Nicolás De Jesús : a Mexican artist for global justice

"This publication accompanies the exhibition 'Nicolás De Jesús: a Mexican artist for global justice' curated by Patrice Giasson at the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, SUNY, February 23-May 15, 2022"--title page verso



"Explores the work and artistic career of contemporary Mexican artist Nicolás De Jesús. Raised in a Nahua village in Guerrero, Mexico, De Jesús is well-known for his etchings on amate—a bark paper used in Pre-Columbian times to paint manuscripts—featuring ironical skeleton-characters celebrating, walking the streets, crossing borders, or fighting for justice. Picking up on the calavera tradition around the Day of the Dead celebrations held every November 1st and 2nd, these works enter the register of the political satire initiated by José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913), a skillful etcher and caricaturist who portrayed with laughter and wit the abuses of the Porfirio regime and the Mexican aristocracy on the eve of the Mexican Revolution (1910–20). The exhibition showcases some of the artist’s most iconic graphic work and powerful political street banners alongside an astonishing series of recent, monumental, colorful paintings in which De Jesús addresses crises specific to the United States, including the storming of the US Capitol, the repression faced by migrants and African Americans, and the disasters of COVID 19. Covering three decades of the artist’s career, this exhibition offers a challenge to the conventional definition of contemporary art"--Exhibition website, May 26, 2022