Jisbil spak’bal na (urban stains) is a collection of works that invites you to enjoy the artistic exploration of Dyg’nojoch

[Yabteclum, Ch’enalho, 1989, and native of Jobel (San Cristóbal de las Casas)].

What could germinate in a territory covered with cement, like the city? Murals by the well-known Dyg’nojoch, who has been and remains a leader of the urban art movement in Chiapas and has tagged (with pride) in Oaxaca, Mexico City, Torreón, Puebla, Isla Mujeres, and Guatemala.

In these streets where the population walks, trades, and interacts, lies the substrate where his murals emerge—space that reclaims the presence and resistance of indigenous people, but also the voices of the marginalized and displaced from cultural institutions.

“Jis” – the root of cutting, scratching, marking in Tsotsil – has a special affinity in Dyg’nojoch’s work: his paintings, more than brushstrokes, are incisions that transgress the neatness of the colors that decorate the façades of this “magical town”, as a standard of the polyphony of identities that coexist in the city, where indigenous products are appreciated… but the people who create them are still discriminated against.

As part of the indigenous population inhabiting an urban space, the artist has taken and redefined graffiti, covering neighborhoods with images that refer to indigenous knowledge and way of life. The city is his canvas. His practice is strengthened by his collective experience. An example of this is the GAM festival (Graffiti-Art-Mural) held in the northern part of the city, where Dygnojoch is a founder and main promoter.

His work is multidisciplinary, ranging from techniques using earth-based colors to neon, from hand-made to digital, from classic canvases to infusing his work onto walls, transitioning from pencil to spray paint. The essence of his work always dialogues between the rural and the urban, referencing the past while questioning the present (challenging the established when necessary).

This selection of paintings and works from recent years shows a perfected style based on classic Mayan featherwork, with the depth and sense of humor of a transgressive/generous creator redefining the being and expression of postmodern indigenous peoples in the midst of reinvention.