Behind a Mask

Carnival comes as it does every year to San Martín Tilcajete, a town renowned in Mexican folk art thanks to its copal wood carvings, decorated with unique designs and multicolored dyes. This passion for the art has also caused the preservation of other expressions of culture in the community, among them a unique Easter carnival,
where the devils are the main attraction.

This project comes from the diversity of thoughts that arise in the person who experiences the carnival by oiling up, masking and going out to the streets. In this moment human essence is replaced with the image of an animal. Devils appear in the anonymity of the person, to scream, run and hit with freedom. A masked man gives free rein to his most vital impulses, showing off in a performative act where the sun enhances the satin black on its skin.

“Behind a mask” shows that Jacobo amd María Ángeles Workshop has been enhancing and promoting this carnival for several years recovering its vernacular elements and incorporating its own aesthetic, which stands out in the production of masks
that are the result of an anthropological, cultural and artistic process.

This collection has been presented in different venues dedicated to the preservation and promotion of culture such as: Centro Cultural San Pablo in Oaxaca, and across the country, thanks to the efforts of Fomento Cultural CitiBanamex as a main promoter of this exhibition, in the National Museum of Anthropology and History in Mexico City, Casa Montejo Museum in Merida, and Casa del Mayorazgo de la Canal in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato.

“They gleam in the hot midday sun. In the streets they shine blue or reddish red. Like masters of the world, they shout, run, jump, and jostle. It is whispered that something is hidden under the masks. The townspeople barely hear them and come out to look at them, soon the exclamations are heard: What beautiful devils!”
Cuauhtémoc Peña, 2019