Images of Death in Mexican Prints (Library of Mexican Illustrators/ Biblioteca de Ilustradores Mexicanos)

by Mercurio Casillas (Contributor), Gregory Dechant (Foreword)

Over the past two centuries, Mexican culture has kept up a unique dialogue with the fact of death, rather than defying it as most contemporary cultures are wont to do. Today, Mexico even boasts a Museum of Death (in Aguascalientes), filled with pre-Columbian sculpture and pottery, reproductions of ancient Indian codices depicting human sacrifices, colonial-era artworks, skeletons, artisan’s toys and works by the countless Modern artists who have treated the theme. It is, of course, in Mexico’s arts that the blend of respect and irreverence for death and the afterlife is made most clear. Here, Mercurio López Casillas, expert on nineteenth-century Mexican graphic art and the author of studies of José Guadalupe Posada and Manuel Manilla, surveys the subject from pre-Hispanic times to the comic pages of contemporary Mexican newspapers. López Casillas examines the long tradition of representing death and skeleton figures that leads up to Posada, and traces the influence of this great popular engraver in the work of many other twentieth-century artists, including those of the Taller de Gráfica Popular workshop, like Leopoldo Méndez. Readers of this richly illustrated book will also be fascinated by early colonial examples of calaveras, or skeleton caricatures. Images of Death is a colorful and lively deterrent against our habitual inclination to take the Grim Reaper too seriously. For enthusiasts of Mexican folk art, underground comics, tattoo art, the occult and more.

Genres: Art

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2008

Reviews

[Carole]

information for collaboration with nilay in mexico city this summer-
meals ready to eat for the dead anyone?

[Ernest Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art of the calavera! From preColumbian to modern times! Often shown as they were originally published, as broadsides with satirical poems. Just the thing for Día de los Muertos.