Juan Rafael Coronel Rivera

Patricia Conde presents Maringuilla by Juan Rafael Coronel Rivera. Curated by Michel Blancsubé, the exhibition brings together 55 silver/gelatin prints made over three decades at carnivals in twelve Mexican states. The publication of the project, edited by Talamontes Editores, accompanies the exhibition.

As the curator writes, the maringuilla, a cross-dressed character played by masked men, appears in traditional dances such as the Negros in Veracruz, the Huehues in Puebla or the Kúrpites in Michoacán. These popular celebrations, heirs of ancient investment and fertility rites, mix the sacred and the pagan, revealing bodies and identities that escape the norm.

Coronel Rivera's images, taken with an analog camera and black and white film, capture the eroticism, vitality, and carefree nature of these festive rituals. Portraits and spontaneous scenes that show the subversive force of costume and collectivity.

–Patricia Conde Galería