Lot 43: Vintage Mexican Folk Art Diablo Riding a Bike

Excerpt: The presence of the devil in traditionally Mexican-made masks is far from traditional to Mexico, and actually came about as a result of Mexico’s conquest. The Spanish were able to completely change the economic structure of Mexico, slaughtering livestock and stealing land, but they weren’t able to eradicate the native practices completely. When the indigenous dances they tried to eradicate continued, the Spanish changed course and decided instead to co-opt the traditions, applying Catholic figures to the masks that once portrayed native gods. The devil, who sometimes appears painted black and red as inspired by a night god called Tezcatlipoca, was one of them. The use of natural clay for these masks as well as diablitos, sculptures made popular in Michoacan by a sort of outlaw artist figure by the name of Marcelino Vicente, was a natural choice for an economically depleted country with plenty of clay available as a free and natural resource. Natural clays continue to be used, and molds are used instead of pottery wheels, just as they were 500 years ago. Despite the longstanding traditional methods used for making these sculptures, the story of the diablito figurines and tableaus, which can still be found today, depicting flesh-eating devils as well as symbols of current events, is a much more modern one.