Habitante del pas de las imgenes

Jorge Pech Casanova

Los testimonios de Mara Filiberta Palizada Reyes, Jess Felipe Urbieta Palizada y Macario Matus hicieron posible elaborar este recuento biogrfico de Jess Urbieta. Nuestro agradecimiento para ellos por compartir sus reminiscencias del artista.

Los das fragorosos

El mundo presenci importantes sucesos en 1959, algunos de los cuales alteraron de manera definitiva la historia del mundo. Entre los ms recordados estuvo el ascenso al poder de Fidel Castro en Cuba, donde la revolucin se convirti en un rgimen de gobierno que, despus de medio siglo, se niega a desaparecer, tan tercamente como el propio lder revolucionario. En Roma, el Papa Juan XXIII anunciaba la celebracin del Concilio Vaticano II y con esto abra una posibilidad de polmica y cambios dentro de la iglesia catlica. Sin mayores controversias, el territorio de Alaska pas por esos das a formar la entidad nmero 49 de los Estados Unidos de Norteamrica. Menos auspiciosamente, y tambin en el pas imperial, dos figuras incipientes del rock and roll, Buddy Holly y Ritchie Valens, terminaron ese ao sus carreras y sus vidas cuando el avin en que volaban se desplom. En Mxico haba agitacin en el ao de 1959. En la frontera con Guatemala se mantena una calma tensa hacia la conclusin del conflicto que haba propiciado la fuerza area de la nacin centroamericana, al atacar y matar a tres pescadores mexicanos. A principios de ese ao, mientras la amenaza de guerra se disipaba, el autoritario e intolerante gobierno de Adolfo Ruiz Cortines tuvo que enfrentarse a la huelga de los trabajadores ferrocarrileros que haba comenzado el dirigente sindical Demetrio Vallejo en Matas Romero, una pequea poblacin del istmo de Tehuantepec. Las respuestas de la presidencia de la repblica a las demandas laborales de los ferroviarios fueron la represin y la persecucin. Ese ao, un oaxaqueo que se haba distinguido en diversos campos, Jos Vasconcelos, escritor, educador, poltico, mora amargado en la capital del pas cuya presidencia haba disputado intil y trgicamente en 1929. Para cerrar los sucesos tristes de esa temporada, en noviembre el huracn Mxico azot las costas del Pacfico. Antes de que el cicln azotara el Pacfico mexicano, y despus de que las armas nacionales y las guatemaltecas fueran devueltas a sus almacenes respectivos, el 25 de marzo, Demetrio Vallejo y sus seguidores istmeos, junto con otros muchos trabajadores de los trenes mexicanos, ingresaron en la crcel para permanecer all durante una dcada. Los habitantes de Matas Romero se sumieron largos das en el desaliento y la regin qued marcada por el luto. Era la Semana Santa. En la ciudad de Juchitn, muy cerca de donde haba comenzado la gran huelga ferroviaria, tradicionalmente eran das de guardar. La iglesia de San Vicente, patrn de los juchitecos, reciba las procesiones de fieles; la msica sacra sala del templo junto con el murmullo de las oraciones. No pocos rezos ceremoniales se confundan con las plegarias de

quienes tenan parientes recin ingresados en la crcel, a causa del movimiento ferrocarrilero. La pasin de Cristo, pensaran esos devotos, se parece a veces a la pasin de los hombres comunes. En un hogar ferrocarrilero de la tercera seccin de Juchitn, sin embargo, las oraciones y las expectativas eran de otro signo. El cargador Felipe de Jess Urbieta Rasgado y su esposa Elvira Orozco Villalobos esperaban de un momento a otro el nacimiento de su noveno hijo, as que estaban un tanto ajenos a la agitacin poltica. Por fin, el da de Viernes Santo, 27 de marzo de 1959, la familia Urbieta Orozco escuch por primera vez la voz de su integrante ms pequeo, el xhunco de la casa. Era pequeo y frgil. Durante toda su vida sera conocido por esta ltima caracterstica. Su madre, al contemplarlo, not que traa un velo de pigmento en la cara. Enseguida le pronostic: T vas a tener mucha suerte. Pasados los das preventivos despus del parto, don Felipe de Jess y doa Elvira llevaron al nio a bautizar y le pusieron el nombre de su padre: Jess. De los nueve hermanos, sobreviven cinco: Juana, Pedro, Fernando, Hilda y Vctor. Paula y Reina murieron muy pequeas. Hugo muri arrollado por un automvil poco despus de que su hermano menor falleciera. El luto se empea en cercar a la familia Urbieta Orozco.

