"El Grito Privado de Xipe Totec" 12x18 Poster Print
"El Grito Privado de Xipe Totec" 12x18 Poster Print
Limited Edition 12x18 (100lb) size poster print of mixed-media acrylic painting, “El Grito Privado de Xipe Totec”
About the Piece:
After visiting the Motherland for the first time, artist Valentín Sánchez-Stoddard was heavily moved by how systematic oppression affects the Salvadoran people. No matter how beautiful the natural landscape or delicious the coffee, El Salvador, like much of Latin America (specifically Central America), has been eaten, half digested and spat back out. The economy and the lack of opportunities there show this. Xipe Totec, the Aztec/Toltec God of Sickness and Famine, was specifically chosen and depicted in a murky way, as if somewhat out of touch. Though natural beauty flourishes thanks to nourishing rains, our people still struggle from violence planted by U.S. intervention during El Salvador's civil war and its aftermath. Reddish-brown paint splattered in spots suggest bloodshed. The collaged words read "Más in serio que en broma, sueños en Centroamérica...no puede ser, no puede ser, no puede ser," which translate to "More serious than joking, dreams in Central America...it can't be, it can't be, it can't be." The text comes from the San Salvador newspaper, La Prensa, from which the artist created a fractured poem.