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Haunting and humorous: Brandon Maldonado's works speak to themes of death that resonate today
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An admirer once told Brandon Maldonado his skeletons looked more alive than the living.
The Albuquerque artist鈥檚 Day of the Dead imagery synthesizes traditional santero aesthetics, tumbling geometry, cubism and Catholic retablos into a fusion both haunting and humorous.
Maldonado鈥檚 work can be seen at Santa Fe鈥檚 Hecho a Mano gallery through Dec. 1.
Haunting and humorous: Brandon Maldonado's works speak to themes of death that resonate today
He brings his own lens to the traditions, speaking to themes of death that resonate today: school shootings, the pandemic and the always looming possibility of nuclear war.
His acrylic paintings celebrate death as a part of life, while offering brutal commentary on issues such as the violence of Mexican cartels and New Mexico鈥檚 nuclear legacy.
Maldonado grew up in Westgate in an environment of graffiti and skateboards.
鈥淕eorgia O鈥橩eeffe was very romanticized as far as I was concerned,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 what I鈥檇 seen on the street.鈥�
He began painting at the age of 20 with no formal training. He began researching books about the classic santeros and the work of the Mexican political printmaker Jos茅 Guadalupe Posada.
鈥淚 was seeing a lot of patterns 鈥� the wavy lines came from santero stuff,鈥� Maldonado said. 鈥淚 saw the visual work of the Day of the Dead designs. It鈥檚 something about simplifying the form.鈥�
鈥淢y most well-known image was a Day of the Dead in 2009 that appeared on a Zac Brown album,鈥� Maldonado said. 鈥淗e just went into a shop in Old Town and liked the work.鈥�
Maldonado also gets personal.
His 鈥淒eath of Leroy the Foo-Dog鈥� is a tribute to the late animal, cradled by an Indigenous figure. Maldonado twisted her hair into a candelabra or tree of life shape.
鈥淲ith the commercialization (of Day of the Dead), we tend to forget that this is immortalizing people,鈥� he said.
The undulating lines represent rhythms 鈥� repetitive patterns, he added.
With its saguaro cactus on the horizon, the skull of 鈥淓l Desierto鈥� speaks to the deaths at the border.
鈥淕reetings from New Mexico鈥� steals from Pablo Picasso鈥檚 masterpiece 鈥淕uernica.鈥�
鈥淚 turned the figures at the bottom into Japanese,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a memorial to World War II.鈥�
鈥淣arco Corridos鈥� speaks to the Mexican cartel violence. Santa Muerte cradles a dead cartel member beneath a trinity of musicians.
鈥淔rom Death Comes Life鈥� and 鈥淧unk Rock Serenade鈥� reflect one another, Maldonado said.
鈥淭he punk rocker with the guitar is seeing the girl in 鈥楩rom Death Comes Life.鈥欌��
For Maldonado, creating Day of the Dead imagery is to reclaim his heritage.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very strong cultural custom to tell the story of the mystery of life,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n American culture, we don鈥檛 affirm that.鈥�
After working in the Albuquerque Public Schools library for eight years, Maldonado became a full-time artist in 2008.
鈥淚 try to make it whimsical and fun,鈥� he said.