Infancia en el trpico
Ch Huinni (Jess Chico): as le decan sus padres, sus hermanos y sus amigos a ese nio que vio sus primeras luces en Viernes Santo. A su familia le recordaba los das problemticos en que vino al mundo porque era un nio muy frgil, si bien aguerrido. Era un pequeo que poda ser afectado por muchas enfermedades, slo que ninguna le impeda aferrarse a la vida, sacudirse las contrariedades y gozar la existencia en el trpico. Desde pequeo comenz a trabajar para ayudar a sus padres y procurarse los mnimos placeres que los nios persiguen con despreocupacin, sin imaginar que estn formando su destino de adultos. Ch Huinni Urbieta fue bolero de zapatos, se emple en otras labores sencillas y lleg a contratarse en el cine Jurez de Juchitn (una sala que desapareci hace aos y fue propiedad de la viuda Josefina Arenas) para recoger los cartelones que anunciaban las funciones, aunque algunos eran mayores que el empeoso nio. El pago de Ch Huinni era la entrada a las funciones, que disfrutaba doblemente al no tener que desembolsar las monedas que hasta los mayores deban dejar con el taquillero. Sin tener que pedir a nadie, el niito poda embelesarse con las historias en movimiento. La vida en el trpico, sin embargo, no es cinematogrfica, en el sentido de que las fantasas se queden en la oscuridad de las salas de proyeccin. El ardor del clima, la humedad lujuriosa que viene de la selva, el exuberante desbordamiento de los cuerpos colocan a la poblacin istmea en una continua celebracin sensual, que no establece lmites entre las delicias de la inocencia y los delirios carnales de la experiencia. El cuerpo arde con deleite en el trpico, inclusive antes de que los sentidos puedan cabalmente testimoniar este fenmeno a la propia carne satisfecha. El cineasta ruso Sergei Eisenstein,

al visitar el istmo de Tehuantepec en 1930, lo comprendi a la perfeccin y trat de reflejarlo en su enorme pelcula inconclusa Que viva Mxico!, en el episodio que iba a titularse Sandunga. En esas silenciosas imgenes en blanco y negro, la sensualidad es la apertura y el cierre de una historia maliciosamente candorosa, de amores y fiesta. Ch Huinni Urbieta se adentr sin malicia en esas experiencias de la carne desde que tena siete u ocho aos. Por entonces su madre, doa Elvira, atenda un puesto del mercado donde venda pltano macho y cacao. All iba Jess Chico a pedirle chichi a la seora, a buscar el pecho generoso que otros nios se ven obligados a abandonar desde muchos aos atrs, y la madre complaca sin reservas a su hijo menor. La seora Elvira no era la nica mujer del mercado que consenta de ese modo a Ch Huinni, segn contaba ste en su edad adulta. Cuando llegaban las vendedoras de Chiapas al mercado de Juchitn, el niito se las arreglaba para tener relaciones carnales con ellas, aseguraba el propio Urbieta. Adems, en esas latitudes, nios y nias solan jugar desnudos bajo la luz trrida. Por eso, no hay pelcula que pueda compararse con la vida en el trpico, con la plenitud de los cuerpos en el trpico. Los ntimos ocanos que cada cual porta en su cuerpo sudoroso, exultante de exaltacin sensual, silenciosamente acercan con sus marejadas invisibles los cuerpos de hombres y mujeres en la planicie istmea. El sol de Juchitn alienta las pasiones y el erotismo, corrobora Macario Matus, poeta y amigo de Jess Urbieta. Es probable que los habitantes de todo el istmo de Tehuantepec digan lo mismo de los soles que los alumbran en sus respectivas poblaciones. Como aade Matus, el istmeo es un mundo muy erotizado por el sol y la comida. All la gente se alimenta de manjares ricos en protenas, considerados casi mgicos para infundir vigor sexual. Se come pescado en abundancia, y no escasea en los platillos la iguana, que, como apunta Matus con picarda, es un dinosaurio pequeo. No faltan las frutas carnosas, de dulce pulpa y jugo, ms los vegetales igualmente jugosos, y entre comidas corren las cervezas y otras bebidas que embriagan, como la hoy rara taberna, fermento de una palmera que hace medio siglo era numerosa en la regin. Otros placeres estaban a la mano en el Juchitn de la dcada de 1960. El abuelo de Ch Huinni, Federico Urbieta, tena un corral de vacas en la segunda seccin de Juchitn. All iba el pequeo Jess a tomar leche directo de la ubre. La frgil constitucin del infante desafiaba la fiebre de malta y se nutra con el lquido bronco, cuya calidez y dulzura no poda competir, sin embargo, con el de las mujeres del mercado que tan bien reciban al xhunco Urbieta. Algunos parientes de los Urbieta eran otro motivo de regocijo para Ch Huinni. Cuando l era nio, su familia todava evocaba con entusiasmo y orgullo la memoria de Jess Ch Rasgado, compositor y trovador clebre que concibi la dolorida cancin Naila, uno de los tesoros culturales del istmo de Tehuantepec. El padre de Jess Urbieta les mostraba a sus hijos la carreta de bueyes que empleaba en sus labores, para decirles reverencialmente: Aqu se tenda a descansar mi to Ch Rasgado cuando tomaba. As, la msica fue un motivo ms de alborozo y de respeto para el xhunco Urbieta. No se le

