Nicolás De Jesús - Grandeurs et décadences/The ball of the hallucinated carcasses

June 23rd, 2009

I am pretty excited about this exhibition that’s on until the 29th of June (so go this week!!) at the Centre Culturel Simón Bolívar, 394 de Maisonneuve ouest (métro Place-des-Arts). I’ve heard of neither the artist nor the venue, hence my inner sense of mystery is already stirred.

The show itself is part of the First Peoples’ Festival 2009, (which officially ended Monday) and presents the prints of Mexican artist Nicolas De Jesus.

I am a big fan of traditional printmaking and Jesus’ art is reminiscent to me (at least of what I’ve seen) of some of the art of the grotesque artists that I am really quite fond of, more-than-friendly neighbours you wish would eat at your house every day.

Here’s a write-up from the Festival website about Jesus’ work:

Born on December 6, 1960 in the Nahua region of the state of Guerrero, in Mexico, Nicolás developed his art in a family setting among the Ameyaltepec community, where the tradition of visual art on amatepaper has flourished for a long time. Nicolás’ work reflects a broad spectrum of personal experiences, from his origins in a traditional village to exile among immigrants transplanted in the USA. Through his prints, Nicolás defends his cultural identity and takes a critical view of planetary reality, through the prism of political tragicomedy. One of Nicolás’ intentions is to raise popular consciousness through art, for liberatory ends, motivating the work he does on murals in Mexico’s Aboriginal communities.

In October 2008, the artist donated this series of prints to the Committee for the Reconstruction of Petanac for fundraising purposes. All sales are earmarked for the reconstruction of this village of the department of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, razed by the Guatemalan army on July 14, 1982 after the massacre of its inhabitants, during an anti-insurrectional and state terrorist campaign.

The venue is open from Monday to Friday from noon to 7 pm so take a long lunch or quit your job to go.