Guernimex

Born in the border town of Brownsville, Texas, Ray Smith lived in Mexico for decades and since the 1980s, he has split his time between Mexico and New York. Smith is influenced by early experiences studying fresco painting in Mexico and by Mexican muralists such as José Clemente Orozco. The title of this work references Pablo Picasso’s iconic antiwar painting, Guernica, 1937, made during the Spanish Civil War. In Smith’s version, several Mexican public figures are portrayed, including former president José Lopéz Portillo y Pacheco at the lower left, soccer player Enrique Borja near the top, and ballet choreographer Amalia Hernández, depicted with braided hair. Like Guernica, Guernimex reflects a nation during a time of great divide and turmoil. In the 1960s and 1970s, Mexico experienced La Guerra Sucia (The Dirty War) during which the ruling party, Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) violently silenced dissidence from the leftist movement demanding democracy. Instead of a horse and bull, Smith’s painting features animal heads that look like rats or dogs, referencing “la jauria” (the pack), a phrase used to describe corrupt politicians in Mexico during the era.