Viva Libertad

In the double self-portrait Viva Libertad, a figure at left wears a black, collared shirt with red, white, and green buttons, the colors of the Mexican flag. Over the chest pockets are mirror images of a pierced heart—one red and the other a black silhouette—a reference to the Catholic image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and a symbol of Christ’s suffering. A miniature portrait peeks out of one pocket, while out of the other emerges a leafy plant—pierced with nails and decorated with red, white, and green ribbons—that encircles the artist’s head like a halo. The vine further extends to form a canopy over a second self-portrait, depicted on a trompe l’oeil scrap of paper, to which the black-clad figure also points with his finger. In this vignette, ropes bind the artist’s naked torso as he brandishes the Mexican flag, partially covering his face.

The ties binding Zenil’s body may refer to the hardship and constriction experienced by the artist as a homosexual male living in a conservative, Catholic society. In lieu of the national motto “Viva México,” or “Long Live Mexico,” as inscribed on the pictured flag, the title of the drawing instead declares “Long Live Liberty,” perhaps a demand for personal as well as political freedom.