The Buried Mirror by Carlos Fuentes

“Extraordinary in itself, this vision becomes unique when all of the images, especially that of death, flow into a vision of revolution, which means a vision of history as violence and death—a boisterous, animated, grimacing death. The art of Posada not only offers society a mirror in which to see its deformity, it offers us a sleepless vision of history as ruin. Posada also helps us regard our cultural continuity critically. We have paid dearly for the misguided belief that history and happiness can beatifically coincide, but all happiness is relative, because there are no absolutes. History is only historical if it does not deceive us with a promise of absolute success or perfect fulfillment. Life is only livable if it does not shrink from the tragic consciousness, including, as Posada does, the vision of death. In Posada, the cultural contradictions of independence resolve themselves in the grand and perilous meeting of risk and revolution, life and death.”

-Carlos Fuentes, 1992