Mientras Mas Atras - Pedro Abascal (NEW)
Mientras Más Atrás Se Mire, Más Claro Se Ve, Pedro Abascal

Mientras Más Atrás Se Mire, Más Claro Se Ve

Artist

Pedro Abascal

Nationality

Cuban

Heritage

Latin American

Cuban

Medium

Offset Lithograph

Date

October 26 2001

Dimensions

30 x 22 inches

Edition Size

34 prints in this edition

Printer

Marion Beaumont

Provenance

Brandywine Workshop and Archives

Location

Philadelphia, PA

About the Work

From the Artist
This print deals with the idea of time and my roots which I found in Afro-Cuban religion named Osha, based upon the idea of honoring our ancestors. The black and red colors of my main orisha [a spirit manifestation of Olodumare–God], Eleguá, he is the owner of the roads and the guardian of the doors.

Maferefun Eggin, Maferefun Eleguá [Praise the Spirits, Praise Eleguá]
—From Brandywine Workshop and Archives records
Mientras Más Atrás Se Mire, Más Claro Se Ve (The Farther Back You Look, the Clearer You See), by the Cuban photographer Pedro Abascal, honors his main orisha, Eleguá. The vertical composition shows a photomontage of an animal skeleton fused with the orisha's head over an elongated human hand, framed by the colors of Eleguá to indicate his ownership of roads and ability to open doors for communication with other orishas. Abascal, who came to prominence during Cuba's Special Period (1991–2000), was introduced to his orisha via La Regla de Ocha (“The Order of Orishas,” the formal name of Santería).
—Excerpted from Tatiana Reinoza, PhD, from All My Ancestors: The Spiritual in Afro-Latinx Art (2022) exhibition catalog

 

About the Artist

Pedro Abascal

Artist and self-taught photographer Pedro Abascal was born in Havana, Cuba. In addition to being a visual-artist, he has worked as a photojournalist, commercial photographer, and photographer for film. He has participated in numerous group exhibit...

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