The Day of the Dead
Yes, I do realize that the Day of the Dead has passed but this weekend I was able to go to the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Pilsen (a neighborhood of Chicago) to see their Day of the Dead exhibit that runs until Dec.10th. The exhibit was an homage to celebrate the lives of three Mexican artists who had some connection to Chicago who have unfortunately passed away recently: Ed Paschke, Carlos Cortez, and Allen Stringfellow. Each piece was a type of offering or ofrenda that reminded me somewhat of shrines. It was an artistic celebration based around the mature understanding that death is just a natural part of life; not really an ending either as some see it. This exhibit did a great job of not only capturing and celebrating these three artists with words and art but also discussing the traditions of the Day of the Dead in Mexico and how symbolic and important it is in terms philisophical ideas about life and death. Click to see more of the ofrendas and other pieces from the Mexican American Art Museum.
Above is an ofrenda for Allen Stringfellow that features a representation of a red skeleton that is seen at the beginning of this blog.
above is a Day of the Dead painting I really felt drawn to by the artist Mark Vallen.
The next three are donations to the Mexican Fine Art Center Museum from Cortez’s family including his furniture, books, albums, and art. I almost felt like I knew him by being in this large room just full of him.
above: a piece commemorating the life of Cesar Chávez. There were actually many political pieces in the gallery’s permanent collection that I liked including political activist art prints of a woman named Favianna Rodriguez that I really liked. In general, political topics covered were how indigenous Mexicans are treated by the government, the early settlement of Texas and the Spanish American War, the development of Mexico City into a large urban area and those effects, the effects of mass production and corporations, and a statement against the Iraq War.
above: a devil piece by Juan Horta. The description for this piece included a narrative describing the relationship between the Devil and Jesus as Christian Mexicans see it. According to the narrative, they believe that Jesus could not exist without the Devil. Even more interesting is the fact that in a typical Mexican nativity scene, you’ll see the Devil actually present.