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Exhibitions

Día de Muertos: A Time to Grieve & Remember :  Our 35th annual Day of the Dead exhibition honors and celebrates the lives of lost loved ones through this time-honored tradition.

September 10 – December 12, 2021 Main Gallery
Photo of painting by Marilu Alvarez called Disemia
Marilu Alvarez (b. 1972), Disemia (Dyssemia), 2020, acrylic on canvas / acrílico sobre lienzo, NMMA Permanent Collection, 2021.473, Purchased by the National Museum of Mexican Art Staff in memory of Leonard E. and Dorothy C. Meyers

The 2021 exhibition pays tribute to and remembers the numerous individuals from Mexico and the U.S. who in the past two years have died from COVID-19. During the pandemic, many of us were heartbroken to be unable to spend time with our loved ones. As we are now able to gather, we join together to grieve and remember the ones we lost during these two years. The collective act of mourning is a fundamental aspect of annual Day of the Dead commemorations, and offers a healing way to acknowledge, accept and bear the inevitable. Please join us for our 35th annual Day of the Dead exhibition to honor and celebrate the lives of lost loved ones through this time-honored tradition. In this exhibition, we invite you to contemplate this moment with new artistic expressions by local artists and site-specific installations created by artists from both sides of the US-Mexico border.

INSTALLATIONS

Sandra Cisneros, Héctor Duarte, Alejandro García Nelo, Enrique García, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Jorge A. Puch Mukul, George Rodriguez, Adam Toledo family, Yollocalli Arts Reach

 

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Josefina Aguilar, Marilu Álvarez, Marcial Ayala, Cecilia Beaven, Antonia Candelario, Ricardo Carbajal, Familia Castillo, Yreina Cervántez, Carlos Cortez, Aurelio Díaz, Shirley Fisher, Dianna Frid, Guillermo Gadda, Arturo García, Demetrio Garcia Aguilar, José Juan Garcia Aguilar, Jorge Garza, Gennaro García, Joel Hernández-Millen, Leticia Huerta, Luis Jimenez Jr., Manuel Manilla, Isabel Martinez, Roberto Montenegro, Arely Morales, Ann Murdy, Azul Nogueron, Rick Ortega, Antonio Pazaran, Fernando Ramirez, Teresa Romero, Moises Salazar, Sergio Sánchez, Juan Solís, Charles D. Townsend, José Valdez, Vincent Valdez, Gabriel Villa, Martha Villagómez, Carina Yepez


CURATOR

Cesáreo Moreno

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 black and colorful mural on the walls of the museum gallery
    1 / 10Cecilia Beaven, Mictlán - The nine levels of Mictlán, the Aztec Underworld, 2021, mural.
  • A view of the introduction text in the first gallery.
    2 / 10Visible: Background, Enrique García, All Saints Day Offering, tin. Foreground: Antonio Pazaran, Divine Science, linocut.
  • A large mixed media installation with hearts on the backdrop wall and photographs and skulls on the room long stand.
    3 / 10Alejandro García Nelo, COVID Memorial Ofrenda - In honor of all those who have died these last two years (Honramos a los que hemos perdido estos últimos dos años), 2021, Cartonería and mixed media.
  • A gallery overview with three art pieces: a Mixed media on paper, a tiles instalation, and a collection of digital prints on paper.
    4 / 10Visible (L-R): Gabriel Villa, Little Boxes, mixed media on paper; George Rodriguez, Mictlantecuhtli Offering, ceramic tiles and figures; Jorge Garza, Essential Worker Series, Digital print on paper.
  • A ceramic structure of a seated Aztec deity
    5 / 10George Rodriguez, Mictlantecuhtli Offering (Ofrenda a Mictlantecuhtli), 2020, Ceramic tiles and figures (azulejos y figuras de cerámica).
  • A view of a gallery decorated with papel picado and showcasing art installations
    6 / 10Gallery overview.
  • A bamboo structure that resembles traditional home ofrendas from the Yucatán
    7 / 10Jorge Alfredo Puch Mukul, Hanal Pixán Mayan Ofrenda dedicated to Don Armando Manzanero 1935 – 2020, 2021.
  • A painting of Vanessa Guillén is next to an ofrenda dedicated to Adam Toledo
    8 / 10Foreground Visible (L-R): Juan Solis, Our Vanessa Guillén, acrylic; The Toledo Family ( special thanks to Michelle Filippone and the Gary Elementary School Community), Ofrenda for Adam Toledo.
  • A painting by Arely Morales next to the Ofrenda by Sandra Cisneros dedicated to her mother
    9 / 10Visible (L-R): Arely Morales, Without dreams or your eyes; Sandra Cisneros, A Room of Her Own: Una Ofrenda for My Mother.
  • A large tibor is in a vitrine surrounded by installations and paintings.
    10 / 10Visible(L-R): Sandra Cisneros, A Room of Her Own: Una Ofrenda for My Mother; Aurelo Díaz, Portrait of Jesus "Chuy" Negrete; Gennaro García, Man is from the Soil, Woman from the Agave, tibor.

