.

Born in Sinaloa, Mexico, Julia Pastrana (1834–1860) was a gifted singer, musician and dancer who could converse in English, Spanish and French. She also suffered from one of the most extreme cases of hypertrichosis terminalis on record and severe gingival hyperplasia: her face and body were covered with thick hair and her jaw was disproportionately large. Pastrana toured North America and Europe billed as “The Ugliest Woman in the World.” After her death, her body was exhibited throughout Europe and the US. Until her recent repatriation to Sinaloa, her body was kept at the University of Oslo, Norway. Pastrana’s story raises issues around beauty, ownership, science and racism, human rights, colonialism, sexism and indigenous rights. Artist Laura Anderson Barbata has brought together scholars and experts from various fields to explore these and other topics as they relate to Pastrana’s extraordinary story.

AVERY LOZADA | DATE 10/1/2019

Published by RM.Text by Mercurio Lopez Casillas.

PUBLISHER RM

Published by RM.Text by Masayo Nonaka.

A definitive survey of the life and work of a singularly appealing and mysterious surrealist painter

PUBLISHER RM

Published by Radius Books/D.A.P..Text by Sergio Rodríguez Blanco, George Otis.

The acclaimed photographer of African masks turns her lens to the astounding mask cultures of Mexico

PUBLISHER Radius Books/D.A.P.

Published by RM/BBVA.Text by Juan Villoro, Mercurio López, Helia Bonilla, Montserrat Gali, Rafael Barajas.

PUBLISHER RM/BBVA

Interventions and Collaborations in Stilt Dancing Communities

Published by Turner.Edited by Edward J. Sullivan, Melissa Potter. Interview by Juan García de Oteyza. Conversation with Tim Rollins.

Transcommunality celebrates Mexican artist Laura Anderson Barbata’s work with The Brooklyn Jumbies for whom she creates costumes and wearable sculptures.

PUBLISHER Turner

Published by Turner.Essays by Victor Muñoz and Ruben Ortiz.

PUBLISHER Turner

Photographs

Published by MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.Text by Kristen Gresh. Contributions by Guillermo Sheridan.

Iturbide is modern Mexico's subtlest, most profound chronicler

PUBLISHER MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Published by RM.Text by Dr. Lakra, Gabriel Orozco.

PUBLISHER RM

Published by RM.

PUBLISHER RM

Published by Lucia|Marquand.Text by Laura Anderson Barbata, Jan Bondeson, Grant Kester, Bess Lovejoy, et al.

PUBLISHER Lucia|Marquand

the art world's source for books on art & culture

Published by RM.
Text by Mercurio Lopez Casillas.

PUBLISHER
RM

Published by RM.
Text by Masayo Nonaka.

PUBLISHER
RM

Published by Radius Books/D.A.P..
Text by Sergio Rodríguez Blanco, George Otis.

PUBLISHER
Radius Books/D.A.P.

Published by RM/BBVA.
Text by Juan Villoro, Mercurio López, Helia Bonilla, Montserrat Gali, Rafael Barajas.

PUBLISHER
RM/BBVA

Published by Turner.
Edited by Edward J. Sullivan, Melissa Potter. Interview by Juan García de Oteyza. Conversation with Tim Rollins.

PUBLISHER
Turner

Published by Turner.
Essays by Victor Muñoz and Ruben Ortiz.

PUBLISHER
Turner

Published by MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Text by Kristen Gresh. Contributions by Guillermo Sheridan.

PUBLISHER
MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Published by RM.
Text by Dr. Lakra, Gabriel Orozco.

PUBLISHER
RM

PUBLISHER
RM

Published by Lucia|Marquand.
Text by Laura Anderson Barbata, Jan Bondeson, Grant Kester, Bess Lovejoy, et al.

PUBLISHER
Lucia|Marquand