Día de los Muertos, a celebration of life and death primarily observed in Mexico, has garnered greater attention in the United States, as Mexican immigrants and descendants have brought their multi-day holiday to our soil.
The holiday falls on Nov. 1, oftentimes overshadowed by the residue of Halloween. When associated with its preceding holiday, Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead in English, is often only viewed for its focus on the deceased.
But Día de los Muertos is more than just dead people.
Often recognized by brightly colored marigolds and painted skulls, the holiday symbolizes a period of time to remember those who have passed and honor them through vivid imagery and art.
This holiday, intertwined with the commencement of autumn, has become a beacon of Mexican identity within their art.
The primary images seen within this celebration are a stark contrast to what one typically associates with death—the color black is absent, and the only skulls found are shaped from brightly colored bread to be dipped in hot chocolate or coffee.
Yellow and gold are used to represent the sun and light. For this reason, marigolds—the flower of the dead—are used to “illuminate” paths for the deceased to find their way back home.
The altars, or ofrendas, are akin to a family’s scrapbook. Decorated with photos of their loved ones alongside memorabilia from their lives, these altars are extravagantly filled with marigolds, food, and papel picado—cut paper representing movement and air.
Painted cloths are hung above the ofrendas to provide a backdrop for the elaborate altars. They become living works of art tied both to culture and lineage.
Mexico’s holiday has become a core element of its identity through its art in particular. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, two of the most celebrated painters in Mexican history, have presented Día de los Muertos in their works.
Kahlo’s Girl with Death Mask is a portrait of herself with a Día de los Muertos skull mask and a yellow flower. The Day of the Dead by Rivera illustrates a lively Day of the Dead celebration, with people drinking and playing music.
The celebration’s artistic prevalence isn’t solely found in Mexican paintings dating back 90 years. Day of the Dead has pierced modern American Hollywood cinema—it’s hit the big screen with animations like The Book of Life (2014) and Disney Pixar’s Coco (2017).
These animated films have a particular importance in allowing these traditions to reach new audiences and bridge the cultural gap. Americans were able to learn the beauty of Día de los Muertos as it was thrust into mainstream pop culture.
The films connect cultures through song and dance, echoing American values like family and community. The films are also a source of representation for Mexican American children who have never seen their holiday portrayed within pop culture.
This reverence is especially significant given the current political climate, with fears of deportation propagated within Mexican and Latino communities.
The rise of the holiday’s awareness brought to the forefront conversations surrounding death, an oftentimes taboo conversation. The intersectionality between art and grief is universal. No matter your walk of life, death and art tie people together.
Art, a language with no barrier, and grief, a ubiquitous experience, have spread the Mexican holiday across oceans and borders.
In most Western art, death is reflected with mournful themes. Día de los Muertos, however, turns the pain of grief into celebration. Each form of art is proud of its celebration but acknowledges the fact that everyone will come to be celebrated on an ofrenda one day. It turns the rational fear of death into something tangible for those who are living.
Día de los Muertos is rooted in religious principles, which are reflected within the artwork itself. The ofrendas are representative of the physical world and the heavens, with paintings of the Virgin Mary and crucifixes found immersed within the altar.
For practicing Catholics, death is not merely the end but a transformation of one’s soul. As a result, Catholic paintings depict the juxtaposition of the heavens and Earth—similar to the distinctions found on a Day of the Dead altar.
Angels are painted flying high above the living Earth, like the framed photos on the top of the altar. Bright-colored paint that surrounds the angels, as if they contain a small pocket of the heavens, shines on the muted browns and greens of the living world.
Though Día de los Muertos faces assimilation into American culture, being referred to as a mere Halloween tradition, the days signify a time of prayer and remembrance through art.
Día de los Muertos isn’t just about death. The holiday reminds us that our kindred are everywhere. They are in the art we enjoy, the movies we watch, or the autumn leaves that have started to fall.
