Eight numbers of Calaveras and Calacas

Taller de Gráfica Popular, 1982-1992

Taller de Gráfica Popular. Eight numbers of Calaveras and Calacas, 1982-1992. Mexico: Taller de Gráfica Popular, 1982-84; 1986; 1988; 1990; 1992. Eight issues, varying from 33-40 cm, 16 pp. each; profusely illustrated, some with color self-wrappers. Toned, with usual small defects at edges. Without signs of handling, never folded. VG+/NF. Together with El sismo maldito terror en la capirucha horror el TGP sin casa. Mexico: Taller de Gráfica Popular, 1985. 35 cm. 16 pp.

From its founding in 1937, the Taller Gráfica Popular (TGP) print collective intermittently released satirical Calaveras and Calacas during the festival of Día de los muertos. These publications were strongly influenced by José Guadeloupe Posada’s (1852-1913) classic penny broadsides. Posada’s renowned political calaveras became indelibly linked to Día de los muertos celebrations.

In contrast, TGP calaveras, including those in the present collection, are not single sheets like Posadas. Instead they resemble large format serials with many pages of skeletal satire and verse. Like all TGP printmaking, these holiday specials were designed to be affordable and topical, with powerful graphic artwork by established artists.

Graphics in this collection cover many important national issues e.g. police corruption and violence, the indigenous movement in Chiapas, economic crises, etc., as well as international news, e.g. Cuban migration, US imperialism, Nelson Mandela, student movements, etc.etc.

Intentionally ephemeral, issues after 1956 are surprisingly scarce and not widely collected by museums or libraries. Not mentioned in Prignitz-Poda, but part of an exhibition at the MFAH in 2013.

Together with a one-off issue created in the aftermath of the 1985 earthquake, which destroyed the TGP workshops. El sismo maldito was printed in a provisional location (“TGP sin casa”).

SOLD

Short titles:

Calaveras 82- Banqueras, amparadas … , 1982.

Calacas. 1983.

Calacas, 1984.

Calaveras. Calacas del Destape. 1986.

Calacas, 1988.

Calaveras del premio nobel, 1990.

V Centenario de calaveras, 1992.

Calaveras complotistas del Taller de Grafica Popular, que bailan sus quebraditas, 1992.