"Mexico City-based artist Omar Mendoza taps into the persistence of ancestral knowledge for his newest series of paintings in Serpiente Solar 〰 Noche Obsidiana, or Solar Serpent 〰 Obsidian Night, at Povos. Conjuring hues from native plants, tree bark, and flowers collected from his father's hometown, supplemented with pigments sourced from local markets, the existence of Mendoza's works are themselves a symbolic form of resistance."
"As Mendoza reaches toward the sanctity of time-honored cultural wisdom, he connects both celestial and earthly forces, depicting multitudes of intuition and insight through motifs such as stars, planetary objects, snakes, eagles, vines, and more. Victoria Richards' curatorial text shares: Omar Mendoza creates these works from a cosmovision in which everything is alive and in relationship: water, stone, plants, fire, night. In that web of sacred correspondences, painting becomes an act of reciprocity with the earth and its cycles."
Ancient methods of extracting dyes from organic sources remain integral to Mesoamerican creative traditions despite colonial threats. Mexico City-based Omar Mendoza resurrects ancestral pigment-making using native plants, tree bark, and flowers from his father's hometown, along with pigments from local markets. His paintings operate as symbolic resistance while visually invoking cosmic power and sacred rhythm. Mendoza links celestial and earthly forces through motifs including stars, planetary bodies, snakes, eagles, and vines. His practice frames painting as reciprocity with earth cycles. Symmetrical compositions and tactile washes of pink, blue, violet, and yellow create transcendent harmony. The series is on view in Chicago through October 4.
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