The Day of the Dead is rising early this year.
El Arte de Muertos Expo, Albuquerque’s largest Day of the Dead art exhibition, is coming to the Agave del Sol Event Center this weekend.
The Arte de Muertos Expo averages 40-50 artists from across the Southwest. Although the artists’ work shares a common theme, the styles and mediums vary.
Artists at the expo will be selling everything from paintings and mixed media folk art to handbags and jewelry, said Hank Estrada, the Arte de Muertos event coordinator.
Estrada,said he started the Arte de Muertos Expo in April 2009, in a small convention center in Rio Rancho. He said about 3,000 visitors attend the two-day event.
“I started it because (I am) a collector of the art myself and have traveled to Mexico for the celebration in the fall,” he said. “I found that in New Mexico we have many artists who specialize in Day of the Dead art.”
El Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, originally began as an Aztec tradition dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, the queen of the Aztec underworld.
While the festival was initially celebrated during August, it was later moved to Nov. 1 to coincide with the Catholic holiday All Soul’s Day.
Jane Malone, a local Albuquerque artist and the head of the Flicking Jane Graphic Design Studio, said she will be exhibiting her work at the expo.
“I think it’s amazing to see the same subject represented by so many different artists,” Malone said.
Much of the local inspiration for the art is drawn from the fact that El Dia de los Muertos is an integral part of Mexican and New Mexican culture, and the holiday is celebrated widely throughout the state and around the world, Estrada said.
“This expo isn’t about celebrating the Day of the Dead,” he said. “We’re celebrating the artists who create the Day of the Dead art.”
While Malone has attended the expo for the last three years, she said this will be the first year she will have her work on display.
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BOX:
Arte de Muertos Expo
Agave del Sol Event Center
7500 Montgomery Blvd.
July 10, 10 a.m. to 6p.m.
July 11, 10 a.m. to 5p.m.
Free