Exhibition Highlights

  • A bright installation with a neon and blacklight color scheme next to works on paper
    1 / 10Visible(L-R): Hector Duarte, Memorial to Homero Gómez González and Raúl Hernández Romero, activists and protectors of forests and monarch butterflies in Michoacán, México; Carlos Cortéz, Weeping for the companion; Luis Jiménez Jr., Dance with Death.
  • Two paintings on either side of a door frame into the next exhibition room
    2 / 10Foreground Visible(L-R): Vincent Valdez, Dance with Death, oil on canvas; Vincent Valdez, Remembering, oil on board.
  • A corner with three paintings on display.
    3 / 10Foreground Visible (L-R): Marilu Alvarez, Dyssemia, 2020, Acrylic; Marcial Camilo Ayala, Road to Heaven, 2008, Acrylic; Ricardo Carbajal Moss, Procession, 2002, Acrylic.
  • Two paintings are left of a vitrine with various polychrome ceramic objects.
    4 / 10Visible (L-R): Arturo García, The Offering to Our Deceased, 2013, oil on linen; Rick Ortega, Spirit of Cihuateteo, 2018, oil on canvas; collection of polychrome ceramic figurines.
  • Various installations of art against the wall.
    5 / 10Visible (L-R): Joel Hernandez, If they let us, 2021; Moises Salazar, Pray for us, 2021; Yollocalli Youth Council, Brown People for Black Lives, 2020; Marilu Alvarez, Dyssemia, 2020.
  • A large paper maché installation that reads: Brown People for Black Lives.
    6 / 10Yollocalli Youth Council, Participants: Whitney Ross (adult lead), Nayehli Blanco, Jennifer Garcia, Jennifer Gonzalez, Mariah Martinez, Sylvia Merie Meraz, Emmanuel Ramirez & Ash Vasquez, Brown People for Black Lives (Personas morenas en apoyo de las vidas negras), 2020, mixed media.
  • Foreground: An installation of chairs, each with a picture on the chair back, in a circle on a black platform.
    7 / 10Visible (L-R): Amalia Mesa-Bains, Circle of Ancestors; Leticia Huerta, Élégie; Dianna Frid, word from the Obituaries Series; Carina Yepez in collaboration with María Herrera, Ofelia Lara.
  • Corner with four pieces of art: a serigraph print, two embroidered graphite paper on canvas, and a mixed media on cotton.
    8 / 10Visible (L-R): Leticia Huerta, Élégie, serigraph; Dianna Frid, "Words from Obituaries" Series, embroidered graphite paper; Carina Yepez in collaboration with María Herrera, Ofelia Lara, Mixed media.
  • A long view of the chair installationfeaturing the chairs, a few picture frames arranged into a circle with ten candles, marigolds, and sugar skulls in the center.
    9 / 10Visible (L-R): Amalia Mesa-Bains, Circle of Ancestors, 2020-21, Mixed Media.
  • A monitor that rotates through images of people who have passed next to a ceramic structure
    10 / 10Visible (L-R): Screen memoriam, Tribute to Yolanda m. López, Demetrio García Aguilar, Plaza de flores II, Polychrome ceramic and wire.

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City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
The Joyce Foundation
Chicago Park District
Illinois Arts Council a State Agency

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