Mexican Day of the Dead Artwork
from Fausto's Art Gallery
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Another insane Day of the Dead work of art by the self-described “King of Taco Deco”, Bryant “Eduardo”
Holman, of Fausto's Art Gallery, in Ojinaga, Chihuahua.
Our bartender is pouring your drink for you, while his customers are toasting your health. There is plenty of tequila on the shelf in case your drink gets stale on you.The interior is properly decorated with traditional Mexican artwork - like a gallery. This bar is defininitely a delight, and it is must for anyone’s Day of the Dead collection, because these works are originals that you can’t get anywhere but here - because we design them and make them!
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This skeleton changarro has three calaveras, all ready for the feast. Frida Kahlo is serving up the tacos and hot sauce. There are
several milagros in the frame, which help make the whole thing look like an antique. All sorts of interesting uniquely Mexican art
decorates the scene. I think these guys are ready to eat. They look like they are starved!! You can see their ribs already!!
Day of Dead art, specifically the use of calaveras as a way of burlesquing persons and institutions which were normally protected by censorship laws is a tradition that goes back very far, with both roots in the European and Indian traditions of Mexico. The Indian roots are mostly with the dual nature deities, whose “death side” was indicated by skeletal figures - the most famous survivor of that tradition is “La Santisima Muerte”. The European roots go back to the danse macabre and to the work of Hans Holbien the Younger - of whom the great Mexican illustrator Guadalupe Posada might be said to have carried on his traditions and brought them back to life.
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These are four Day of the Dead "nichos", or shadow boxes - dioramas. They are typical of the highthearted satire that is classic in
Mexican Day of the Dead art. The uppermost shows three skeletons musicians, mariachis, or mote likely street musicans commonly
known as "pepenados" - the "Trio Los Pepes". The second is a typical Day of the Dead theme - a bride and a groom at their wedding.
The legend says "Until Death do us part". The third is not a diorama - it is a Day of the Dead Carmen Miranda! Do yourself and click
on the picture and check out the description page - it will knock your socks off!! And the last also not really a diorama, but rather it is
the bride and groom we see in the wedding chapel there, at the moment that he proposed to her and brought her flowers. "Marry me
and we will live happily ever after", he is telling her. By the way, in case you don't recognize these people, they are very famous - he is
"El Baron del Cemetario" and she is "La Catrina".
Day of Dead art, specifically the use of calaveras as a way of burlesquing persons and institutions which were normally protected by censorship laws is a tradition that goes back very far, with both roots in the European and Indian traditions of Mexico. The Indian roots are mostly with the dual nature deities, whose “death side” was indicated by skeletal figures - the most famous survivor of that tradition is “La Santisima Muerte”. The European roots go back to the danse macabre and to the work of Hans Holbien the Younger - of whom the great Mexican illustrator Guadalupe Posada might be said to have carried on his traditions and brought them back to life.
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This little item was made because I felt the need to create something along these lines - two skeletons
sitting at a table eating and drinking. One of the central functions of a Day of the Dead altar is the offering of food to the deceased, so
it is only natural that they should be shown enjoying their meal. After all, if you look at these two, it looks like they must be famished
- you can see their ribs!
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Maybe we should call this guy the "Dead Baron". Baron von RickyRicardo? Anyway, I just had to try out this idea - he flies through the night from the Land of the Dead, mambo music blasting through his radio - wait - they didn't have that stuff during WW1, did they. Oh, well - there is a legend that Pancho Villa had a captured American airplane, but I doubt if that is true. The Mexicans captured one and held the pilot for ransom, but Villa had nothing to do with that. This plane is painted in the color of Von Richthofen's famous Fokker DR-1 triplane (he flew an Albatross D-3 before that). His helmet and goggles are painted on, and the plane is decorted with more skulls and with glitter. If you are feeling artful, you can add more decoration yourself. If you want to buy a bunch of unpainted ones and really get busy decorating, let me know and I will make you a deal.
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Click on photo to see larger view and purchase information. This guy is very much like the above item, only smaller and styled a little differently. Click on the image and read the write-up! It will crack you up...
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This awesome painted skull is done in the garish style of most Mexican folk art, particularly that of the region around Oaxaca and
Guerrero. The skull is about the most important symbol in Mexican Day of the Dead Culture, because it symbolizes the soul. The
idea is that, just as the bones remain after the flesh has been rotted away, to does the soul remain after the body is discarded.
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The Day of the Dead artists used the figure of the skeleton to burlesque and lampoon the powers that be - and so did Posada, whose
works were actually political cartoons that reflected a social viewpoint that was traditionally expressed in this type of art. Other artists
before Posada in Mexico were also doing the same thing, and he had contemporaries who did also, and some of these persons have
had their work confused with that of Posada.
