Pulqueria 1941

Curator: This pencil drawing from 1941 is titled "Pulqueria" and was created by Prentiss Taylor. Editor: Immediately, it feels like I'm looking at a slightly surreal stage set. There’s this deep perspective pulling you towards the church in the distance, but the chickens in the foreground, that figure lounging by the saloon doors...it's unsettling. Curator: The composition certainly relies on contrasting elements to establish a tension between linear architectural forms and the organic subject matter found in daily life. The rigid geometry is set against the rural backdrop. Editor: And what a backdrop! That little well structure in front of the church almost looks like a toy, but everything's cast in this…serious light. Was Taylor aiming to depict Mexico through a very particular lens? Curator: His realism does depict Mexican daily life. Consider, for example, the symbolism embedded in the building in the lower-right, presumably, a place serving pulque—a traditional Mesoamerican alcoholic beverage fermented from the sap of the maguey plant. It places everyday social scenes adjacent to both sacred spaces, which could be suggestive. Editor: So it is, almost an inside peek at a society’s pleasures right next to its spirituality? I get it! And what about the robed figure on the left? Are we to presume there’s some symbolic weight placed there too? Curator: Quite possibly. That the robed individual exists only alongside a scattering of common barnyard fowl in this cityscape, the drawing suggests something about Taylor's interpretation of the locale. Note also the carefully crafted distribution of value achieved with pencil marks—a notable feature of this print and drawing medium—that guides one's eye across the narrative landscape. Editor: I love the ambiguity though. The drawing nudges you but doesn’t shout. It lets your imagination fill in the gaps—maybe that robed figure just likes taking a stroll and the fowls like strutting. You make up your mind. Curator: A fine approach. It makes the whole artwork both intriguing and deeply contemplative. The image provides many layers to unravel if we are only willing. Editor: Definitely. And the mastery of light and shadow really sucks you in; you feel as if you could walk right into this pulqueria and get to the bottom of things!