Calavera Mexicana by Perla Arroyo Opens Its Itinerant Exhibition in Phoenix, Arizona
1 de October de 2026

PHOENIX, Arizona. Perla Arroyo has begun the U.S. itinerant exhibition of Arroyo. Calavera Mexicana. Símbolo de Vida, with the support of Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores). The project joins contemporary art and historical research and opens its North American circuit in Arizona.

The sculptural series is on view at the Sala Carlos Fuentes, the gallery of the Consulate General of Mexico in Phoenix, open to the public since October 1. On Thursday, October 22, Calavera Mexicana joins Scottsdale Día de Los Muertos Fiestas at the Scottsdale Civic Center, through October 25. Admission is free.

The Project

Calavera Mexicana reads the skull as a philosophical symbol, not as a festive emblem. Perla Arroyo starts from Nahua philosophy, where life and death form a dualty in motion, and sets it in dialogue with the baroque vanitas and the aesthetic legacy of Mesoamerican cultures. Her thesis is that the Mexican skull offers a constructive and feminine view of death, apart from the myth of festive death.

The series traveling to the United States comprises six sculptures dedicated to the Tehuana woman, the Xoloitzcuintle, Coatlicue, Coyolxauhqui, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Each one springs from a figure or an episode in Mexican history. In Mexico the project has grown with new pieces and a three-dimensional wall of one hundred skulls, conceived as a contemporary zompantli.

More than thirteen years of work underpin the piece: the technical specialization needed to shape the sculptures and the historical research behind each one. The works are cast in bronze using the lost-wax method and add gems, stone, textile or seashell. They are delicate pieces, almost jewels, made to be shown indoors.

The Book

The book of the same name gathers the catalog of the series and a historical survey of the skull in Mexican art. It has been presented at important forums such as the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), FILAH, Filco and FILIP Puebla, among others. It won first place in the Art Book category at the 45th edition of the Premio Nacional de las Artes Gráficas 2025 (National Graphic Arts Award), one of the country’s most important recognitions in the graphic industry.

Venues

The series has been presented at the Museo de la Cancillería in Mexico City and at the Museo Federico Silva in San Luis Potosí. Upcoming venues will be announced at perlaarroyo.com.