28/08/2026
Nicolás de Jesús: Art That Refuses to Stay Quiet
Animals, musicians, masks, skeletons, dancers, saints, politicians and entire crowds seem to spill across Nicolás de Jesús’s paintings. There is movement everywhere. The compositions are packed with detail, yet every figure seems to have a reason for being there.
Nicolás de Jesús was born in Ameyaltepec, Guerrero, and comes from the Nahua community of the Alto Balsas region. His work is deeply rooted in the visual traditions of his culture, particularly amate painting and printmaking, but his subjects reach far beyond tradition. Over the course of his career, he has used his art to speak about migration, racism, inequality, violence, identity and politics.
His work has been exhibited internationally, including a major retrospective at the Neuberger Museum of Art in New York.
What struck me most about this exhibition was the color. Then you start looking closer.
A huge painting turns Día de Mu***os into an almost overwhelming celebration of music, movement, skeletons, animals and people. There is so much happening that you can keep discovering new details long after the first impression.
Then you come across another work that completely changes the mood.
Donald Trump is depicted with his knee on the neck of a Black man, an unmistakable reference to George Floyd. Around them are images of slavery, chains, racial violence and a Black Statue of Liberty in tears.
It is a powerful image. Uncomfortable, direct and impossible to dismiss.
And that is what I find most interesting about Nicolás de Jesús. He isn't simply painting beautiful pictures. His work carries a cultural, social and political weight. The color may draw you in, but the stories are what keep you looking.
His paintings can feel festive, humorous and even playful at first. Then you notice the commentary underneath. Migration. Death. Racism. Power. Inequality.
Resistance!!
There is a deep sense of empathy for people throughout his work. He seems less interested in making something pretty than in saying something about the world around him.
Standing in front of these paintings, I found myself looking longer than I expected. Not because they are difficult to understand, but because there is so much to see. Every scene seems to open another story.
And maybe that is the point. These paintings don't give you one single reading. They make you look again.
The exhibition is currently on view at Plaza San Miguel, in Pátzcuaro's Historic Center, a cultural space dedicated to art, crafts and local culture that also hosts temporary exhibitions.
📍 Dr. Coss #12, Centro, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán
It's worth walking in even if you weren't planning to. And if you're going specifically to see Nicolás de Jesús, give yourself time.
This is not an exhibition you simply walk past.
Casa Janikua recommends. This one will blow your mind.
