Xavier Yarto is a native of Coyoacán, one of the 16 boroughs of the Federal District of Mexico City. It formerly was a village with an historic center that is now the historic center of the borough.
Coyoacán comes from ‘place of coyotes’ in the Nahuatl language. This name was given by the Aztecs to a pre-Hispanic village on the southern shore of Lake Texcoco which was dominated by the Tepanec people.
The God Tlaloc
This pre-Hispanic past is an important component in the Works of Xavier Yarto. He focuses on abstract art and the pre-Hispanic art. ‘It’s a mix between my old culture and modern art. In my artworks there is a Deity, a Ruler, a priest, a God, a Warrior, reflected in low relief and in mixed colours.’
Yarto tells us about the Mexican past. ‘There is the God Tlaloc, the God of Rain. He was one of the most important Gods. I am talking about the historical period before the arrival of the Spaniards on Mexican ground and the Conquista. He was there for a long period of time, including the Preclásico (2500 BC – 200 AD), the Clásico (200 AD– 700) and the Postclásico (800 – 1521).
The happiness of the Gods
Pre-Hispanic Mexico had developed into a very well organized society with much knowledge assembled. There were excellent mathematical astronomers and herbologists. It was a very rich culture. The social structure of what was called Mesoamerica was formed by diverse social groups: governors, priests, military leaders, traders, soldiers, craftsmen and farmers. There were six cultural regions. The study of its past has been exhaustive and full of surprises.
Next to the God of Rain, Tlaloc, there was the God of the War, Huitzilopochtli,the God of Wisdom, Quetzalcoatl and more than 200 other Gods. Many natural phenomena were attributed to either the wrath or the happiness of the Gods. To keep them satisfied human sacifices were offered to them on and off.
The dog Xoloitzcuintle
They used a civil calender of 365 days, Xihuitl, and a sacred calender of 260 days from which horoscopes and unfortunate days were extracted, Tonalpohalli. Religion dominated this complex and rich. The daily needs were solved, there was food for everybody. With maiz, kidney beans and guajolote (turkey) the nutrional base was complete.
The dead were buried in diverse ways, sometimes they were surrounded by bedrolls. There was a death cult, with offerings like bags with food, personal drinks, objects and often there was also this mesoamerican dog called Xoloitzcuintle, a hairless dog.
‘It’s good to provide a little Mexican culture to other countries’, Xavier Yarto says. ‘Always within a modern language. I mix colours, I’ve always liked the combination of colours.’
La Vida
He indicates La Vida as his Key Work. ‘In this case there is no pre-Hispanic motive. It is very difficult for me to part from this work. It is my most important work also from the point of view of size, colour and acceptance by the general public.’
More than 17 years Yarto is painting now. He had the opportunity to show his work in solo expositions and group shows in important places in Mexico and the United States. He has been invited to exhibit in England, Italy and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands he will have a solo exposition in August 2014.
Enjoying the moment
Yarto is an autodidact painter. ‘I have had the time to improve my technique slowly. I have ruined hundreds of canvases and papers in the meantime. Ik keep on improving every day. Being a painter is definitely a difficult profession. I knocked on many doors to show my work, many have been opened but many more have been closed.’
‘Fortunately I am slowly making my way in the artworld. I paint for myself, enjoying the moment. I don’t have to look good to anyone. While making it, it is not in my mind to sell it or to show it somewhere. I do it because it is my passion. If someone likes what I do, all the better.’
First published 2014.
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