The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 14, 2024

Hasta La Casta

Hasta La Casta

2017
(American, b. 1985)
(American)
(American, 2015-)
America
color screenprint
Image: 45.7 x 61 cm (18 x 24 in.); Sheet: 53.3 x 71.9 cm (21 x 28 5/16 in.)
gift of Jack and Linda Lissauer in memory of Pearl and Rabbi David Hachen 2020.416
© Michael Menchaca
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Michael Menchaca is influenced by the aesthetic of video games; for example, the red, white, and blue round form at upper right is adopted from the Japanese gaming franchise Pokémon.

Description

Texas-based artist Michael Menchaca uses the stacked forms and flattened compositions of Mayan codices—the earliest books in Latin American culture—to comment on current social issues in the United States. This artwork’s title references castas, a racial classification system developed around the 1600s by the Spanish conquerors of Mexico. The print shows catlike creatures in different colors guarded by uniformed wolves, meant to evoke this discriminatory practice of categorization. Combining fantastical and historical images, the artist writes that they hope to compare such inequality of the past with the treatment of undocumented immigrants by the American government today.
  • 2016-2018
    (Overpass Projects, Providence, RI, sold to Jack and Linda Lissauer)
    2018-2020
    Jack and Linda Lissauer, Shaker Heights, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2020-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • New Narratives: Contemporary Works on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 19, 2023-April 14, 2024).
    A Graphic Revolution: Prints and Drawings in Latin America. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 14-August 2, 2020).
  • {{cite web|title=Hasta La Casta|url=false|author=Michael Menchaca, Julia Samuels, Overpass Projects|year=2017|access-date=14 May 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.416