In the early 1970s, Soto Sánchez saw Francisco Oller’s El Velorio (1893), an iconic Puerto Rican painting that depicts a baquiné, a folk Catholic custom that commemorates the death of a child. On the island this tradition resonates with African diasporic belief systems. Soto Sánchez’s version takes place in New York City and is populated by figures that sprout heads from joints and other parts of their bodies. These mutating forms are visual manifestations of ritualized spirit possession central to Santeria. Soto Sánchez formed part of a community of diasporic Puerto Rican artists who, unlike many cultural elites on the island, affirmed the importance of Afro-Puerto Rican culture.
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013
- Title
-
El Velorio de Oller en Nueva York
- Artist
- Date
- 1974, revised 1984
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- sheet and image: 25 7⁄8 x 39 7⁄8 in. (65.7 x 101.3 cm)
- Copyright
-
© Hermiñia Ramos
- Credit Line
-
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
- Mediums Description
- hand-colored screenprint
- Classifications
- Keywords
-
- Cityscape – New York
- Architecture Interior
- Figure group
- Object Number
-
2013.60.1
- Palette
- Linked Open Data
- Linked Open Data URI