olvidara al joven Jess, quien comparta el nombre con su ilustre pariente, y con al pasar los aos l mismo se volvi compositor y cantante.

La abundancia de un estrecho territorio

Entre los ocanos Pacfico y Atlntico, el istmo de Tehuantepec conserva una abundante fauna y flora autctonas. Sus terrenos selvticos o boscosos, nutridos por la reserva natural de Los Chimalapas, dan cobijo y sustento a incontables especies de plantas y animales. Esta esplendidez de recursos ha sido aprovechada por los habitantes no slo para una cocina excepcional, sino para convertir los dones de la naturaleza en numerosos artificios deleitosos. Es seguro que desde tiempos anteriores a la colonizacin espaola, la gente del istmo se distingua por su imaginativa utilizacin de los recursos naturales. Todava se ven, sobre un cerro que marca la entrada a la regin, los vestigios de la fortaleza de Guiengola, donde los zapotecos bajo el mando de Cosijoeza resistieron con xito las acometidas de los ejrcitos de Ahuzotl, el expansionista seor de los aztecas. La obra de ingeniera en Guiengola habla de los conocimientos militares y arquitectnicos de los antiguos zapotecos, quienes se aseguraron de proveer con grandes depsitos de agua su bastin aislado en la cima del cerro. As consolidaron una posicin imbatible en la guerra contra el invasor del altiplano. Localizada en el sureste de Mxico, la zona del istmo destaca hoy por su riqueza petrolera y sus cuantiosos recursos maderables. Desde la antigedad, el istmo sobresale por la fuerte presencia de grupos indgenas, entre ellos, zapotecos, huaves, chontales y mixes. En el actual estado de Oaxaca, la porcin istmea abarca los distritos de Tehuantepec y Juchitn, que conforman la regin oaxaquea del istmo. A partir de la llegada de los espaoles a lo que andando el tiempo sera el istmo mexicano, el flujo constante de viajeros por esta zona atrajo toda clase de planes para convertir la franja ms angosta del territorio nacional en el paso preferido entre los ocanos Atlntico y Pacfico. La independencia no aport mayores innovaciones en la parte oaxaquea del istmo. Los cambios llegaban mayormente a Coatzacoalcos y otros puertos en la porcin veracruzana del estrecho. Pero la invasin francesa con todo y haber dividido al pas introdujo notables aportaciones culturales a esta zona, como a casi todo Mxico. Con la intervencin francesa de 1862 a 1867, que los habitantes del istmo tambin resistieron militarmente, un enorme nmero de nuevos elementos culturales se introdujo en el territorio. No slo aportaciones de los galos, sino de Austria, Alemania y Europa Central, llegaron para quedarse en el suelo mexicano poblado por indgenas y descendientes de espaoles. Las razas se fundieron y de esa mezcla surgi entre algunos pobladores un tipo de belleza singular que todava sorprende a quienes llegan a las comunidades del istmo. Los combates se han olvidado y permanece, en forma de perfiles altivos y semblantes fascinadores, el resultado de la conquista que lograron las mujeres istmeas sobre los guerreros que intentaron sostener a Maximiliano de Habsburgo.

