Codex Espangliensis: From Columbus to the Border Patrol

Enrique ChagoyaWW-1998-126149

1998·Accordion-folded illustrated book, letterpress printed in black and red from zinc photoengravings on Mexican amatl paper lined with Japanese shintengujo tissue; bound in a portfolio of amatl paper over board·Closed: 23 × 29.1 × 3 cm (9 1/16 × 11 1/2 × 1 3/16 in.); Extended: 23 × 921.5 cm (9 1/16 × 362 13/16 in.)

Enrique Chagoya, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, and Felicia Rice published Codex Espangliensis: From Columbus to the Border Patrol in 1998 as a commentary on the border politics between the United States and Mexico. The book’s illustrations fuse pre-Hispanic graphics, postcolonial figures, and superheroes popular in US American culture. These images and accompanying text in Spanish and English challenge notions of historical erasure, US exceptionalism, and ethnocentrism that deeply impact border culture. Felicia Rice modeled the book’s physical composition––including its accordion-style binding, amatl paper, and abundant imagery––after the Aztec and Mayan recordkeeping codices that were destroyed by the Spanish following their conquest in Mexico. Both Gómez-Peña and Chagoya are known for their activism and for political art that uses culture as a lens through which to critique larger historical, sociopolitical issues. Codex Espangliensis is a project that resonates with their larger praxis.

Catalogue

Year: 1998
Medium: Accordion-folded illustrated book, letterpress printed in black and red from zinc photoengravings on Mexican amatl paper lined with Japanese shintengujo tissue; bound in a portfolio of amatl paper over board
Dimensions: Closed: 23 × 29.1 × 3 cm (9 1/16 × 11 1/2 × 1 3/16 in.); Extended: 23 × 921.5 cm (9 1/16 × 362 13/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Enrique Chagoya

Artist

Enrique Chagoya

Printmaking

Enrique Chagoya is a Mexican artist born in 1953 who works across printmaking, painting, and mixed media, often combining pre-Columbian imagery with contemporary visual languages. His practice interrogates colonial narratives and cultural hybridity through layered compositions that reference both indigenous codices and popular culture.

Mexico City, Mexico

Full artist profile →