San Cristóbal de Las Casas. Chiapas, México
Maya/Zoque art is not only made—it is invented and reinvented. Its signs come from an ancient, millennia-old tradition; PH Joel revitalizes them with deep respect and reverence, de-centering and reshaping them with humor and a visionary commitment to his people.
His works leave us smiling, filled with admiration, and with a renewed sense of confidence in the future that, in turn, revitalizes us.
A viewer is naturally curious about the origins and meanings of the figures and motifs; they want to know more about the materials and techniques Joel uses to design and build his art. Joel shares this information in the texts accompanying each piece. In this way, his practice is highly conceptual—and also deeply material—interweaving the great art of the Classic Maya (300–900 CE) with cutting-edge technology, even artificial intelligence, and drawing on the popular culture of mid-20th-century Mexican cinema. His perspective looks both inward, from within Maya civilization, and outward, critically reflecting on the (mis)representations of Indigenous peoples by those who have dominated history.
The medium is the message, Joel might say, having grown up in Las Cañadas of the jungle region, with the organic, practical knowledge of his Tseltal/Tsotsil/Ch’ol-speaking family and community, and the manual-mental versatility of people who see elements of nature—flora and fauna—and immediately grasp their multiple uses (for food, medicine, building, fencing, etc.) and their beauty of form, color, and texture, all in one stroke.
This exhibition—three years in the making—shows the results of his painstaking empirical (and academic) research into clay, slip, pigments, stucco application, firing, and more, drawing on the knowledge of his home community of Francisco Villa, Ocosingo, and enriched by exchanges with expert artisans from Amatenango, Yucatán, Mexico City, Tijuana, and the ultimate archive of archives: the internet.
Joel’s “I” is as flexible as it is multifaceted: farmer, Indigenous, university-trained, spiritual, dancer, warm and radically collective, solitary, and one of a kind. That’s why this exhibition also includes the presence of others who inspire him. It’s a happening—multimedia, multidisciplinary, and multi-joyful!
Galería MUY
December–February 2023
Artworks
Tripod plate | PH Joel
Hand-modeled clay, decorated with slip and pigments from the Lacandon Jungle
25 x 21.5 cm
2023
This piece is inspired by a classic Maya tripod style traditionally used to offer food to the deities. It is my homage to our ancestors; and in my jungle village, we would often find remnants of bone and pottery, in the process of reintegrating with the earth.
We eat from the bodies of our ancestors, and that compels us to remember them and to dig into the knowledge they left imprinted in the land we inhabit and the water we drink.
The punishment | PH Joel
Griddle coated with stucco, decorated with pigments from the Lacandon Jungle.
47 cm diámetro.
2023
This piece is inspired by the Rebellion of the Hanged (title of B. Traven’s book). It refers to an episode in the history of the Lacandon Jungle concerning timber exploitation.
This exploitation was driven by Indigenous hands forced to destroy their own home – Mother Earth – in order to survive the misery and slavery caused by companies selling precious woods in international markets. (The rivers served as pathways to loot this “green gold,” as historian Jan de Vos called it).
Xanab | PH Joel y Darwin Cruz
Pork skin, oil, and wood.
27 x 10 x 21 cm
2023
This piece takes the shape of a caite (xanab). It refers to the shield of the state of Chiapas. By placing the Spanish monarchy (with its own symbols such as castles, lions, or crowns) and using the image of the Sumidero Canyon (a sacred space for Indigenous peoples), it highlights their attempt to erase the value of these symbols. Furthermore, it imposes itself as a flag of territorial, ideological, and spiritual conquest over those of us who have inhabited this territory ancestrally, and still do today.
The xanab is inspired by the stelae of Yaxchilán. It challenges the myth of the collective Indigenous suicide, which has turned the Sumidero Canyon into a state emblem. Perhaps transgressive, but I imagine how, as the footwear steps forward, the coat of arms will erode, and we will remember a racist and classist ideology that has not disappeared to this day. This piece reflects, for me, the struggle and resistance of our peoples, as well as my own stance to reinforce my culture.
The violation of mothers. | PH Joel
Limestone covered with stucco, decorated with pigments from the Lacandon Jungle.
72 x 41 x 2 cm
2023
This piece is based on a stela from Tonina depicting a ruler; I transformed it into a female figure, which makes the violence and violation that the conquest entailed, leading to mestizaje, even more impactful. When will we have a more realistic history?
Clay drum | PH Joel
Clay, slip, and pigments from the Lacandon Jungle, cowhide, and threads
27.5 x 17 cm
2023
The piece is a handmade vessel made of clay, slip, and pigments from the Lacandon Jungle. The relief is inspired by the roots of trees that grow on rocks or other trees. The painted part represents a contemporary celebration, with young people enthusiastically consuming cigarettes, beer, and loud music.
I, who grew up in the Lacandon Jungle, never saw a clay drum, but I knew they were once used. I made this drum to make sounds burst forth, with the intention of counteracting the electric pianos that are becoming more and more popular in the jungle, which even alter the way people used to dance. This drum will not stop the transformations, but it does help me learn to play it and accompany myself in the agricultural and religious festivals of the towns.
Cristo Chamula | PH Joel
Limestone covered with stucco, decorated with pigments from the Lacandon Jungle.
