The third special exhibit that I saw at the National Museum of Art last week was a tribute to the Mexican artist Rodrigo Pimentel. Pimentel died last year at the age of 77.
Of the three artists whose works I saw at the museum, I liked Pimentel the best. His paintings are vibrant and colorful and are inspired by Pre-Hispanic mythology, folklore, and the landscape of Mexico.
"Tezcatlipoca" 2010
Tezcatlipoca was the Aztec god of the night, and he was represented by a jaguar.
"Nopal" (Prickly Pear Cactus) 1991
I didn't notice at first the eagle's talons on top of the cactus or the tail of the snake... a reference to Mexico's national symbol, an eagle perched on a cactus devouring a serpent.
"Agua" (Water) 1995
I could be mistaken, but those circles in the center seem to be a reference to the round eyes of Tlaloc, the Aztec rain god.
"Coatlicue" 1990
Coatlicue was the mother goddess of the Aztec religion.
There is a monumental statue of her in the Anthropology Museum which portrays her with a head consisting of two serpents. She wears a skirt of serpents and a necklace of human hearts and hands.
"Man of Corn" 1998
In Mayan mythology, the gods created humans from corn.
"Avalanche" 2002
"Pilgrims" 1992
"Coexistence" 1995
"Warrior" 1990
The Order of the Jaguars was an elite group of soldiers in the Aztec military. They wore jaguar uniforms.
"Free Thinker" 1990
Pimentel did a number of landscapes portraying Mexican volcanoes.
"The Eruption of Popocatépetl" 2012
"Paricutín" 2014
Paricutín is a volcano that emerged in the middle of a cornfield in 1943 and grew to a mountain of over 9000 feet in elevation.
"In Full Sun" 2018
This painting shows the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl which stand side by side to the east of Mexico City.
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