Chicago museum opens 40th annual Día de Muertos exhibit

The National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen opened its 40th annual exhibition of ofrendas on October 30. The display, titled “Where Memory Lives: 40 Years of Día de Muertos,” runs through November 29. It features altars constructed by local artists to remember friends and family members who have died.

Cesáreo Moreno, the museum’s chief curator, noted that the holiday has become a mainstream retail event. Major retailers such as Target, Walmart, and Michaels now stock specific sections for the observance. Amazon sells supplies for building altars, and Lego released a kit featuring an ofrenda and a sugar skull. Moreno stated that while the holiday is now widely recognized, the museum remains concerned that commercial interests might dilute its spiritual core.

Robert Valadez, a 63-year-old Pilsen artist, contributed pieces to six previous exhibitions at the museum. He said he did not know about the tradition of building altars until he first saw the museum’s display. Carina Yepez, a textile artist in her 40s, also learned about ofrendas through the museum while working as a tour guide at 19. She said the practice provides a space to discuss grief and life, a conversation she felt was often avoided in her community.

This year’s exhibition includes an ofrenda dedicated to Gilberto Cárdenas, who died in late July. Brookes Ebetsch, executive director of the Chicago Artists Coalition and a former student of Cárdenas, built the altar in four weeks. It contains a Smith Corona typewriter, Peet’s coffee cups, and Biscoff cookies. Ebetsch said the objects represent the people and institutions Cárdenas influenced during his career at the University of Notre Dame and the Smithsonian.

Chicago artist CHema Skandal! created a minimalist altar for his father, Don Chema, who died in January at 76. The piece features a portrait drawn with ink and ground coffee, backed by a handwoven sleeping mat from Puebla. The artist included 76 coffee beans to represent his father’s age and plastic wisps to reference ICE whistles distributed in Chicago last year.

David Rios constructed a triptych of three altars entirely from glass, with 24-karat gold accents. The piece serves as a reflection on border crossings and an homage to those who did not survive. It includes a glass Virgin of Guadalupe, marigolds made to look like flames, and a red basket containing fruit. Rios said the glass work represents a miracle and a tribute to his family history.

The exhibit also features a traditional altar by Oaxacan artist Demetrio García Aguilar, created in collaboration with his late mother, Josefina Aguilar. She died in February at 80. The altar is filled with yellow-orange marigolds, candles, breads, and fruits, forming a gate-like structure.