WORKS > La Raza Cósmica 20XX

A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey
Edition of 10
21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019

Essays:
Casta State of Mind: Michael Menchaca and the Graphic Revolution of Caste

Making La Raza Cósmica 20XX

La Raza Cósmica 20XX is a print series that mythical re-interprets Jose Vasconcelos' mestizo identity theory, La Raza Cósmica , using animal stand-ins to depict 16 variations of intermixed Latinx bodies. In his theory, Vasconcelos states that the Latin American people, who descend from the intermixing of European DNA with Amerindian, Asian, and African DNA, have created an ethnical fusion, a mestizáje, which he characterizes as the cosmic race. Pairing this theory with the recurring imagery of Spanish Casta paintings, popular in 18th century Spanish colonial Mexico and instrumental in codifying racial identity through a visual means, I envision a new set of Castas that subvert the racial hierarchy of the traditional genre paintings and whose environments Silicon Valley technology has fully integrated itself into, and therefore provide the means by which the 16 sets of Latinx Families are able to communicate with one another in the era of the POST DIGITAL NEW WORLD.

This lovely set of screen prints attempts to connect the colonial dots from Cortez to Zuckerberg and recognizes that patterns of colonization are perennial unless they are actively dismantled. Since the invention of race as a technology in itself, race-making and race-preservation necessitate the enablement of speculative and auspicious new technologies that historically privilege those already in power and reinforce the heteropatriarchal social order.

I have developed a digital lexicon of animal archetypes and narrative pattern designs, or my own digital codex, to assist in mythologizing the interwoven logic of European conquest, U.S. border imperialism, data colonialism, and A.I. assisted automated racialized discrimination. In order to produce these prints, I essentially translated digitally composed vector graphics into a set of stencils used in the screen-printing process to print a total of 6 colors of ink onto sheets of paper.

I worked on this series on location at Overpass Projects with my esteemed colleague Julia Samuels in their studio called Overpass Projects in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in the summer of 2019.


Purchase Prints

Quarteron No. 6 Framed
from La Raza Cosmicá 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall 2019
Mestizo No. 1
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Castizo No. 2
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Español No. 3
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Español No. 4
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Mulato No. 5
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Quarteron No. 6
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Torna Atras No. 7
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Chino No.8
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Lobo No. 9
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Sambayoo No. 10
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Cambujan No. 11
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Notientiendo No. 12
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Calpamulato No. 13
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Albarazado No. 14
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Tente En El Aire No. 15
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Ahi Te Estas No. 16
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
Castizo No. 2 Framed
from La Raza Cósmica 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
La Raza Cósmica 20XX
A suite of 16 screen prints
21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019
No. 4 Framed (Detail)
from La Raza Cosmicá 20XX, A suite of 16 screen prints
Screenprint on Stonehenge Pearl Grey; Edition of 10; 21” wide x 22.5” tall
2019