José Guadalupe Posada

Legendary Printmaker of Mexico


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Traveling Exhibition Tour


Organized by
The Catalina Island Museum, Avalon, CA

in association with

The Posada Art Foundation
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- DATES AVAILABLE -
2024 - 2027


 

News

Posada Tour Continues with Presentation at the
ARLINGTON MUSEUM OF ART
Arlington, TX, Fall 2023






José Guadalupe Posada
Legendary Printmaker of Mexico



Installation at Catalina Island Museum, 2017







Posada Exhibition Tour
Presentation at Cleve Carney Art Gallery,
McAnnich Art Center, College of Dupage

Glen Ellyn, IL, July 2019

- Click on Image to View Video -



 

José Guadalupe Posada
Legendary Printmaker of Mexico




Posada & Son

One of Mexico’s most celebrated artists was a printmaker, a common man who died a pauper, his body interred in an unmarked grave.  Yet, José Guadalupe Posada reached his countrymen through perhaps more than 20,000 images documenting nearly every aspect of life. As Mexico modernized in the late 19th century, its capital bustled with published materials to satisfy the growing metropolis and its budding middle class, intelligentsias, and thousands of new residents relocating from the countryside.  Employed by the visionary publisher Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, Posada created expressive images reflecting and informing the transitioning culture of Mexico City’s residents, many of whom were illiterate. Posada’s satirical skeletons, or calaveras, have become the most iconic and celebrated of his work.

Posada’s art lampooned politicians, recorded vivid images of the Mexican Revolution, inspired Mexico's famed Taller Grafica Popular to use art for social causes, helped the Cuban Revolution succeed, adorned concert tickets for the Grateful Dead and today leaps to life annually as the skeletal images seen during Day of the Dead, so popular now that even Disney and Pixar are planning a Day of the Dead animation film. Yet Posada’s influence is rarely associated with his name, his true story virtually unknown.

Decades after his death, art historians and artists continue to recognize Posada’s cultural contributions, reflecting not only the spirit of Mexican identity in his time and ours but imparting a universal perspective extending well beyond the borders of his native Mexico.

Posada’s main publisher:
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo (1852-1917)

Underwriting Posada’s legacy was his main editor Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, whose hand directed and crafted the publications displaying and catering to the popular culture of Mexico. Using the inexpensive media of print on paper, the Vanegas Arroyo print shop injected thousands of ideas and images into the hands of many. With an extraordinary ability to have a pulse of daily life in Mexico City, Vanegas Arroyo set the agenda for content to be published. Posada illustrated everything including the news (both sensational and factual) as well as songs, stories and poems – many of which were penned by Vanegas Arroyo himself. Political figures and satirical critiques on contemporary issues were not shied away from and were illustrated with increased vigor as Mexico hurtled toward revolution. Together, Vanegas Arroyo and Posada became a dominate force in shaping Mexican identity and popular culture.

A wide representation of Posada’s work, including his famous Day of the Dead calaveras and the artist’s original printing plates, make up this unique and inspiring exhibition. Bringing together nearly seventy of the artist’s most iconic images, this exhibition is remarkable for its inclusion of rarely exhibited printing plates, many signed in the plate by Posada himself. In addition, the exhibition explores the relatively unknown relationship between the artist and Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, one Mexico City’s most popular publishers with whom Posada worked under, and collaborated with, from 1889 until his death in 1913.

Workshop of JG Posada

A final section of the exhibition is dedicated to the legacy of Posada and the unbelievable sphere of influence his images have been used for to connect events like the Mexican Revolution, artists fighting Nazis and Fascism, Lucha Libre, the Cuban Revolution, the Grateful Dead, Day of the Dead and the art of today’s social movements.

José Guadalupe Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico was organized by the Catalina Island Museum in association with the Posada Art Foundation, the largest collection of Posada’s artworks privately held in the United States. The collection was acquired by the Foundation directly from the Vanegas Arroyo family. The texts are presented in English and Spanish. The exhibition is available for presentation through 2026.

This exhibition is generously loaned by the Posada Art Foundation.

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Legacy of Posada
Selected Additional Works Included




 



Documentary Film Available

 

ART and Revolutions© is a documentary revealing for the first time on film the untold story of Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada. Three-and-a-half years in the making, fueled by a passionate desire to tell Posada’s story despite a shoestring budget, ART and Revolutions© was shot on location in Mexico - from director Victor Mancilla (201 Squadron: The Forgotten Eagles, awarded 2009 Smithsonian Institution Best Historical Documentary).




José Guadalupe Posada
Legendary Printmaker of Mexico

Exhibition Information

Contents:
108 works - List of Works
Space Req:
250 running feet approx.
Dates Available:
2024-2027
Loan Fee:
Upon Request
Insurance: 
Exhibitor responsible 
Shipping: 
Exhibitor responsible 
Documentary Film Available: Art and Revolutions (additional fee)

Req:  

Secuarble vitrines for some of the objects Appropriate lighting, climate control and security


Contact:

Landau Traveling Exhibitions
Tel: 310 -397-3098
Email: info@a-r-t.com

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Exhibition Schedule

as 03/ 25/7/24

2018

December 23, 2017 - April 8, 2018

Catalina Island Museum

2019

June 17 - September 13

Cleve Carney Art Gallery

McAnnich Arts Center, College of Dupage

Glen Ellyn, IL

2021

January 8 - April 17

Albuquerque Museum
Albuquerque, NM


2022

June 12 - September 12

Hyde Collection

Glens Falls, NY


November 4 - January 21, 2023
City of Las Cruces Museum
Las Cruces, NM

2023

July 21 - October 1
Mitchell Art Museum
Annapolis, MD

September 9 - November 26
Arlington Museum of Art
Arlington, TX

2024

OPEN

2025

January 1 - September 15
OPEN

October 4, 2024 - January 11, 2025
Eiteljorg Museum
Indianapolis, IN

2026

February 1 August 15
OPEN

September - December
Carlsbad Museum
Carlsbad, NM

2027

January 21 - December 31

OPEN

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Tel: 310-397-3098           Email: info@a-r-t.com