Io Saturnalia (2010)
Ink and pencil on paper 9" x 12"
by Patrick McGrath Muñíz
As we get
closer to the winter solstice of 2015, many people across the globe get ready
to celebrate the holidays. In the West
and spreading around the globe, Christmas is the supposed birth of Christ widely
celebrated by modern day Christians. But the Christian tradition of celebrating
Christmas on the Winter Solstice in and around December 25th has its roots in
pre-Christian times. From Yule and the ancient Egyptian cult of Horus, to the ancient
Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Mythra, the winter solstice celebrations have
gone through many transformations from culture to culture and throughout
time. Even though Christianity may be the predominant religion in the
Americas, we live in an age of Consumerism and the obsessive pursuit of Capital. It
requires an unfaltering and blind faith from part of the people to enable the
current capitalist system to exist and work even if it's just in the imagination
of the masses. The fiction of money and the doctrines of consumerism are made
real when people believe in them, just like religion.
Hercules and the Virtues (2013)
Oil and metal leaf on panel 36" x 28"
by Patrick McGrath Muñíz
In an age
where any holiday becomes the perfect opportunity to sell and buy stuff in
large quantities, the Christmas tradition inevitably becomes an ideal occasion
to introduce new gods and new rituals to replace the old one. When Christianity
became the official religion of the Roman Empire, the winter festivities in
honor of the pagan gods still had a strong presence and significance in Roman
society. Since it became nearly impossible to ban these pagan festivals, they
were simply replaced by the new Christian celebration. This did not occur
overnight but gradually, therefore many of the rituals of the ancient
pagan religions were adopted and are still alive in the Catholic Mass and
Christmas celebration (such as the merrymaking parties, decorated
trees and the family gift-giving derived from the Saturnalia in honor of the god Saturn).
The Uninvited (2013)
Oil and metal leaf on panel 36" x 28"
by Patrick McGrath Muñíz
A similar
phenomena is occurring right in front of our eyes gradually taking over the
Christian tradition and replacing it with the sacred ritual of consumerism that
holds money as the supreme one eyed, all seeing and "all can do" god. Today, the image of Coca Cola's Santa Claus, candy canes and the
Macy's parade have become just some of the many consumer culture symbols
associated with the Christmas season in the U.S. In Latin America, scenes
of the nativity and the three kings are even more visible but they are slowly
being displaced by the American symbols that act as new colonizers
spreading the gospel of the consumer/capital religion.
Adoracion Capital (2014)
Oil on canvas 30" x 30""
by Patrick McGrath Muñíz
The visitation of the Magi is a very well known image
cherished throughout Puerto Rico, Mexico and the rest of Latin America. So are
many of the icons and consumer culture elements depicted in the painting Adoración Capital. An “Old
fashioned” Quaker Oats man and Aunt Jemima, well established corporate entities
pose as the holy parents to a new generation of consumers driven by technology
and non material goods existing in cyberspace. The protagonist child wearing a
“Che Guevara” t shirt seems absorbed by the small screen, while a Burger King
and a group of immigrant workers bring food and other presents. In the
background scientists Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker from the Muppets suggest
that the corn and other products carried by the fast food employees may have
been genetically modified. Behind them a Santa pushes a shopping cart full of
gifts out of a department store that uses a star as part of its logo.
Adoracion Capital (detail)
Oil on canvas 30" x 30""
by Patrick McGrath Muñíz
The four emblems around the frame represent
different aspects of consumer culture: technology, food production, energy and
government subsidies. The industrial
wheels on the lower left side of the composition evoke the industrial age from
where our current predicament emerged.
On the lower right side, a red bag that reads “Believe” puts forward a
driving creed behind the whole capitalist construction. Derived from a Catholic
prayer, the text framing the composition evokes the use of text in Spanish
Colonial Iconography and it reads: “Señor Capital: Que a imitacion de los magos
del Norte, Vayamos tambien nosotros a adorarte en tu casa, que es templo. Y no vayamos
jamas con cuentas pobres o manos vacias, Que te llevemos siempre lo major del
fruto de nuestro sudor.” (“Lord Capital: That
as an imitation of the Magi of the North, we shall also adore you in your
house, that is a temple. And let us not go with poor accounts or empty handed
and that we may always bring you the best of the fruit of our labor”.
Adoracion Capital (detail)
Oil on canvas 30" x 30""
by Patrick McGrath Muñíz
Adoración Capital serves as a testament to our times and
where we are headed in history. Symbols in time are inevitably transformed by
subsequent generations and cultures evolve adopting new practices and beliefs
according to the spirit of their time. The original stories told again and
again eventually end up having a whole new meaning. It happened with the old
pagan traditions and it is happening today with Christianity. Future historians
may look back at our times as the crucial moment when the Christian Winter
Solstice called "Christmas" was gradually replaced by the Capital
worship Winter Solstice that may be known in the future as "Happy Shopping
Days". Of course it should also be remembered as a precarious time of Earth-plundering economics when we decided to give free rein to our voracious consumer habits, completely ignoring it's impact on our fragile ecosystem.
