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Exhibitions

Día de Muertos: :  A Spiritual Legacy

September 21 – December 9, 2018
Three rows of skulls, the skulls hang on rope held by human hands at both ends. Blue sky background with floral lining the bottom.
Lorena Ramírez Quiroz, ¡Silencio! Te vamos a encontrar, 2018, oil pastel on canvas.

The Day of the Dead celebration is deeply rooted in the ancient Pre-Cuauhtémoc cultures that believed in life after death and a spiritual existence in the cosmos. After the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, the remembrance of the faithful departed was primarily observed on All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days (November 1 & 2) throughout Colonial Mexico. Today, many Mexican communities north of the US/Mexico border participate in the traditions of Day of the Dead by gathering in cultural spaces to honor and remember their loved ones.

We invite visitors to come see the one-of-a-kind displays of traditional and contemporary works of art, and join us in celebrating life by remembering the dearly departed members of your community. Among the many installations this year will also be an ofrenda from the Parkland, Florida community that underwent a horrific loss of 17 lives this year at the Stoneman Douglas High School.

Participating Artists

Pilar Acevedo, Alberto Aguilar, Miguel “Kane one” Aguilar, Mary J. Andrade, Atlan Arceo-Witzl, René Arceo, Héctor Barrón, Yreina D. Cervantez, Antonio Felipe Calendaria, Mario E. Castillo, Mariano Chavez, Alejandro Colunga, Raúl Cruz “Racrufi”, Salvador Dominguez, Martha Gabriela Driessen, Sandra Díaz, Sabrina Elias Felipe, Ofelia Esparza, Rosanna E. Esparza, Luis Fitch, Esperanza Gama, Cecilia Gomez Lauria, Sergio Gomez, Ricardo Gonzalez, Silvia Gonzalez, Joan D. Hackett, Paulina Jaimes, Nicolás de Jesús, Sam Kirk, Ricardo Linares G., Analú López, Aydeé López Martínez, Raúl López-Reyes, Ivan Lozano, Jorge Lucero, Felix “Flex” Maldonado, Nicole Marroquín, Carlomagno Pedro Martínez, César Augusto Martínez, Gerardo Monterrubio, Ann Murdy, Yvette Mayorga, Alejandro Nava, Joseph “Sentrock” Perez, Katia Perez, Rodrigo Pimentel, Jenny Priego, Lorena Ramírez Quiroz, Marcos Raya, Artemio Rodríguez, Alejandro Romero, Luis A. Sahagun, Jax E. Sanders,, Diana Solís, Luis de la Torre, Georgina Valverde, Angelina Villanueva, Roman & Maria Villarreal, and Stitches of the Soul

Mural Artist

Rubén Aguirre

Ofrendas & Installations

Blanca Estela Tinoco (for the Museo Local de Artes e Industrias Populares de Pátzcuaro, INAH, Michoacán), Silverio Feliciano Reyes, Sarmiento & José Antonio Cazabal Castro (Puebla), Juan Carlos Torres González & Dr. Pedro Ibarra Mosqueda (Mexico City), Manuel & Patricia Oliver (Parkland, Florida), Sybil Venegas & Christopher Velasco (California), Victoria Tapia, Monica Cisneros & Estrella Cruz (Chicago), Matthew Gallistel Language Academy, Chicago Public School

Curator

Dolores Mercado & Cesáreo Moreno

Organizing Institution

National Museum of Mexican Art

Displayed at

National Museum of Mexican Art Main Gallery

Gallery Views

All images below are a glimpse into the exhibition for those who could not attend in person. Photo credit: Michael Tropea.