Si la lucha por la independencia se origin en Amrica gracias a las ideas de los revolucionarios franceses, la acometida del ejrcito de Napolen III en tierras mexicanas dej algo ms que batallas e imperios efmeros. Entre las aportaciones que la cultura europea hizo a Mxico en este periodo violento estn corrientes musicales y aun agrupaciones ya representativas como los mariachis; estilos y tcnicas arquitectnicas correspondientes al movimiento del romanticismo; inventos como la fotografa; ciencias como la arqueologa, e ingredientes y recetas culinarias de sorprendente permanencia. Gran parte de las preparaciones gastronmicas que hacen famoso al istmo de Tehuantepec no se explican sin las contribuciones que los europeos hicieron en el territorio. La modernidad tambin lleg al istmo despus de los enfrentamientos con las fuerzas del emperador derrotado. Los empresarios estadounidenses, ingleses y de otros pases rivalizaron durante dcadas por apropiarse de la estratgica posicin del istmo para dominar el paso de un ocano a otro, mediante una va frrea. En el siglo XIX el ferrocarril entr rugiendo a las selvas istmeas y durante casi dos siglos constituy un decisivo factor, no slo econmico y poltico, sino de intercambio cultural entre los habitantes del territorio y los ciudadanos de pases remotos. Aunque los proyectos de crear un gran paso martimo o terrestre de un ocano al otro nunca se materializaron, el constante intercambio cultural, comercial y poltico que se produjo en la zona dio origen a una cultura peculiar, que aprovechaba lo mejor de diferentes regiones del orbe. La construccin del sistema ferroviario istmeo fue un factor de capital importancia para el desarrollo de la sociedad local. Con los trabajadores del ferrocarril, principalmente con los chinos, y con la llegada de libaneses emprendedores a la zona se complet el circuito de influencias culturales que hicieron de la sociedad istmea lo que es hoy. La poblacin que se asienta en un territorio favorecido por las influencias de dos ocanos, revela su genio cultural en numerosas manifestaciones. Una de stas, cuyo desarrollo pareci llegar a su eclosin repentinamente y de la mano de unos cuantos hombres y mujeres singulares, es la que se engloba bajo la denominacin de artes plsticas. Como surgidos de la nada, luego del logro artstico impar que representa la obra de Francisco Toledo, varios hombres y mujeres nacidos en Juchitn sobresalieron en las artes plsticas a partir de la dcada de 1980. No menos importante como elemento cultural es la gastronoma, muy ligada a las tradiciones populares. La poblacin oaxaquea que vive en el istmo de Tehuantepec, abierto desde antiguo a las aportaciones de numerosos pueblos, ha producido una gastronoma abundante, de tal diversidad y exquisitez que es equiparable a la de culturas fundacionales como la china y la hind. stas, por cierto, tambin hicieron su aportacin indirecta para tal fenmeno cultural y nutricio. Los alimentos infunden, por su parte, una amplitud de miras en lo istmeo que se trasvasa a diversos mbitos y disciplinas. Las artes en el istmo oaxaqueo parecen nutrirse tanto de ingredientes intelectuales y espirituales como de los muy materiales y sabrosos componentes culinarios. Muchos ingredientes nuevos que los viajeros traan consigo al istmo fueron prontamente aadidos al acervo cultural de los pueblos residentes. Entre los ms notables

figuran elementos europeos, arbigos, ndicos y chinos que llegaron con los primeros colonizadores de Espaa. En los tres siglos que la dominacin hispana se mantuvo en la zona, numerosos usos de la metrpoli se instalaron entre los nativos istmeos y los colonos. Los habitantes de la regin sacaron ventaja de aplicaciones nuevas para ingredientes conocidos desde antiguo, y con este intercambio cultural gan la cultura mexicana una de sus expresiones ms intensas. As, la parte oaxaquea del istmo es una de las zonas que ms han contribuido a la diversidad y variedad de la riqueza cultural de la nacin.

