Title
Secuencia Del Nacimiento
Creator
Description
Michael Menchaca, Secuencia Del Nacimiento, 2011, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Drs. Harriett and Ricardo Romo, 2019.50.32, © MMXX, Michael Menchaca
Subject
Date
Type
Graphic Arts
Format
Contributor
Annotation
This flat screen print is presented as an obscure reenactment of a feline giving birth accompanied by several codex symbols. The fourteen kittens swim upstream on a white sea of placenta, each wearing a hat representing various occupations. Despite the vibrant fusion of colors, the piece showcases the kittens forcibly pushed out into the world with a pre-determine occupation and identity. The feline cat's yellow paws indicate a certain direction as if to guide the kittens. The image symbolically represents Mexican immigrant parents who move to the United States with the intent of better economic and job opportunities for their children.
Menchaca expressed the issues with immigration in the United States and the federal policies that impact immigrants through his signature motif of mustachioed cats and vibrant, Mesoamerican-inspired codex-styled icons. He produces a borderlands aesthetic by combining modern with ancient art. Various pop culture media has influenced his creativity and can be seen through his six color choices and visual vocabulary with intentional dominance of certain colors. (Author: Miranda de la Torre)
Menchaca expressed the issues with immigration in the United States and the federal policies that impact immigrants through his signature motif of mustachioed cats and vibrant, Mesoamerican-inspired codex-styled icons. He produces a borderlands aesthetic by combining modern with ancient art. Various pop culture media has influenced his creativity and can be seen through his six color choices and visual vocabulary with intentional dominance of certain colors. (Author: Miranda de la Torre)
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