The Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated in Mexico to remember family and friends who have passed on. It takes place on the 1st and 2nd of November each year.
The tradition includes building altars (ofrendas) at home that reflect upon the character and life of loved ones with offerings that include sugar skulls, marigolds, and their personal earthly pleasures such as a glass of beer, a cigar, bread, or chocolates.
The Humor
The humor in Day of the Dead art often finds its roots in Mexican political cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada. Posada created a famous print of a costumed female with a skeleton face named “Catrina.”
His Catrina and other calaveras (skulls) satirized the rich and fashionable to show that, despite their pretensions of importance, they were just as susceptible to death as anyone else.
This tradition of humor in the face of life and death carries on today in the colonial workshop of Cielito Lindo Estudio where we create a fun and growing catalog of rich Mexican folk art.