La inquietud del arte

En ese territorio tan abierto a las transformaciones de todo tipo, Jess Urbieta pas de las labores comunes a la prctica del arte sin apenas establecer distinciones entre aqullas y sta. En su adolescencia, estudi para topgrafo en el Instituto Tecnolgico de Juchitn y comenz a dibujar. Tena 17 o 18 aos a lo sumo cuando se dedic a escribir artculos y notas informativas para los peridicos de la regin. Public en medios de Tabasco, Xalapa y Campeche. Pas una breve temporada en Yucatn trabajando como topgrafo, aunque desisti por el miedo a las serpientes que abundan en los terrenos silvestres de esa entidad. Tambin mont un taller de herrera artesanal y encabez un taller de guitarra. Despus, Jess Urbieta se ganaba nuevamente la vida como topgrafo, y con esto persista en acumular oficios, como haca en su infancia. El adolescente combinaba la vida prctica con el ejercicio del arte y ampliaba las manifestaciones de la sexualidad que tan precozmente haba comenzado a disfrutar. Por entonces reinaba de nuevo gran agitacin en la sociedad istmea a causa del movimiento socialista de la Coalicin Obrera Campesina Estudiantil del Istmo, cuyas siglas se haran famosas en todo Mxico: la COCEI. Las acciones de esta multitudinaria organizacin izquierdista no slo atrajeron enorme simpata entre los habitantes de Juchitn y otras poblaciones del istmo. Tambin destacados intelectuales de la capital de la repblica manifestaron su apoyo al proyecto poltico que permiti el establecimiento de un ayuntamiento socialista en Juchitn en 1984. El repunte de la COCEI atrajo a intelectuales y artistas a Juchitn. Personajes tan famosos como Carlos Monsivis acudieron a solidarizarse con el pueblo juchiteco; Francisco Toledo, cuya familia era originaria de la ciudad istmea, regres a su tierra natal para ayudar a establecer centros culturales que complementaran las reformas polticas. Su iniciativa coincidi con la del poeta Macario Matus, quien se hizo cargo de la flamante Casa de la Cultura de Juchitn en 1979. Matus recuerda que en aquella poca el veinteaero Jess Urbieta lleg a ensearle una libreta con los versos que haba redactado. El poeta, ya famoso en su ciudad natal, afirma que al leer los textos que su joven coterrneo le entregara, arroj aquella libreta al piso al tiempo que lo instaba a que escribiera mejor. Luego, el escritor curtido por su

trabajo periodstico en la ciudad de Mxico se inclin a recoger la libreta y la devolvi a su joven dueo, con una nueva conminacin para que mejorase sus intentos literarios. El joven Urbieta no tard en presentarse de nuevo con la libreta en la Casa de la Cultura. El director de la institucin, que batallaba con las tareas culturales y con los ataques de los caciques polticos, como tantos otros representantes de la COCEI, vio con sorpresa que la libreta contena ahora 30 dibujos de sorprendente factura. Con ellos organiz Matus la primera muestra plstica de Jess Urbieta, en la institucin cultural que el poeta tuvo a su cargo de 1979 a 1984. La Casa de la Cultura juchiteca conoci su esplendor en esa poca: la biblioteca contena veinte mil ejemplares donados por diferentes acervos, y se llegaron a exhibir esculturas de Rodin. La efusin que despertaba la cultura tena en ese momento suficientes apoyos como para producir una importante respuesta de los habitantes de Juchitn. Gracias a ese ambiente propicio comenzaron sus carreras pintores como Vctor Chaca, Sabino Lpez, Delfino Marcial, Miguel ngel Toledo y Jess Urbieta, alentados por el maestro scar Martnez y por el poeta Matus. La tcnica de pintar sobre polvo de marmolina, sobre arenas y otros materiales terrosos aplicados al lienzo, es hoy casi una obligacin para la pintura que se elabora en Oaxaca, pero en la poca en que Urbieta comenz su carrera, pocos frecuentaban esa combinacin de materiales. El empanizado oaxaqueo, demasiado comn en la actualidad, comenz a ser empleado en Juchitn por Delfino Marcial y Vctor Chaca. Jess Urbieta observ cmo hacan sus cuadros estos colegas, se impregn del modo en que empleaban la tcnica, hizo pruebas y consigui aplicar la pintura sobre arenas con resultados distintivos. Logr hacer surgir en el lienzo y otros materiales los ntimos ocanos que inundaban su imaginacin y su sensibilidad. Urbieta estaba en camino de convertirse en un pintor excepcional. Macario Matus saba, sin embargo, que el medio juchiteco, con sus limitaciones en materia acadmica y tecnolgica, no era el entorno ms adecuado para que prosperasen los jvenes artistas. El ejemplo de Francisco Toledo era concluyente, pero despertaba resistencias: para hacer carrera en las artes plsticas haba que abandonar la tierra nativa, arriesgarse a perderse entre las multitudes de la capital de la repblica, y luego dirigir la mirada y la inteligencia hacia el extranjero. Esta clase de transformacin slo era posible en la capital del pas. Macario Matus cuenta que a todos los artistas que foment desde la Casa de la Cultura les hizo la misma recomendacin: Vete a Mxico, es decir, a la capital. Slo Jess Urbieta hizo caso del consejo.

El amor duradero
El joven cantante, escritor y pintor estaba ansioso por acometer la prueba de fortuna que implica pasar de la provincia a la descomunal metrpoli. Sin embargo, a Jess Urbieta le estaba deparado encontrar antes a la mujer con quien compartira su vida.

