long horizontal landscape with a parade facing R of horses, bears, griffith, ridden by figures in elaborate costume with oversized stylized heads who are holding staffs, scales, musical instruments; green grassy ground below and blue sky above in which floats imagery from indigenous cultures of North America, Meso-America, and Africa; three banners with lettering at L, C, and R; to R of center is portrait of person in feathered headdress with flesh flayed from neck down, one arm outstretched dropping gold coins from hand

The Waters of Oblivion in Mictlán, 2021

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Enrique Chagoya is renowned for his biting political and social satire that exposes the foibles, shortcomings, and corruption of contemporary life. Using found and repurposed cultural, historical, and mythological imagery, Chagoya creates complex, open-ended narratives that invite subjective interpretations. Chagoya explains his approach: "My codex books are based on the idea that history is told by those who win wars. Previous historic accounts are erased, destroyed or buried in oblivion. A new official story is invented in order to justify the new reality of events. Cultures are transformed and often completely destroyed by conquering ones. The world is endlessly re-mapped and re-named, with new rules and rulers in recurrent holocausts. New 'world orders' come and go in the middle of ideological frenzy. The 20th century has been perhaps the most violent in the world's history. Human kind is in constant war with itself, perfectly capable of total destruction. This is the raw material for my art. Since from this perspective history is an ideological construction, I decided to invent my own account of the many possible stories--from Cortez to the border patrol--in my own visual language. I mix pre-Columbian mythology with Catholic icons, American comics and images of ethnic stereotypes."

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Details
Title
The Waters of Oblivion in Mictlán
Artist Life
American (born Mexico), born 1953
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2023.44.5
Curator Approved

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long horizontal landscape with a parade facing R of horses, bears, griffith, ridden by figures in elaborate costume with oversized stylized heads who are holding staffs, scales, musical instruments; green grassy ground below and blue sky above in which floats imagery from indigenous cultures of North America, Meso-America, and Africa; three banners with lettering at L, C, and R; to R of center is portrait of person in feathered headdress with flesh flayed from neck down, one arm outstretched dropping gold coins from hand
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