We almost bought one of these four or five years ago, when we came to the Ann Arbor art fairs from Indiana. It was, however, at that precise moment that, with the sun beating down on my head like a blunt instrument, I said, “If I don’t get out of the sun and into some air-conditioning right this instant, I’m going to faint here in the street.” And so we ducked into a restaurant, and somehow lost interest in the retablos being sold by Nicario Jiminez, a Peruvian artist who now lives in Florida.
This year we planned better, and reached Jiminez before the sun did its damage. Ours is from his Mask Maker’s Workshop series. It’s small, but the detail is amazing:
I just love it.
brian stouder said on July 20, 2006 at 2:40 pm
It is indeed ‘cool’, so to speak
Next week the young folks and I are going to Columbus visit COSI (a science and industry/children’s museum), and our Science Central membership gets us in the doors for free….although the big Star Wars exhibit will almost surely cost extra
but it’s all air conditioned
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Dorothy said on July 20, 2006 at 4:20 pm
This is really neato and I have no real idea of what it is! Just something cool to look at and say “It’s mine!” (You say that, not me.) It reminds me of the first dentist I went to as a kid. Dr. Hollstein had these weird shrunken heads (toy like items) hanging in full view from the chair. I used to love looking at them. Then again, I never had a cavity until I was in my 20’s. By then I was going to a different dentist. Maybe if I’d had to look at them while I was having my teeth drilled I’d have felt differently.
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mary said on July 20, 2006 at 5:30 pm
My kids’ dentist has a lion hand puppet with dentures parked on the armature of the drill structure. It is distracting.
What you bought reminds me of the very elaborate dioramas from Mexico, that have skeletons doing all sorts of very normal things. They often come in cabinets like yours is in.
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joodyb said on July 20, 2006 at 5:43 pm
nancy, that is awesome. thanks for sharing.
mary, if i collected anything it would be dias de los muertos dioramas. i have a tina cucina in my kitchen. it is at once hilarious and oddly moving.
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mary said on July 20, 2006 at 6:53 pm
aren’t they great? I have one with a little skeleton at a computer.
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nancy said on July 20, 2006 at 6:58 pm
Retablos, the artist’s source material tells us, were usually altar pieces, sometimes portable. Traveling priests could shlep them around and set up in a village for insta-Mass.
And yeah, I have a few Day of the Dead skeletons myself. Don’t tempt me, or I’ll have to set my camera on macro again.
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Scout said on July 20, 2006 at 7:23 pm
C’mon gang, what say we TEMPT HER?
Please ma’am, could we have some more?
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kayak woman said on July 20, 2006 at 7:38 pm
Very cool acquisition! A bit mindful of a creche I got from Peaceable Kingdom about a million years ago.
As a 27-year A2 resident, I am practicing major art fair(s) avoidance this year. I am not an art fair crank. I love that such a huge festival takes over our city every summer and I am adept at avoiding the traffic related to it. It can be a lot of fun and sometimes I go downtown and buy art. I can even walk downtown from here. But not this year.
Cheers,
Anne
Sam & jcb’s friend from the A2 Haisley neighborhood
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Jeff said on July 20, 2006 at 8:04 pm
Skeletons? Memento mori on such a summer day as this? Click on, milady, please . . . happy skulls only, as i see the angry ones tattooed on fellows ahead of me in line for ice cream these days.
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mary said on July 21, 2006 at 10:36 am
The skeletons in the day of the dead tableaux are always happy. I have another one which has a lovely skeleton wearing a lace mantilla, holding a rose, being serenaded by a skeleton in below her balcony.
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Danny said on July 21, 2006 at 7:14 pm
I have to admit, they are better than clowns. I fear clowns.
On another note, did any of you catch Le Tour de France yesterday? What a mind clowing stage. That was absolutely the best bike racing I have EVER seen. Hats off to Floyd! What a badass!
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Dorothy said on July 24, 2006 at 6:24 am
Danny I saw on the news last night that his parents did not even see him on t.v. as they are devout Mennonites, and were riding their bikes home from chuch when he crossed the finish line!
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brian stouder said on July 24, 2006 at 8:49 am
Gotta say – given the fellow’s bad hip, and his miraculous comeback from 8 minutes down, and given the cloud of French suspicions that hung over Lance Armstrong (whether or not they were justified in their suspicions) – that his blood and urine is probably being analyzed in a very thorough way
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