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I Am Not Your Mexican

Past exhibition
May 24 - September 8, 2023 New York City
Mathias Goeritz, Mensaje, 1958-62
Mathias Goeritz, Mensaje, 1958-62 Installation image by Daniel Terna
Mathias Goeritz, Mensaje, 1958-62 Installation image by Daniel Terna

Mathias Goeritz

Mensaje, 1958-62
Hammered brass and metal fasteners on board
24 x 36 3/4 x 1/2 in
61 x 93.5 x 1.3 cm

Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) Fernando Polidura, Twenty-eighth Adjustment, Twenty-ninth Adjustment, Thirtieth Adjustment Triptych, 2023
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) Fernando Polidura, Twenty-eighth Adjustment, Twenty-ninth Adjustment, Thirtieth Adjustment Triptych, 2023
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3 ) Fernando Polidura, Twenty-eighth Adjustment, Twenty-ninth Adjustment, Thirtieth Adjustment Triptych, 2023
The Mensaje series is related to Goeritz’s intention of making a spiritual experience visible without using Christian iconography. Goeritz was led to gold as a symbol of infinity, an expression...
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The Mensaje series is related to Goeritz’s intention of making a spiritual experience visible without using Christian iconography. Goeritz was led to gold as a symbol of infinity, an expression of a religiosity that exalts death and life or conflates them into a love/death unity. His monochromatic series plaques began in 1957 and are considered to have reached their fullest expression in the 1960s. For example, Message (Mensaje) from 1958-62 was made from a punched sheet of steel that, like the altarpiece of a baroque church, was then carefully covered with gold leaf. The work's rich texture and profound luminosity are designed to trigger a visceral reaction in the viewer and foster contemplation.
Goeritz's use of gold should also be correlated with the religious iconography of Byzantine and pre-Renaissance Western Christian imagery, in which gold symbolizes divine transcendence. The punctured surfaces can be considered an ‘icon sign’ of a confrontation with tragic human existence. The Mensaje series is sought after for its non-objective and modern solutions and the uniqueness of its materials.
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