Exhibition Highlights

  • A Display of suitcases; each decorated to each artists’ taste as to demonstrate what they would pack for the afterlife.
    1 / 10Opening Gallery of the Dia De Muertos: A Spiritual Legacy Exhibition. A collaborative art piece featuring multiple artists’ work. Mixed Media. 2018.
  • A detailed shot of the suitcases on display on the left side of the opening text.
    2 / 10Suitcases on the left side; each suitcase decorated to answer the prompt: Consider what things you would pack to take with you into the next world or spiritual dimension.
  • A detailed shot of the suitcases on display on the right side of the opening text.
    3 / 10Suitcases on the right side; featuring what each artist would take into the afterlife.
  • The artwork on display in the first gallery of the exhibition.
    4 / 10Visible (L-R): Juan Carlos Torres González and Dr. Pedro Ibarra Mosqueda, Camino al Mictlán, Mixed Media; René H. Arceo, Tlatelolco, Five decades , 2018, linocut on paper.
  • Two framed art pieces on a wall; one depicts fishlike creatures in water, the other: a skeleton figure with feathery floral behind it.
    5 / 10Mario Castillo, Xibalbá: The Eye of Life in the Midst of a Whirlpool of Death, 2018, archival pigment print; Rodrigo Pimentel, Convivencia, 1995, oil on canvas.
  • Ocumicho Ceramics in a glass case with framed photographs to the right; artwork displayed in a pink gallery room.
    6 / 10Ocumicho Ceramics Collection; Mary Andrade, Mixquic, 1989, cibachrome print; Ann Murdy, Enfrente de la tumba en Ihuatzio, 2009, Photo; Ann Murdy, Circle of Candles in Pacanda, 2010, Photo.
  • Exhibiting items: A Traditional altar, Photographs, and mixed media pieces displayed in a pink gallery room.
    7 / 10A gallery overview.
  • A white ofrenda with a golden fabric backdrop, decorative with references to Mexica culture and Catholic traditions.
    8 / 10An ofrenda surrounded by photographs of different Altars.
  • A three fourth right perspective view of the white ofrenda previously mentioned.
    9 / 10An alternative view of the Ofrenda, Day of the Dead ofrenda in the Nahua Tradition, Huaquechula, Puebla by Joan Hackett Romero.
  • A colorful Serigraph depicting an Ofrenda next to an Altar displaying blue children's dresses, photographics, flowers and papeles picados.
    10 / 10Ofelia Esparza, Rosanna E. Esparza, and Jax E. Sanders , Ofrenda, 2012, Serigraph. Victoria Tapia, Monica Cisneros and Estella Cruz, Altar for Raquel M. Ontiveros , Mixed Media.

Exhibition Highlights

  • An altar for Raquel Ontiveros, and an acrylic painting depicting people under the night stars celebrating with music, food, and dance.
    1 / 10Victoria Tapia, Monica Cisneros and Estella Cruz, Altar for Raquel M. Ontiveros, Mixed Media; Nicolás de Jesús, La ofrenda, 2009, acrylic on canvas.
  • An altar decorated with photos, papeles picados, butterflies, and blue lights; dynamic paintings depicting: a stone warrior, a stone lady with a halo, and a stone skeleton.
    2 / 10Matthew Gallistel Language Academy, Chicago Public School, Ofrenda for Mrs. Edith Padilla, 2018, Mixed Media; Collection of Raúl Cruz “Racrufi” Acrylic paintings.
  • A collection of paoier-mache figurines; mostly skulls.
    3 / 10(Far left): Ricardo Linares G., Collection of polychrome papier- mache.
  • A display case filled with a variety of children's toys and figurines.
    4 / 10In memory of the children who recently (2018) died in a Little Village House fire.
  • A mural depicting Joaquín “Guac” Oliver with a megaphone surrounded by flowers. Foreground: a statue of a kid hiding underneath a classroom desk.
    5 / 10Patricia and Manuel Oliver, La Lucha Sigue, 2018, Mixed Media. An ofrenda dedicated to the 17 Parkland Florida shooting victims.
  • A round terracotta object painted with imagery of dogs; An etching depicting a crowd with disfigured masked faces.
    6 / 10(Far right, Visible: L -R): Gerardo Monterrubio, Lepto, 2017, Terracotta; Alejandro Romero, Día de los Muertos, 1980, etching.
  • Artworks on display: cacti in desert, skeleton cooking fish, and standing figure with a skull head.
    7 / 10(Visible L-R): César A. Martínez, Dando vida, 1999, linocut; Alejandro Nava, Sin título, 1988, woodcut on nonwoven fabric; Carlomagno Pedro Martínez, Sin título, prior to 2007, black ceramic.
  • Artwork depictions: skeleton people surrounding a long table feast, collection of three color prints, an altar for a photographer. Center of altar: portrait of artist in the desert.
    8 / 10(Visible L-R): Artemio Rodríguez, Noche infinita, 2001, woodcut; Luis Fitch, Collection of serigraphs; Sybil Venegas and Christopher Velasco, Take me to the River, Altar for Laura Aguilar, 2018.
  • A collection of artworks hang on the wall of a pink gallery space.
    9 / 10Gallery view.
  • An art piece consisting of: A collection of woodcuts of a butterfly, framed and laid out to form the shape of a butterfly.
    10 / 10Sandra Díaz, Presagio, 2015, woodcut.

Digital Announcement

Files Listing