About this artwork
Enrique Chagoya, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, and Felicia Rice published Codex Espangliensis: From Columbus to the Border Patrol in 1998 as a commentary on the border politics between the United States and Mexico. The book’s illustrations fuse pre-Hispanic graphics, postcolonial figures, and superheroes popular in US American culture. These images and accompanying text in Spanish and English challenge notions of historical erasure, US exceptionalism, and ethnocentrism that deeply impact border culture. Felicia Rice modeled the book’s physical composition––including its accordion-style binding, amatl paper, and abundant imagery––after the Aztec and Mayan recordkeeping codices that were destroyed by the Spanish following their conquest in Mexico. Both Gómez-Peña and Chagoya are known for their activism and for political art that uses culture as a lens through which to critique larger historical, sociopolitical issues. Codex Espangliensis is a project that resonates with their larger praxis.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Ryerson and Burnham Libraries Special Collections
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Artist
- Enrique Chagoya
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Title
- Codex Espangliensis: From Columbus to the Border Patrol
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Place
- Santa Cruz (Object made in:)
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Date
- 1998
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Medium
- Accordion-folded illustrated book, letterpress printed in black and red from zinc photoengravings on Mexican amatl paper lined with Japanese shintengujo tissue; bound in a portfolio of amatl paper over board
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Edition
- Signed and numbered edition 37 of 45
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Dimensions
- Closed: 23 × 29.1 × 3 cm (9 1/16 × 11 1/2 × 1 3/16 in.); Extended: 23 × 921.5 cm (9 1/16 × 362 13/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Robert G. and Elizabeth M. Knight Endowment Fund
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Reference Number
- 2023.3233
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
