Title
Dos Migratos
Creator
Description
Michael Menchaca, Dos Migratos, 2016, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Drs. Harriett and Ricardo Romo, 2019.50.28, © MMXX, Michael Menchaca
Subject
Date
Type
Graphic Arts
Format
Contributor
Annotation
In this screen print, two female cats stand side by side, each with a cell phone and one with a cigarette. They are each dressed in alternative fashion styles; one is more gothic and the other punk. The background is a dark fuschia, with the outline of Joy Divisions’ “Unknown Pleasures” album cover. Below them are four symmetrical cat skulls, and above them, five circles in a curve. Between them, there are crossed bones.
Michael Menchaca takes inspiration from folk art and the “Codex Mendoza,” a collection of drawings and phrases created for Emperor Charles V of Spain, which explained and distinguished the Indigenous people after the conquest of Mesoamerica. Similar to the Codex, Menchaca uses flat imagery and symbols to tell a story and familiarize himself with Mexican history. In a 2017 interview, the artist stated, “I never wanted to do anything that had to do with my heritage because I felt that was just expected of me. I just ended up drawing a cat, and then added a mustache… I started researching Mexican folk art, and I realized how out of touch I am with my own culture.” This work represents a borderlands fusion of artistic tradition and modern popular culture. (Author: Andi Quintana)
Michael Menchaca takes inspiration from folk art and the “Codex Mendoza,” a collection of drawings and phrases created for Emperor Charles V of Spain, which explained and distinguished the Indigenous people after the conquest of Mesoamerica. Similar to the Codex, Menchaca uses flat imagery and symbols to tell a story and familiarize himself with Mexican history. In a 2017 interview, the artist stated, “I never wanted to do anything that had to do with my heritage because I felt that was just expected of me. I just ended up drawing a cat, and then added a mustache… I started researching Mexican folk art, and I realized how out of touch I am with my own culture.” This work represents a borderlands fusion of artistic tradition and modern popular culture. (Author: Andi Quintana)
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