"Tezcatlipoca" Codex Borgia, sheet 21, by M. Covarrubias, brown Print - Limited Edition of 9

"Tezcatlipoca” Codex Borgia, sheet 21, by Miguel Covarrubias digitally displayed by MM on brown background. When arriving in Mexico City in 1967 I never imagined I would someday be enthralled to digitally paint precolonial pictograms and enrich my work with the magic and mystery of ancient Mexico. Still, I believe everything is connected and occurs for a reason. In 1967 I visited Alfonso Caso, the director of the Instituto Nacional Indigenista, to travel the Mixteca de la Costa of Oaxaca. He granted me a letter of recommendation to photograph the Mixtec women, a task I realized in 3 trips to the region in 1968 and 1969. In 1993 I visited Raúl Ferrera, the associate of Luis Barragan, who gave me the book “El pueblo del Sol” by Alfonso Caso with Aztec pictograms by Covarrubias. The book explains the complex worldview and religion of the ancient Mexicans in a clear and straightforward manner. In January 2024, recovering from a serious health crisis, I decided to present Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec god of fatality and uncertainty, as rendered by Covarrubias. He created a perfect and appealing illustration of the god, in my opinion impossible to improve. All I added are the six background colors. For years I believed I could master my destiny. Gravely ill I realized that my life is as fragile and fleeting as that of any human being. Thus Tezcatlipoca, the god terrifying ancient Mexicans, also became a doomsday symbol for me. I remembered the statement by Johannes Neurath, an expert on Mexican codices: “ These beings (the gods) do not simply exist, they become. To portray them on a page is to establish a presence that allows a type of contact or coexistence with them… And beware! These are also dangerous beings. Approaching them entails preliminary rituals of purification and preparation.” Apparently my health crisis was the gateway to Tezcatlipoca.

Printmaking:Digital on Paper

Artist Produced Limited Edition of:9

Size:19.7 W x 19.7 H x 1.2 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.