14 Reflections of Change in Memory:

Recent Work by Antún Kojtom and Kayum Ma’ax

In this exhibition, Reflections of Change in Memory, we present recent series by two masters of the Chiapanecan Maya school: Antún Kojtom and Kayum Ma’ax. Their works are in dialogue with the socio-aesthetic worlds they inhabit, with the Chiapanecan Maya peoples—cultures of deep-rooted traditions undergoing radical transformations. They paint about yesterday, today, and tomorrow, but from a worldview in which time is a smile upon eternity.

Each artist approaches the canvas with a distinct energy—Kojtom with broad gestures and joyful color; Ma’ax with focused concentration, applying fine brushwork to construct his intensely detailed compositions. Both artists have been involved with the Maya Graphic Arts school since its historic beginnings in the 1980s, participating in workshops and exchanges among young painters and printmakers from Tseltal, Tsotsil, and Lacandon-speaking communities. They’ve followed each other’s careers with enduring interest, and now their vitality converges in this joint exhibition, encouraged by a commission from Galería MUY. They even chose to paint together on a single large canvas, whose dancing forms evoke a duet between today’s neo-Bonampak musicians.

Antún Kojtom (Ch’ixaltontik, Tenejapa, 1969) learned and perfected drawing, painting (both canvas and mural), and printmaking through more than 35 years of passionate practice. He began self-taught in his hometown, later moved to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, where he dedicated six years to studying graphic techniques in a collective of artists. Since 1993, he has maintained his studio in San Cristóbal de Las Casas and his home in Tenejapa, where he is nourished by the traditions and landscapes of his community. Kojtom was a founding member of Bonbajel Mayaetik and established the Gráfica Maya workshop “with the goals of promoting art as a medium for social  transformation and recovering the ancestral knowledge of the Maya Peoples.” As Maestro Antún himself says:

“Each day I discover new elements, and one of the most important things I’ve come to understand is ch’ulel—that is, the energy connected to the four elements: earth, water, sunlight, and wind.”

Kojtom has exhibited his oils, acrylics, drawings, and prints individually and in groups throughout Chiapas, other parts of Mexico, the United States, and Europe.

Kayum Ma’ax (Nahá, Lacandon Jungle, Ocosingo, 1962), recipient of the Chiapas Prize in 1992, has practiced art for more than 30 years as a proudly self-taught painter—inspired by the living, animated natural world. His work has gained recognition both in Chiapas and internationally, admired for its inspired technique and deep spiritual content. Kayum Ma’ax is the son of the historic Lacandon leader, the late Chan Kin Viejo. Raised in a family rich in Lacandon culture, today Ma’ax is respected for his vast knowledge of oral tradition and spiritual wisdom. The subjects of his paintings revolve around the lush “garden” of the Lacandon rainforest, exploring the relationships among humans, animals, divine beings, and the land. All of his paintings, as he explains, are given by the spirits, and they can be compared to the narrative imagery of ancient Maya codices.

It’s worth mentioning that Maestro Kayum exudes a liberating joy in the way he lives and interacts, with a marked sense of humor that clearly comes through in his artwork.

Ma’ax has exhibited his oils and acrylics individually and in groups in Chiapas, Mexico City, Miami (USA), and Madrid (Spain).

Both artists are captivated by the rootedness of place and its dislocation through time and external forces. The painted figures wear the traditional clothing of their respective communities. They exist in their genealogical dimension—within Maya civilization—which is at once daily life and totemic: men and women confront the jaguar that is the sun, the woman who is the moon, and other archetypal compositions that draw the line between the local and the universal.

But today’s world is dislocated—we are speaking of the much-lamented “change” on the lips of all traditionalists, and the central focus of this exhibition at Galería MUY. This change reflects both historic and modern colonization. The oppression of conquest is still felt—from the Spanish invasion over five centuries ago to the capitalist systems that stole much of their lands, to today’s neoliberal consumerism, which may be the most invasive yet, because it dislocates from within. For Ma’ax, this habitus is dangerous; for Kojtom, it is diseased.

Ultimately, the power of this dialogue lies in its faith in regeneration. In Ma’ax’s work, the vegetal regeneration renews our imagination and hope; in Kojtom’s, civilizational and symbolic regeneration equips us to create new autonomies inspired by the Mayas—and vice versa, as Ma’ax is also a symbolist and Kojtom deeply committed to ecological awareness. This is a dialogue between Tseltal and Maya, between local projects and the universal Maya.

What we have before us is political-spiritual art. Kojtom and Ma’ax show that the role of the artist is to occupy this space with confidence, courage, and humility.

Curator: J. Burstein

December 11, 2015