Mara Filiberta Palizada Reyes naci en 1963 en la poblacin de Tlacolula, muy prxima a la capital de Oaxaca. Su madre era de all, y su padre de Guanajuato. El seor Palizada necesitaba un clima ms clido que el del valle de Oaxaca, por lo que decidi trasladar a su familia al istmo, a Juchitn. La pequea Mara Filiberta tena cuatro aos entonces, por lo que el cambio de clima y de paisaje apenas pudo grabarse en su mente. En el ardor del trpico la nia creci como todos, con la sensibilidad muy pronta a los efectos del sol, la brisa y los sabores istmeos. A los 19 aos, Mara Filiberta frecuentaba la casa de un pariente donde era tratada como hija de la familia. Como tal, tena atribuciones y derechos en la casa, entre otros, el de recibir a los visitantes en el zagun de la entrada. All mismo estaba hospedada una holandesa de nombre Fanny, a la que iba a visitar un joven de 22 o 23 aos. Ms de una vez a Mara Filiberta, como parte de sus deberes de anfitriona, le toc abrirle a ese joven galn, a quien apenas se atreva a mirar al rostro. Durante un paseo por la plaza principal de Juchitn, alrededor del zcalo donde se celebraba un baile, Mara Filiberta se hall de pronto ante aquel visitante a quien rehua. Era Jess Urbieta, conocido por su renuencia al baile. Sin embargo, esa tarde el joven invit a la muchacha a bailar la pieza que estaban tocando. La voz de Roberto Carlos que reiteraba No te apartes de m fue un conjuro para la pareja. En esa danza lenta comenz la pasin que los volvera inseparables durante cerca de catorce aos. Mara Filiberta Palizada cuenta que, despus de ese encuentro decisivo, apenas pas una semana para que se juyeran, segn la costumbre de tierra caliente. Juyirse es un ritual del amor en las poblaciones trridas. Aunque las familias de la novia y del novio estn de acuerdo en que ambos se casen, es una demostracin de hombra un ritual de iniciacin que el pretendiente se robe (rapte) a la mujer. No hay tal rapto, pero todos convienen en creer que la muchacha fue raptada, llevada a la fuerza por el impaciente enamorado. En ocasiones el padre de la novia lanza algunos disparos nada atinados contra el raptor en fuga, y as pone su honra a salvo. Es comn que al cabo de un tiempo la pareja retorne a suplicar el perdn de sus padres, y lo obtenga. Entonces puede celebrarse el matrimonio religioso. Mara Filiberta y Jess vivieron siete aos en unin libre. Durante esos aos tuvieron tres hijos: Jess Felipe, nacido el 7 de julio de 1985, Mnica, que vio la luz el 28 de abril de 1987, y Federico, venido al mundo el primero de marzo de 1990. Al nacer su ltimo vstago, Jess y Mara Filiberta formalizaron su relacin y todava pudieron disfrutar de otros siete aos de vida en comn. En 1983, cuando Macario Matus estaba prximo a terminar su gestin en la Casa de la Cultura, el joven Urbieta estaba ansioso por enfrentarse al caos urbano ms complejo del mundo. Con su esposa Mara Filiberta (que haba insistido en hacer el viaje) y con su carpeta de trabajos bajo el brazo, Jess lleg a la ciudad de Mxico. Una vez all, le dijo a su compaera: Si en cinco aos no he logrado algo con mi pintura, me regreso a Juchitn. La hermana de Jess, Juana, los recibi en su casa de Villa de las Flores, Ecatepec, rumbo por donde tambin les quedaba cerca la casa de Macario Matus. En el cuartito que

ocupaban Jess y Mara Filiberta slo caba el colchn en el que reposaba la pareja, y una mesita en la que el joven trabajaba con sus acrlicos y acuarelas.

