"ISOTYPE—L" Loteria Deck Design/Poster Art
Icon Design for Lotería cards, subsequently turned into posters
Icon Design for Lotería cards, subsequently turned into posters
I created a partial deck of lotería cards for a design exhibition I was featured in in Mexico City. The designs were inspired by brilliant Gerd Arntz, his seminal work with ISOTYPE (International System Of TYpographic Picture Education), and his stunning woodcut icons.
The original prints for the show were glicée on antique paper, then sprayed with polyurethane and wheat-pasted to medium-density fiberboards.
The prints I chose to exhibit in the show I felt best conveyed a harmony of opposites, and I felt they tied in well with my continuing Equal and Opposite designs.
Lotería is sometimes referred to as "Mexican Bingo" but instead of numbers matched to the letters B, I, N, G, and O, there are 54 pictograms, starting with El Gallo (the rooster) and ending with La Rana (the frog). People fill their Lotería boards with markers (often beans) as a caller calls out the icons drawn via a little riddle. The riddle adds an element of skill in the matching of cards to the board, in that if you aren't "in the know," you'll be confused as to what the caller is talking about. The symbolism in my lotería deck attempts to reflect the same symbolism in the iconic pictograms and those hidden in the standard riddles.
The original prints for the show were glicée on antique paper, then sprayed with polyurethane and wheat-pasted to medium-density fiberboards.
The prints I chose to exhibit in the show I felt best conveyed a harmony of opposites, and I felt they tied in well with my continuing Equal and Opposite designs.
Lotería is sometimes referred to as "Mexican Bingo" but instead of numbers matched to the letters B, I, N, G, and O, there are 54 pictograms, starting with El Gallo (the rooster) and ending with La Rana (the frog). People fill their Lotería boards with markers (often beans) as a caller calls out the icons drawn via a little riddle. The riddle adds an element of skill in the matching of cards to the board, in that if you aren't "in the know," you'll be confused as to what the caller is talking about. The symbolism in my lotería deck attempts to reflect the same symbolism in the iconic pictograms and those hidden in the standard riddles.
The riddle for El Gallo usually makes mention of San Pedro, or Saint Peter. Both the key and the rooster are classic symbols of Saint Peter.
El Diablito, the Little Devil.
La Dama, the lady (literally, the Dame).
El Catrin, the Gentleman (literal translation: the Dandy).
El Paraguas, the Umbrella.
La Sirena, the Mermaid (or Siren). The riddle warns of the siren's beckoning songs which makes men mad, recalling the story of Oedipus.
La Muerte, Death.
La Mano, the Hand. La Mano's riddle usually involves "the hand of a criminal." So I tried to evoke palmistry symbolism that you theoretically may find on a criminal's palm. Simian line (aka. single transverse palmar crease) can mean crimes of passion; a square mark on the Mount of Mercury could mean an extremely advanced criminal bend of mind; an island on the Sun Line represents scandal and/or loss of reputation.
La Bota, the Boot. This one seems to be a favorite among fetishists...
El Corazon, the Heart. I used my standard heart icon you find in a lot of my Equal and Opposite projects.
La Sandia, the Watermelon.
Las Jaras, the Arrows.
El Músico, the Musician. Even though the most common pictogram of El Músico features a guitarist, the riddle usually mentions a musician oiling his horn. Of course I made my mariachi reflect that.
La Calavera, the Skull. Also the same icon I use throughout my Equal and Opposite designs.
El Musico design printed on 4 sheets of antique notebook paper prior to being polyurethaned and mounted.
Polyurethane drying on the prints. Chances are hight that I lost more brain cells this day than all of my mezcal infused nights combined.
Hung for the show.
The original prints were printed on four separate pieces of antique notebook paper (bought in an old paper shop in Mexico City before it shut down). Alas, none of the original prints are available for purchase anymore. Current prints come on a single sheet of paper.
A limited second run of prints was made using stenciled transparent spray paint and photocopy.