70 x 40 x 2 cm
2023
This piece is a recreation of a “coleto” (San Cristobalense) myth that confronts the history as we know it today and reimagines it in my own way.
It was said that in 1868, a child was crucified in Chamula to have their own Christ. The “coleto” myth of the Chamula Christ is based on stereotypes that discredit indigenous peoples, portraying them as violent, savage, and irrational beings. Therefore, it was necessary to civilize, educate, and evangelize us, that is, to strip away what makes us indigenous.
The elements of the piece are not faithful to the myth of the Chamula Christ. I begin with a Christ who is not even ten years old, polymorphic, allowing me to feel a post-masculine god—something we have not yet lived. This is, then, chakoj winik (the first humans, hermaphrodites, who inhabited the earth and were capable of self-procreation). To me, this would be a sacred being far removed from the Christian god.
As our grandmother Maruch Méndez recounts: these are the first beings who inhabited the earth and were capable of self-procreation. To me, this would be a sacred being far from the Christian god. The Chamula cross, which is closer to the cross of Palenque and the ceiba tree, more than the Christian cross.
moon (Uj) | PH Joel
Comal covered with stucco
5 comales de 45 cm de diámetro
2023
There was a romance between the moon and the farmer. The moon was the marker of time for seeds, such as corn and beans, but the meticulous observation of people was also the basis for countless activities in indigenous farming communities.
The piece also portrays our ignorance of this celestial body and the little importance we currently give to the lunar phases.
Tsujin vob (Sound pumpkin) | PH Joel in collaboration with Gerardo K'ulej
Gourd, bone, seeds, and strings
51 x 34 cm
2023
I think of the Mayan archaeologists, the historians of the Lacandon people, who have collected things—like instruments, previously—but there they are, maybe in museums. We can’t even hear them sound. I decided to make an instrument, no longer a Western guitar, but one with strings and from my imagination, so now we can listen to it, make it, and play it with my companions.
Builders of Jobel | PH Joel
Limestone covered with stucco, decorated with pigments from the Lacandon Jungle
84 x 49 x 2 cm
2023
In Jobel (San Cristóbal de Las Casas), there are streets, houses, squares, and statues erected in honor of conquerors, religious figures, and politicians. There is no monument to the indigenous people who were the authors of the iconic monuments that are jewels and the pride of the “colonial city.” This piece is a tribute to our grandmothers and grandfathers who shed sweat, blood, and tears so that Jobel would meet the taste of the colonizers…
Chocolate stele I | PH Joel
Wood covered with chocolate
19 x 58.5 x 5 cm
2023
It is carved in wood and coated with cacao cultivated and prepared in the Lacandon Jungle. Cacao, as a product that the Maya peoples contributed to the world—indeed, so important that it was used as currency and also as a sacred drink—has fallen into disuse in indigenous communities today. Nowadays, there are cacao-derived products from industrial brands and multinational companies that showcase our product, now sold at high prices for elite markets.
This piece is inspired by the stelae of ancient Maya cities. This is my way of reclaiming significant elements of our culture.
Chocolate stele II | PH Joel
Wood covered with chocolate
19 x 58.5 x 5 cm
2023
It is carved in wood and coated with cacao cultivated and prepared in the Lacandon Jungle. Cacao, as a product that the Maya peoples contributed to the world—indeed, so important that it was used as currency and also as a sacred drink—has fallen into disuse in indigenous communities today. Nowadays, there are cacao-derived products from industrial brands and multinational companies that showcase our product, now sold at high prices for elite markets.
This piece is inspired by the stelae of ancient Maya cities. This is my way of reclaiming significant elements of our culture.
Bonampak fragment | PH Joel
Limestone covered with stucco, decorated with pigments from the Lacandon Jungle
38.5 x 37.5 x 3 cm
2023
Here, I make a free interpretation of one of the faces present in the murals of Bonampak. In creating the piece, it is my way of dialoguing with the materials and feeling spiritually close to the great masters who created those paintings.
Captive | PH Joel
Clay and slip from the Lacandon Jungle, gold leaf
36 x 52 cm
2021
Even in the remote areas of what remains of the Lacandon Jungle, the population has less interest in planting the milpa. They prefer to dedicate themselves to livestock farming or migrate to industrialized cities, going to the United States or Canada. This has modified the way of life, making it more convenient to buy food in the city than to grow it on their land. Besides the fact that the knowledge of how to create milpas is being forgotten, our natural and spiritual environment is also being destroyed.
Ts´unun (Hummingbird) | PH Joel
Fabric sculpture covered with corn leaves
52 x 52 cm
2023
This beautifully bloodied bird represents the difficult process of exploring our collective memory. It often involves extracting—hence the blood—in order to find the fragments of knowledge that make up the artistic legacy passed down to us, to explore it, experience it, and incorporate it into our practices.
Video performance | PH Joel
Untitled
2023
Collaborators: Edgar, Darwin Cruz
I allow myself a self-criticism, perhaps, because we artists often use techniques and materials that come from the (great, but different) Western tradition. We are now appropriating this artistic tradition, but for our own expressive purposes. In this case, the video captures the burning of a (Christian) cross along with oils (in the Western style) that are mine, but not… because they are not.