Pintar sin descanso

Urbieta, en su empeo por sobresalir en el arte, pens que deba completar su formacin pictrica en La Esmeralda, la mxima escuela de artes plsticas en el pas. Acudi a las clases, prob nuevas tcnicas y perfeccion el empleo de las que ya manejaba, pero entendi que la pintura acadmica restringa demasiado su capacidad creativa. Abandon la formalidad de los estudios, si bien el contacto con los maestros de La Esmeralda le proporcion bases ms slidas para desarrollar su trabajo. Como otros notables artistas, Urbieta deba desarrollar solo sus logros. Por esa misma escuela haban pasado otros notorios artfices oaxaqueos Rufino Tamayo, Rodolfo Nieto, Francisco Toledo, quienes a su vez rechazaron la academia para internarse por sus propias y ms amplias bsquedas. Urbieta slo se permita descanso una vez que terminaba algn trabajo pictrico. Pintando da y noche junt bastantes obras al acrlico y a la acuarela, que llev a diferentes coleccionistas, galeristas, dealers y diletantes de la capital. Manuel Rodrguez Caramazana, coleccionista, fue el primero que compr obras de Urbieta y le brind apoyo para consolidar su carrera. Cuando el primer hijo de Urbieta, Jess Felipe, iba a nacer en 1985, el coleccionista le dijo al pintor: Este hijo trae torta bajo el brazo, y se encarg de que la torta rindiese lo suficiente para que el artista perfeccionara su oficio. Jess, al cobrar el primer pago por una obra suya, sin dudarlo le envi el dinero a su madre. Esto hizo enojar a su hermana, quien esperaba alguna retribucin por alojar al pintor y a su esposa. Los disgustos familiares decidieron a la pareja a mudarse, dado que estaba prximo el nacimiento de su primer hijo. Mientras buscaban otro alojamiento en la zona de Villa de las Flores, Rodrguez Caramazana les cedi el departamento que su madre haba desocupado en la colonia Jurez, luego del terremoto del 19 de septiembre. En ese tiempo la ciudad de Mxico se estaba transformando a consecuencia de la tragedia masiva que signific el sismo. La poblacin descubra que su gobierno tan autoritario como irresponsable era absolutamente incapaz de responder al dolor colectivo, y multitudes aprendan a disentir. Acaso Urbieta observaba con placer la nueva rebelda mexicana, luego de haber aprendido en Juchitn el arte de la oposicin poltica eficaz. Es probable que esta experiencia ciudadana, sumada a lo visto en su tierra natal, lo impulsase en esos aos a consolidar el proyecto de financiamiento y gestin cultural que signific la Fundacin Guie Xhuba, con la cual comenz en 1984 a desarrollar proyectos creativos propios y ajenos. Desde la ciudad de Mxico, en 1986, Jess Urbieta se empe en presentar una exposicin de una veintena de sus cuadros en la ciudad de Oaxaca. Pese a su entusiasmo, la muestra no se pudo realizar. Mara Filiberta Palizada cuenta que el pintor tuvo que resignarse a dejar encomendadas sus obras en el taller del grabador y pintor Juan Alczar.

De vuelta en la Ciudad de Mxico, Urbieta sigui pintando obras que venda a Rodrguez Caramazana. Despus, el juchiteco tuvo tratos con Jos del Bosque, de la galera Artdicr. Al recordar a los galeristas con los que Urbieta trabaj, Mara Filiberta apunta: Algunos le robaron, otros lo apoyaron. Como los dems pintores de su tierra, Urbieta admiraba la figura de Francisco Toledo. Para los jvenes juchitecos que deseaban hacer carrera en el arte, el ejemplo de Toledo era a la vez estimulante y atemorizador. Adems, el artista nacido en 1940 no slo haba regresado a Mxico, pese al reconocimiento que estaba logrando en Francia, sino que haba decidido retornar a Juchitn y apoyar el movimiento de la COCEI, que en buena medida haba determinado las vocaciones de los jvenes creativos como Urbieta. Sin embargo, la relacin entre Francisco Toledo y Jess Urbieta fue rspida, cuenta Macario Matus. En una ocasin, Urbieta se acerc a Toledo en la Galera de Arte Mexicano para ensearle una obra, pero el famoso pintor no hizo caso de lo que su joven coterrneo le present. Para Jess, este desdn fue indignante. Ya no trat de acercarse al prestigioso oaxaqueo y mantuvo distancia con l durante el resto de su vida. La carrera pictrica de Jess Urbieta avanz con buen empuje. En 1989 el pintor recibi su primer galardn nacional, el Primer Premio de Adquisicin en el IX Encuentro Nacional de Arte Joven en Aguascalientes. Sin embargo, el sabor del triunfo en un concurso no era tan novedoso para Urbieta: en 1979, poco despus de que Macario Matus lo instara con energa a escribir mejor, el juchiteco haba ganado un premio de poesa y una beca para escribir en ese mismo gnero. Por cierto, 1989 tambin fue el ao en que Urbieta public un breve conjunto de poemas titulado Siempre en llamas. Con respecto a esta ltima produccin, el poeta juchiteco Jorge Magario comenta: Urbieta como escritor tuvo arrojo pero a su literatura, comparada con lo que hizo en pintura, le hizo falta trabajo y desarrollo. Con la impresin de su libro de poemas, Urbieta comenz un proyecto de desarrollo cultural que le sobrevivira: la Fundacin Guie Xhuba, ideada por el artista para apoyar a los creadores de la regin en diversas disciplinas. Con el sello de esa fundacin Urbieta public libros (entre ellos su propia novela Zeferino y su hermana Mariana Pombo, en 1995), grab canciones tradicionales y foment el trabajo de otros artistas. Con lo que ganaba por sus cuadros, Urbieta comenz a superar las estrecheces del principio de su carrera en la Ciudad de Mxico. Inclusive lleg a comprarse una cmara de video, aparato novedoso y costoso para esos tiempos, con la cual realiz algunas filmaciones que conserva su viuda. La bonanza econmica plante a Urbieta un problema que suele perseguir a ciertos pintores de xito: ahora tena dinero suficiente, no slo para sus gastos bsicos, sino para compartirlo con otros. Urbieta era hombre generoso y en su casa los amigos reciban hospitalidad sin reservas. Parte importante de esa acogida era el licor que menudeaba en las reuniones, y que el artista beba sin importarle que su frgil organismo se resintiera. La vida, sin embargo, sonrea a los Urbieta para 1990. Su hijo Federico acababa de nacer y, pese a que se vio muy enfermo, el pequeo logr superar ese padecimiento con el

