Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 18

PABLO ORTIZ-MONASTERIO
HUICHOL: MOUNTAIN, DESERT, NEW YORK (`95-`21). Limited edition of 5.

1995-2021

About the Item

Documentary Photograph. Contemporary Inkjet on cotton. Limited edition of 5. Signed front and verso. Framed in lacquered black frame with spacer) The first person to photograph the Huichol in their remote communities in the inaccessible canyons of the Western Sierra Madre was probably the Norwegian anthropologist, Carl Lumholtz. He ventured into their territory in 1895, shortly before the arrival of the French naturalist and ethnographer Léon Diguet, who was also a photographer. Like so many who were engaged with documenting Indigenous peoples across the Americas in those brutal years of expansion and settlement, Lumholtz believed that the disappearance of his subjects was inevitable: “the weaker must succumb to the stronger, and the Indians will ultimately all become Mexicans.” The photographs of the Huichol by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio—taken on some twenty trips over the past three decades—prove that Lumholtz was fortunately, terribly wrong. They reveal abundant evidence of cultural survival (what the Huichol call “la costumbre”), made possible by their extraordinary resistance to the religious, nationalist, and economic forces that have long assaulted—and that continue to assault—Indigenous communities everywhere. Though Ortiz Monasterio is also an outsider, he does not operate—like Lumholtz or Diguet—as an old-fashioned preservationist, nor is he confident in the superiority of Western culture, nor is his work only destined for museum vitrines or archives. Rather, these complex images are the result of long and patient attempts at negotiation and collaboration, of working with the Huichol, amongst them, and ultimately making pictures as much for them as for audiences far from the Sierra Madre. In 1996, Fernando Ortiz Monasterio, an ecologist and engineer, was invited to design a bridge to allow the Huichol to safely cross a deep riverbed that became an impassable and dangerous torrent during the summer rains. An image by his brother Pablo records the bloody sacred sacrifice that celebrated its completion, just as he later documented a Huichol pilgrimage to another suspension bridge, in distant Brooklyn. Perhaps the only ethical position of the contemporary photographer engaged with Indigenous subjects is to work as a bridge or conduit, as a sanctioned recorder of sacrifices, pilgrimages, and other ceremonies—some more secret than others. These remain in the hands of the Huichol, and none of us will ever truly comprehend their spiritual meanings. PHD James Oles, Art Historian (Wellesley, Thames & Hudson)
  • Creator:
    PABLO ORTIZ-MONASTERIO (1952, Mexican)
  • Creation Year:
    1995-2021
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 23 in (58.42 cm)Width: 18 in (45.72 cm)Depth: 4 in (10.16 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Framing:
    Frame Included
    Framing Options Available
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Ciudad De México, MX
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU184229872512
More From This SellerView All
  • Once Upon a Time: Piel de Asno.
    Located in Ciudad De México, MX
    Fernando Bayona, Once Upon a Time: "Piel de Asno". Fine Art Inkjet Print Sizes: S: 25.6 x 20.8 in. / Ed. 3 M: 41.7 x 33 in. / Ed. 3 L: 53.1 x 41.7 in. / Ed. 2 + 1A.P "The narrat...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography

    Materials

    Archival Pigment, Inkjet

  • HUICHOL: MOUNTAIN, DESERT, NEW YORK (`95-`21). Limited edition of 5.
    By PABLO ORTIZ-MONASTERIO
    Located in Ciudad De México, MX
    Documentary Photograph. Contemporary Inkjet on cotton. Limited edition of 5. Signed front and verso. Framed in lacquered black frame with spacer) The first person to photograph the Huichol in their remote communities in the inaccessible canyons of the Western Sierra Madre was probably the Norwegian anthropologist, Carl Lumholtz. He ventured into their territory in 1895, shortly before the arrival of the French naturalist and ethnographer Léon Diguet, who was also a photographer. Like so many who were engaged with documenting Indigenous peoples across the Americas in those brutal years of expansion and settlement, Lumholtz believed that the disappearance of his subjects was inevitable: “the weaker must succumb to the stronger, and the Indians will ultimately all become Mexicans.” The photographs of the Huichol by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio—taken on some twenty trips over the past three decades—prove that Lumholtz was fortunately, terribly wrong. They reveal abundant evidence of cultural survival (what the Huichol call “la costumbre”), made possible by their extraordinary resistance to the religious, nationalist, and economic forces that have long assaulted—and that continue to assault—Indigenous communities everywhere. Though Ortiz Monasterio is also an outsider, he does not operate—like Lumholtz or Diguet—as an old-fashioned preservationist, nor is he confident in the superiority of Western culture, nor is his work only destined for museum vitrines...
    Category

    1990s Contemporary Color Photography

    Materials

    Archival Pigment, Inkjet

  • HUICHOL: MOUNTAIN, DESERT, NEW YORK (`95-`21). Limited edition of 5.
    By PABLO ORTIZ-MONASTERIO
    Located in Ciudad De México, MX
    Documentary Photograph. Contemporary Inkjet on cotton. Limited edition of 5. Signed front and verso. Framed in lacquered black frame with spacer) The first person to photograph the Huichol in their remote communities in the inaccessible canyons of the Western Sierra Madre was probably the Norwegian anthropologist, Carl Lumholtz. He ventured into their territory in 1895, shortly before the arrival of the French naturalist and ethnographer Léon Diguet, who was also a photographer. Like so many who were engaged with documenting Indigenous peoples across the Americas in those brutal years of expansion and settlement, Lumholtz believed that the disappearance of his subjects was inevitable: “the weaker must succumb to the stronger, and the Indians will ultimately all become Mexicans.” The photographs of the Huichol by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio—taken on some twenty trips over the past three decades—prove that Lumholtz was fortunately, terribly wrong. They reveal abundant evidence of cultural survival (what the Huichol call “la costumbre”), made possible by their extraordinary resistance to the religious, nationalist, and economic forces that have long assaulted—and that continue to assault—Indigenous communities everywhere. Though Ortiz Monasterio is also an outsider, he does not operate—like Lumholtz or Diguet—as an old-fashioned preservationist, nor is he confident in the superiority of Western culture, nor is his work only destined for museum vitrines...
    Category