Even stories from the Bible are not exempt from the kind of playful parodies that calaveras typically display. In this scene, our Adam and Eve are in front of the Tree of Knowledge which it turns out is a nopal cactus, and Eve is offering Adam a cactus fruit - or “tuna” as they are called. Even the serpent is a calavera!
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Click on photo to see larger view. |
The Day of the Dead artists used the figure of the skeleton to burlesque and lampoon the powers that be - and so did Posada, whose
works were actually political cartoons that reflected a social viewpoint that was traditionally expressed in this type of art. Other artists
before Posada in Mexico were also doing the same thing, and he had contemporaries who did also, and some of these persons have
had their work confused with that of Posada.
This little item is a very common motif in Day of the Dead art. We got the idea from a photo in a book on the subject. It shows a group of skeletons carrying a coffin away to the graveyard. $16.99 dollars plus $6.00 shipping and handling |
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Smaller Day of the Dead Pallbearers with Coffin
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This is a smaller version, styled differently, with hand carved wooden figures.
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This guy is perfect to dress up your Day of the Dead altar. The Grim Reaper, however, if the truth be known (because I don’t want to
be labeled as a dillettante here) is not a traditional Mexican icon. He is even pointing at you with his little boney finger, in case you
have any doubts as to whom he is talking to! We put him in his own little nicho, as if he were St. Francis or something, all dressed up
in his little monk suit - like the Grim Reaper likes to dress, as we all well know.
The Indian roots of the Day of the Dead are mostly with the dual nature deities, whose “death side” was indicated by skeletal figures - the most famous survivor of that tradition is “La Santisima Muerte”. The folk saint “La Santisima Muerte” is usually depicted these days with all of the blandishments of the Grim Reaper, and the figurines that most curanderas and brujas use for their spells looks exactly like the Grim Reaper. “La Santisima Muerte” is like a skeleton version of the Virgin Mary - a female saint with awesome powers, in Mexican folklore.
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These Mexican clay pipes have some really cool figurines attached to them which based on pre-Columbian archeological finds. I buy
them from the Indian woman who makes them, down in Central Mexico. She is keeping alive a family tradition dating back to before
the time of Columbus. They are about five and a half inches long, and they feature figurines known as “calaveras”, or Day of the Dead
figures - skeletons - although the skeleton figure dates from Pre Hispanic times, and was a famous Indian motif. The design of the
pipes is probably rooted in the Tolteca culture of the ancient Valley of Mexico so-called "Classic Period"
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Day of the Dead art is almost completely identified with the work of Guadalupe Posada - whose incredible engravings dominate the
popular imagination and provide and easy source of rich illustrative material to express this marvelous world of Mexican folk culture.
This is one of Posada’s most famous calaveras - “Gran Fandango de las Calaveras” - a scene of drinking, partying, and dancing on
the night of the Day of the Dead - when the departed souls come back to enjoy themselves one last time with way they did when they
were still among us. This is one of the most fun representations of calaveras that Posada or any other artist has produced. It definitely
harks directly back to the Danse Macabre - although this one is so much fun that I can hardly be termed “macabre” - except for those
who are just too squeamish about calaveras to enjoy Day of the Dead art! This is hand painted!
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This coffin is hand made and hand painted. Open up the lid and there is a cute little skeleton inside! This fits nicely into any Day of
the Dead theme, plus it is a great item for people who are into Gothic stuff and enything along those lines. We make these ourselves
at our little shop at Fausto's Art Gallery. The skeleton is made from rock-hard dental plaster, and it is painted by hand with acrylic
paint by our artisans. All of these pieces are designed by folk artist Bryant "Eduardo" Holman.
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For the Day of the Dead in Mexico, it is sometimes hard to get fresh flowers. They are usually quite expensive and the selection is not
very good. So people have made up for that by making paper flowers, which they use to decorate their altars - known as
ofrendas, and also to decorate the graves of their loved ones. We sell these the year round because people use them for a lot
of other purposes - such as wedding and party decorations, for instance. We have these made exclusively for us, and I doubt it you
will find anything quite like these, especially with or selection and our prices.
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This little item is just a little esoteric, but let me explain the elements. This is a figure popular in the folk art of New Mexico, and this
probably has to do with the region of Spain from whence most of the colonists came in the early 17th century. It shows a skeleton
driving an oxcart, and the ox is also a skeleton. It is understood that he is making trip to the cemetery to take the dead there. He is
sort of like a Grim Reaper, as far as his role in life (in death, actually).
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