Maya M(i)X

Soviet playing cards with Maya-inspired designs

Easily among the most baffling pieces of cross-cultural pollination is the popularity of Maya motifs during the Soviet era in Russia. Case in point: This Maya-inspired deck of playing cards, designed by an unknown Soviet artist in the middle of the 20th century.

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Vértigo Galería celebrates

Inauguration TZOMPANTLI GRÁFICO – October 13, 8PM in Vértigo Galería

Tzompantli Gráfico is a collective exhibition featuring the work of over 50 Mexican and international artists associated with graphic art in diverse fields including illustration, graffiti, comics, design and contemporary art.  The collective, organized by Vértigo Galería and 1000Changos - graphic illustrator, celebrates the gallery’s second anniversary.

Each artist’s creative contribution to the exhibition will express his/her conception of death, culminating in a fascinating mosaic of images, concepts and designs.

Vértigo Galería

Colima 23 Loc. A, Colonia Roma, Mexico DF

www.vertigogaleria.com

Vocabulary

Tzompantli, from the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, refers to a row or wall made of skulls, typically from war captives or people who were offered to god’s as sacrifice in Pre-hispanic culture.   The heads, still bleeding, were placed one after the other on wooden stakes to create the wall.

         

Skeletons and skulls are very prevalent in Mexican culture, art and design and an important part of Day of the Dead celebrations.  Is there a difference in symbolism when they form part of a wall versus when shown individually?

Sacred Brew: Cervecería Sagrada – José Guízar

Lucha Libre design by José Guízar

The Cerveceria Sagrada combines the full flavors of Mexican craft beer with a design aesthetic inspired by Lucho Libre, Mexico’s professional wrestling known for its elaborate masks, ‘high-flying’ moves, and general kitschy-ness.

Designer Guízar created labels inspired by the masks of some of the most famous luchadores ever to grace the wrestling ring: Rey Negro (the Black King), Güero Gomez (Blond Gomez), and El Hijo del Vampiro (the Vampire’s Son).

…the golden era of lucha in the 1950′s, when movie heroes were not Superman or the X Men, but El Santo and his wingmen, fighting creepy monsters on a silver ’52 Alfa Romeo with surf music in the background. – José Guízar

Cervecería Sagrada – José Guízar.