    1990s Contemporary Color Photography

    Materials

    Archival Pigment, Inkjet

  • HUICHOL: MOUNTAIN, DESERT, NEW YORK (`95-`21)
    By PABLO ORTIZ-MONASTERIO
    Located in Ciudad De México, MX
    The first person to photograph the Huichol in their remote communities in the inaccessible canyons of the Western Sierra Madre was probably the Norwegian anthropologist, Carl Lumholtz. He ventured into their territory in 1895, shortly before the arrival of the French naturalist and ethnographer Léon Diguet, who was also a photographer. Like so many who were engaged with documenting Indigenous peoples across the Americas in those brutal years of expansion and settlement, Lumholtz believed that the disappearance of his subjects was inevitable: “the weaker must succumb to the stronger, and the Indians will ultimately all become Mexicans.” The photographs of the Huichol by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio—taken on some twenty trips over the past three decades—prove that Lumholtz was fortunately, terribly wrong. They reveal abundant evidence of cultural survival (what the Huichol call “la costumbre”), made possible by their extraordinary resistance to the religious, nationalist, and economic forces that have long assaulted—and that continue to assault—Indigenous communities everywhere. Though Ortiz Monasterio is also an outsider, he does not operate—like Lumholtz or Diguet—as an old-fashioned preservationist, nor is he confident in the superiority of Western culture, nor is his work only destined for museum vitrines...
    Category

    1990s Contemporary Color Photography

    Materials

    Archival Pigment, Inkjet

  • The Life of the Other: "The News"
    Located in Ciudad De México, MX
    Fernando Bayona, The Life of the Others: "The News" Fine Art Inkjet Print Sizes: S: 25.6 x 20.8 in. / Ed. 3 M: 41.7 x 33 in. / Ed. 3 L: 53.1 x 41.7 in. / Ed. 2 + 1A.P In The Life of the Other Fernando Bayona mixes staged and documentary photography techniques to create a collective portrait of images in which the sleaze of violence, pain, madness, jealousy and sexual desire are intertwined with the vulnerability of love, tenderness, passion or beauty. The appearances that arise from this series focus on the ability to generate intrinsic, albeit partial, narratives that come from real stories and interviews with sex workers...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography

    Materials

    Inkjet

  • Out of the Blue: "The Dinner".
    Located in Ciudad De México, MX
    Fernando Bayona, Out of the Blue: "The Dinner". Fine Art Inkjet Print Sizes: S: 25.6 x 20.8 in. / Ed. 3 M: 41.7 x 33 in. / Ed. 3 L: 53.1 x 41.7 in. / Ed. 2 + 1A.P In out of the ...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography

    Materials

    Inkjet

You May Also Like
  • All the others in me. (Milan) Performance photography color portrait
    By Maria José Arjona
    Located in Miami Beach, FL
    All the others in me (Milan) Gicleé print on cotton rag 43.3" x 27.5" Ed 4/5 +1AP 2012 ALL THE OTHERS IN ME Marrakech Biennale MOAD Miami MAMBO Bogota. The body, in opposition to th...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Color Photography

    Materials

    Giclée, Color, Archival Pigment

  • 'Harvest Dance' Movement dance figures gold yellow orange fire nature wild
    By Sophia Milligan
    Located in Penzance, GB
    'Harvest Dance' Limited edition archival photograph. Unframed, hand signed and numbered _________________ Late August, captured in the glow of the evening sun, my daughters join han...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Photography

    Materials

    Archival Paper, Archival Pigment, Archival Ink, Giclée

  • Formula 1 Ferrari - Fernando Alonso, Signed limited edition still life, Race
    By Laurent Campus
    Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
    Formula 1 Ferrari - Signed limited edition archival pigment print, 2011 - Edition of 5 Formula 1 , Preseason test, 2011 , Barcelona, Spain. Fernando Alonso for Ferrari Photo/R...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Color Photography

    Materials

    Photographic Paper, Archival Paper, Color, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pig...

  • Figurative photo, Signed limited edition print, Contemporary portrait - Fireman
    By Laurent Campus
    Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
    An original signed archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Baryta 315 gsm paper by Italian French artist Laurent Campus titled ‘ Fireman'. This photograph is part of the exh...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Color Photography

    Materials

    Photographic Paper, Archival Paper, Color, Giclée, Archival Pigment, Pig...

  • Formula 1 Ferrari - Felipe Massa, Signed limited edition still life, Race
    By Laurent Campus
    Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
    Formula 1 Ferrari - Signed limited edition archival pigment print, 2011 - Edition of 5 Formula 1 , Preseason test, 2011 , Barcelona, Spain. Felipe Massa for Ferrari Photo/Repo...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Color Photography

    Materials

    Photographic Paper, Archival Paper, Color, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pig...

  • Ballet/Fetish -Signed limited edition archival pigment print, Contemporary
    By Geoff Halpin
    Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
    Ballet/Fetish - Signed limited edition fine art print - Edition: 1 of 5 Airbrush painting over old black and white photograph This image was captured on film in 1983. The ne...
    Category

    1980s Contemporary Color Photography

    Materials

    Photographic Film, Archival Paper, Black and White, Giclée, Pigment, Arc...

Recently Viewed

View All