Jis,the amoral fabulist
Jis, or José Ignacio Solórzano, as he is known in official documents, is well more than a caricaturist, a monero [cartoonist], or a brilliant illustrator. While he is capable of portraying personal traits with great precision, he has a greater ability to construct characters —some of them already part of Mexican popular culture, such as La Tetona Mendoza or El Peyote Asesino—with an unmistakable stroke in his drawing. The power of Jis' work lies in his unique ability to understand and communicate the world—his world—through scenes as grotesque as they are subtle.
A member of a generation that emerged in Guadalajara at the end of the 20th century, Jis broke into the national scene along with Trino, Falcón, Jabaz, and Josel, among other moneros and cartoonists, with an irreverence that struck the world of art and journalism. He was part of a groundbreaking movement that resulted in the publication of the magazines Galimatías and La Mamá del Abulón, as well as humorous articles in newspapers such as La Jornada, Siglo 21, and Público.
From a very young age, he developed his own language. In the prologue of his first work, "Los manuscritos del Fongus", Carlos Monsiváis wrote: "He is neither a caricaturist nor a satirist nor a humorist (although there is satire and a sense of humor in his work). Rather, or exactly, Jis is a fabulist."
Jis' language ranges from portraiture to surrealism, passing through caricature. Monstrous, chimerical figures, some of them brutal, but always with a hint of innocence, with the genuine fascination of the observer who does not lose the capacity for surprise in front of the infinite world of pleasure.
The amorality (not immorality) of Jis' work allows us to approach sex from an everyday dimension, free of any prejudice or morbidity. What he eroticizes and aestheticizes is the artist's gaze located in some unsuspected place in the bedroom; small vignettes (he has never worked in formats larger than those of a drawing pad) where eroticism is equally present in the genitalia as in the feet.
- Diego Petersen Farah
Pequod Co. is pleased to announce the participation of José Noé Suro as part of the annual invitation to our curatorial program aimed at collaborators, friends, and figures whose practices reflect a relevant support for the dynamism of our local ecosystem.
For his participation in the program, Jose Noé Suro presents us with a curatorial proposal with three of the most relevant contemporary artists in Guadalajara's art scene, whose national and international impact is unquestionable.
The exhibition will be open to the public on Thursday, June 27,
from 17:00 to 20:00 h.
JIS
Guadalajara, 1963
Jis (José Ignacio Solórzano Pérez) studied, in his own words, Conceptual Art at the University of Life. He was founder of magazines such as Cáspita, along with Guillermo del Toro, or Galimatías, with Falcón and Trino Camacho, in which tapatías personalities such as Francisco Navarrete and Julio Haro collaborated, and founder of journalistic supplements such as "La Mamá del Abulón" in the newspaper Siglo 21 or "La croqueta" in La Jornada. Along with his inseparable friend Trino, he has hosted radio programs such as La Atlántida and La Chora Interminable, currently on the air, as well as co-author of the Mexican comic strip El Santos contra la Tetona Mendoza, recently adapted to the big screen in the feature film of the same name.He has published the following titles: Paso sin ver (2007), Diario I. Va de nuez (2008), Paso sin ver (2007), and Diario I. Va de nuez (2008). Va de nuez (2008), Asuntos moneros (2009), Verbos para comenzar (2012), Sepa la bola (2012), Asuntos moneros 2. Manual de golosinas (2012) and La Chora Interminable (2013).
Renata Petersen
Guadalajara, 1993
Her work addresses themes of religious and social character, not exempt from black humor. In the form of vignettes, with a close relationship to comics and cartoons, she produces from satirical revisions to subjects with powerful repercussions in popular culture such as sects, urban legends, gender roles, contemporary sexuality, and the subjectivity implicit in "bad taste".
Martín Soto Climent
Mexico City, 1977
Known for his irreverent reverence of materials, such as women’s clothing, domestic furnishings and vintage photography, among other things, Martín Soto Climent is an inveterate recycler. However, his work is less about valorizing the overlooked, neglected and everyday than it is about transforming it. These transformations, which are marked as much by humor as they are by something which fluctuates between an understated sensuality and a gleeful perversity, bear a decidedly Freudian, if anthropomorphic tenor.
José Noé Suro
In addition to being a collector, José Noé Suro is the director of Cerámica Suro (Jalisco, Guadalajara), a family business founded in 1951 that has since 1993 promoted the work of contemporary artists. Suro has supported and produced contemporary art projects by prominent national and international artists such as Walead Beshty, Milena Muzquiz, Gonzalo Lebrija, Jose Dávila, Jorge Méndez Blake, Nathan Carter, Theaster Gates and Rirkrit Tiravanija, among others.
