Huesudo: Untitled. Digital artwork.
CONTENTS 06 Introduction
132 Sergio Mora
10 Calavera Comics
140 Mr.Kone
18 Toño Camuñas
146 Jean Luc Navette
26 Samuel Casal
152 Neuzz
34 Chema Skandal!
156 Mitch O’Connell
40 Chicken Billy
162 Ismael Olivares
46 Dr. Alderete
170 Pale Horse
54 Dr. Lakra
178 Pooch
62 Kristen Easthope
184 Christian Reyes
66 El Escobas
188 Gustavo Rimada
70 El Moreno
194 Robot Soda
74 Margarita Fick
198 Artemio Rodríguez
80 Demián Flores
204 Jean-Sébastien Ruyen
86 Fudemae
208 Sergio Sánchez Santamaria
94 Charles Glaubitz
214 Saner
102 Jorge R. Gutierrez
222 Raudiel Sañudo
108 Carlos Hernández
228 Duy Thang Nguyen
114 Huesudo
232 Humberto Valdez
122 Masa
240 Lucas Varela
126 Marie Meier
246 Zoveck Estudio
Left: Imagen vs Letra, 2007. Mixed media. Right: Generala (General’s Wife), 2008. Mixed media.
CHEMA SKANDAL! “I’m inspired by everything from the last century, from cereal boxes to comics, from Cuban posters to Italian scooters, from Reggae to indie fanzines, by very cold Red Stripe larger and 45 rpm vinyl, and of course by the female form” says Chema. He loves his work – “it allows me to escape corporate drudgery” – and sees Mexico’s surrealism, iconography, colours and even stereotypes as important influences. More direct ones are the great muralists he got into whilst at university in Mexico City, the animation of Disney, Lantz and He-Man, Steve Cerio and Charles Burns, and Posada. He has shown all over the world – Paris, London, Addis Abbaba and Chicago, where he now lives.
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Left: Untitled, 2007. Ink on a vintage magazine page. Right: Untitled, 2007. Ink on a vintage magazine page.
DR. LAKRA An artist and tattooist, Dr. Lakra (a.k.a. Jeronimo Lopez Ramirez) works in Oaxaca, Mexico and shows all over the world. His work has been part of seminal exhibitions such as Stolen Bike (Andrew Kreps Gallery, N.Y.C.), Los Dos Amigos (MACO, Mexico City), Pin Up (Tate Modern, London), Goth (Yokohama Museum of Art) and Pierced Hearts and True Love (Drawing Center, N.Y.C.). Dr. Lakra’s artworks involve the embellishment of found objects and imagery with macabre and tattoo-sourced designs. He has a penchant for old medical illustrations, imagery from Mexican magazines of the 1950s and old dolls. The result is sinister, dissonant yet instantly recognisable and entertainingly sardonic. Art and graphics are in Dr. Lakra’s blood: he is the son of renowned Mexican graphic artist, Francisco Toledo.
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EL MORENO Cesar Moreno was born in Mexico City, where he lived until recently, in 1978. “As a kid I was no good at football – essential for success on the streets of my youth – so I found refuge in drawing every cartoon that appeared on Canal Cinquo.” Twenty years later this proved invaluable training for a career in graphic design, when he set up his design studio Golpeavisa; “it was some compensation for not making it as a goal scorer in the Mexican First Division.” Patricio Betteo and Humberto Ramos he counts amongst his biggest influences, but “cliché though it seems I find all of life inspiring.” Today he is based in the country – “it’s allowed me more time…think of it as a retirement from the city so I can work, but Mexico City is still where most of the ideas come from.”
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Above: Dos mil siete (Two Thousand and Seven), for La Mosca en la pared (Fly on the Wall) magazine, 2007. Right: El Terror (The Terror), for viernesdeilustracion.com. 2010.
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Above Left: Puro estilo mexicano (Pure Mexican Style), 2010. Digital artwork. Left: Barrio 83 (Neighbourhood 83), 2010. Digital artwork. Above: Diablita (Little She-Devil), 2010. Digital artwork. Right: México Barrio Chingón (Chingon Neighbourhood, Mexico City), 2010. Digital artwork.
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Photography Credit Jordi Salinas & Magicomora
SERGIO MORA
“I’m like Obelisk the Gaul: as a kid I fell into a vat of magic potion…I now have the poison of an overactive imagination coursing through my veins. It’s not that I like creating, I have no choice; I can’t help being a painter.” Barcelona-based Sergio worked as an illustrator for magazines such as Integral, Domenical, Supermini and Megatop for many years, and as a designer for brands Once, Misako, FNAC and UNICEF. Mexico, which he describes as “like life”, is a major source of his imagery; his major influence he says is “life itself, with new inspiration every day.” Sergio has exhibited throughout Europe and the USA.
Above: Si la vida te da palo (If Life Gives You a Beating), 2009. Acrylic on panel. Left: Lucky Lovers, 2008. Acrylic on panel. Right: La peleona (The Quarreller), 2009. Acrylic on panel.
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Mexican Graphics: Grafica Mexicana Hardcover + jacket 8.5" x 10.5" (215mm x 266mm) 256 pages ISBN: 978-1-907621-02-4
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