About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherPorcupine's Quill, Incorporated

ISBN-100889843627

ISBN-139780889843622

eBay Product ID (ePID)150547111

Product Key Features

Book TitleLoteria Jarocha : Linoleum Prints

Number of Pages136 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicCanadian, Folk & Outsider Art, Prints

Publication Year2013

IllustratorYes

GenreArt

AuthorAlec Dempster

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.5 in

Item Weight8 Oz

Item Length8.8 in

Item Width5.6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

Dewey Edition23

ReviewsDempster's linocut illustrations based on Mexican folk music are imaginative and fun, with writing that only adds to the enjoyment. During his time in Veracruz, Mexico, musician and artist Alec Dempster began to create illustrations of various son jarocho, musical pieces in a folk style popular in the region. Dempster's book Lotería Jarocha: Linoleum Prints combines sixty of his linocut illustrations--each based on a specific son--with artist's notes about each. The result is an impressive collection art fans will appreciate. Dempster has recorded multiple albums of son jarocho himself, and his linocuts have been used on multiple game boards for lotería--a bingo-like game that uses illustrations rather than numbers. He clearly loves the material, and that resonates in his artwork. His pieces have a whimsical quality that works for decorating lotería game boards, while also celebrating the music that inspired him. Each of the drawings appears on a right-hand page, and Dempster supplements his artwork with just the right amount of text on the left-hand side. Depending on the print, he writes about the lyrics of the son that inspired it, the history of a particular piece of music or dance, or the personal experiences in Veracruz he evokes in his art. The book is beautifully produced, printed on a textured paper stock that helps the black-and-white images pop on the page, and gives the project a timeless appearance and tactile feel. His anecdotes are brief and interesting, enhancing the reader's understanding of each piece without becoming indulgent or repetitive. For a piece called "La Iguana," Dempster created a dancing man holding the titular lizard by the tale, and text describes the experience of watching the dance that accompanies this piece of music. "El Conejo" depicts an enormous rabbit leaping over a city, and is accompanied by the story of how rabbits became associated with the town of Santiago Tuxtla in Veracruz. In the case of "El Huerfanito," Dempster includes the lyrics of a son usually played at funerals, to accompany his plaintive portrait of a child kneeling in mournful prayer. Dempster's linocuts convey equally the sorrow of "El Huerfanito," the joy of the dance-based prints, the gentle absurdity of an absent-minded mole with a cane ("La Tuza"), and a pig using its snout to cook ("La Tarasca"). Dempster's artwork is imaginative and fun to experience, and his writing only adds to the enjoyment., Dempster's collection of songs, linoleum prints, and prose descriptions create an amazing reminder that it is an error to treat folklore as simply sentimental material to be preserved as cultural history. Lotería Jarocha joyously posits folklore as resistance to a monolithic way of thinking or expressing oneself and an embrace of community and cultural diversity.

Dewey Decimal769.92

Table Of ContentIntroduction El Aguanieve El Ahualulco El Balajú La Bamba El Borracho La Bruja El Buscapiés El Butaquito El Camotal La Candela El Canelo El Capotín El Cascabel El Celoso Los Chiles Verdes El Coco El Coconito El Colás El Conejo La Culebra El Cupido Los Enanos El Fandanguito El Gallo El Gavilancito La Guacamaya La Guanábana El Guapo El Huerfanito La Iguana La Indita El Jarabe loco El Juiles La Lloroncita La Manta La María Chuchena La Morena Las Olas del Mar El Pájaro Carpintero El Pájaro Cú El Palomo Los Panaderos Las Pascuas El Perro La Petenera El Piojo Los Poblanas Los Pollos El Presidente El Sapo La Sarna La Tarasca El Torero El Torito El Toro Zacamandú El Trompo La Tuza El Valedor El Zapateado El Zopilote

SynopsisLoter'a Jarocha assembles a series of linoleum-block prints created by Mexican-Canadian artist Alec Dempster after his return to his native Mexico in the mid-1990s. Discovering a lively genre of folk music from the Veracruz region, Dempster subsequently devoted himself to documenting his heritage with printmaking. The result is Loter'a Jarocha , a collection of expressive images which catalogue Dempster's encounter with the vibrant son jarocho culture of his birthplace., Lotería Jarocha assembles a series of linoleum-block prints created by Mexican-Canadian artist Alec Dempster after his return to his native Mexico in the mid-1990s. Discovering a lively genre of folk music from the Veracruz region, Dempster subsequently devoted himself to documenting his heritage with printmaking. The result is Lotería Jarocha , a collection of expressive images which catalogue Dempster's encounter with the vibrant son jarocho culture of his birthplace., In the mid-1990s, artist and musician Alec Dempster returned to Mexico, the place of his birth, and discovered son jarocho. A genre of folk music from the Veracruz region of Mexico, son jarocho originated in the 17th century with the confluence of Indigenous, African and European peoples. In Veracruz today, musicians can still be heard singing these traditional sones , passed down orally through the generations as themes or tropes, rather than songs with set lyrics. As Dempster immersed himself in the tradition, speaking and playing with rural musicians, his exploration of the culture resulted in a series of linoleum prints, each depicting a traditional son. Dempster's imagery, playful and enigmatic, provides a window into a culture virtually unknown outside Mexico. In this stunning collection, Dempster lends his own voice to the prints for the first time, illustrating their genesis and origin in clear, unassuming prose. With Dempster as guide, Lotería Jarocha draws its reader into an infectious culture of music, laughter and dance.