Illuminated Piñata No. 2, 2019, Paper

In his Illuminated Hybrid series, artist Roberto Benavidez blends traditional piñata animal forms with fantastical creatures from the marginalia of medieval manuscripts to create new creatures and celebrate the visual harmony that can be found between cultures. Building on the belief that representation in art matters, the artist’s Mexican American identity often influences his work. For the past fourteen years, Benavidez’s sculptural practice has specifically centered around the piñata and how its multi-cultural origins reflect his own mixed-race identity, using the concept of mixing, at times hybridizing, two motifs: Western art and Mexican piñata craft.