Black and white digital print, wheat paste
243 x 92 cm


The artistic practice of Dr. Lakra, aka Jerónimo López Ramírez, reveals him to be a collector of objects and concepts. His work draws on both ethnographic and pop cultural references – which he uses prodigiously in his collage, painting, drawing, and more recently, sculptural work. His interest in tattoos and tradition, the indigenous and contemporary, the folkloric and art historical, as well as fetishes, myths, histories, and rituals of a number of cultures are juxtaposed, resulting in works that are both a subversive tribute and a provocation. Dr. Lakra has appropriated posters, pages from erotic magazines, and postcards since early in his practice, using these as the base for drawings and collages highlighting his visual language of traditional and contemporary imagery culled from a vast array of civilizations. Much like the bronze works and sculptures accompanying the exhibition in which these works on paper were first shown, these prints casually combine iconography that has appeared across cultures since time immemorial with a brazen irreverence for their source. Yet, this does not diminish their sacred quality; rather it serves to elevate the weight of human history in contrast to the brief existence of contemporary culture.


*1972 in Oaxaca, Mexico | Living and working in  Oaxaca, Mexico