José Luis López Galván, Black Pilgrimage to San Cristobal, 2014

The artist writes “The painting is part of a series I did where I pay homage to different artists, in this case Goya and his painting ‘Pilgrimage to San Isidro.’ I changed the pilgrimage to San Cristóbal, the saint’s head to that of a dog, and I transformed the figures into whatever came in to my imagination.”
Like Goya’s painting, Galván gives us a cast of drunken and grotesque characters, but the figures appear to be wearing crow and mice costumes, and their heads pop out of the mouths. The rocks and clouds take on the shape of animals or human faces too. The colonial city of San Cristóbal in Mexico has many processions during Holy Week; some marchers wear pointed hoods (like a central figure here), while others wear animal and monster costumes.

https://joseluislopezgalvan.blogspot.com/

Leave a Reply