Phyllis Galembo: Mexico, Masks and Rituals

The acclaimed photographer of African masks turns her lens to the astounding mask cultures of Mexico

Published with Radius Books.

Since 1985, photographer Phyllis Galembo has traveled extensively to photograph sites of ritual dress in Africa and the Caribbean. In her latest body of work, collected in this new publication, Galembo turns to Mexico, where she captures cultural performances with a subterranean political edge. Using a direct, unaffected portrait style, Galembo captures her subjects informally posed but often strikingly attired in traditional or ritualistic dress.

Masking is a complex tradition in which the participants transcend the physical world and enter the spiritual realm. Masks, costumes and body paint transform the human body and encode a rich range of political, artistic, theatrical, social and religious meanings on the body. In her vibrant color photographs, Galembo highlights the artistry of the performers, how they use materials from their immediate environment to morph into a fantastical representation of themselves and an idealized vision of a mythical figure. In a gorgeous, fascinating photographic survey of Mexico's masking practices, Galembo captures her subjects suspended between past, present and future, with their religious, political and cultural affiliations―their personal and collective identifications―displayed on their bodies.

Photographer Phyllis Galembo (born 1952) received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1977, and was Professor in the Fine Arts Department of SUNY Albany from 1978 to 2018. A 2014 Guggenheim Fellow, Galembo has photographs in numerous public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Public Library. Her photographs of ritual masks in Africa, the Diaspora and beyond have been the subject of several monographic publications, including Maske (Aperture, 2016).

Mexico: Masks | Rituals offers vivid portraits of people costumed as Easter Wise Men and shepherds, as jaguars and foxes and tigers, as demons, as skeleton women in elaborate gowns, as indigenous peoples resisting Spanish colonists. [...] Dazzling masks of contemporary Mexican festivals. (Greg Cook Wonderland: Boston)

Mexico, Masks | Rituals – advances the artist’s passion in a concentrated study of celebrations that blend colonialist and indigenous socio-religious practices in Mexico. (Roula Seikaly In the In-Between)

Mexico Masks/Rituals restores the mask ― and the political, cultural, religious and social messages it can telegraph ― from tourist commodity to its role as an artifact of ritual and celebration. (Cathy Newman NPR)

In a gorgeous, fascinating photographic survey of Mexico’s masking practices, Galembo captures her subjects suspended between past, present and future, with their religious, political and cultural affiliations―their personal and collective identifications―displayed on their bodies. (Square Magazine)

Galembo’s book is a riot of colour – celebrating the individuality, creativity and craftsmanship that goes into these masks and costumes. Organised by festival, each collection of photographs is prefaced with text explaining the customs and figures that appear in each ritual. Bright, theatrical, uncanny at times, but full of life, it’s a fascinating, beautiful study. (Francesca Carington Tatler)

Mexico Masks & Rituals features the country’s cultural performances tinged with a subterranean political edge in the form of intricately detailed, colorful masks and costumes. (Kala Barba-Court Plain Magazine)

Students of ethnography, dance, and even costume design or fashion will value this title. The intensely colorful images, aided by the attractive graphic design, will captivate photography enthusiasts. (Micahel Dashkin Library Journal)

...Galembo’s images offer an awe-inspiring counterpoint, a rare bridge onto a culture in which creativity and self-expression are close to the divine. (Chioma Nnadi Vogue)

Brought together in a new book, Phyllis Galembo: Mexico, Masks & Rituals, the fascinating survey captures cultural performances with a subterranean political edge. (Katy Cowan Creative Boom)

In her new book Mexico Masks Rituals, Phyllis Galembo photographs the captivating art made exclusively for ritual. (Miss Rosen Huck)