apoyo que brind, una vez ms, el coleccionista Rodrguez Caramazana, para entonces ya propietario de una galera en Polanco. En ese espacio trabajaba un joven promotor llamado scar Romn, quien no tardara en ejercer una gran influencia en Urbieta. Sin embargo, ese ao los Urbieta y otros miembros de la comunidad artstica se vieron afectados por una tragedia imprevista: el generoso Manuel Rodrguez fue asesinado en su automvil por unos asaltantes. Para el despreocupado Jess Urbieta, ese acontecimiento se sum a insuperables memorias de su vida en Juchitn, particularmente la prdida de su padre, que aparece reflejada en varias de sus obras. El golpe fue tremendo para el artista que haba gozado de la amistad y la proteccin de Rodrguez Caramazana. Al ao siguiente, 1991, Urbieta comenz a trabajar con la galera que scar Romn abri cerca de la del malogrado Caramazana. La relacin se mantendra por el resto de la vida del pintor, con efectos determinantes para su carrera. En 1990 y 1992 Urbieta present obras a la V y VI Bienal Rufino Tamayo (prestigiado certamen que se instaur 1982) y logr ser seleccionado para las muestras que se exhibieron en el Museo de Oaxaca, antecesor del muy prestigiado Museo de Arte Contemporneo de Oaxaca (MACO). Urbieta es de los pocos artistas oaxaqueos que logaron ser aceptados en este exigente concurso. Hasta la fecha, muy pocos oaxaqueos han logrado ingresar al selecto grupo de pintores que cada dos aos son elegidos para la exposicin colectiva en el MACO y en el Museo de Arte Moderno Rufino Tamayo de la Ciudad de Mxico. Con el paso de los aos, Urbieta comenz a buscar otras maneras de dar cauce a su creatividad. Hacia 1993, se entretena modelando figuritas de barro mientras esperaba a su hijo mayor en la peluquera, y eso fue el inicio de una prctica escultrica irregular. Inclusive, el juchiteco lleg a realizar unas cuantas esculturas con metal soldado. La cermica, en cambio, lleg a ser una alternativa plstica para el pintor. En 1994 scar Romn envi a Francia un cuadro de Urbieta para que concursara en el XXVI Festival Internacional de Pintura del Castillo-Museo Grimaldi, en Cagnes-sur-Mer. Brujo bragueta obtuvo all la Gran Paleta de Oro, y el da en que el premio le fue concedido a Ch Huinni recuerda su viuda Mara Filiberta un avin lanz desde el aire volantes que anunciaban el triunfo del pintor juchiteco. Era el primer mexicano que reciba ese galardn. La Gran Paleta de Oro le fue entregada a Urbieta en el Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM) de la ciudad de Mxico, que entonces diriga la reconocida investigadora y crtica Teresa del Conde. Despus de ese acontecimiento, Jess Urbieta se acerc a la directora del MAM para solicitarle una exposicin individual en el prestigiado espacio. Aunque una gran amistad uni a del Conde y Urbieta, la especialista se neg. Alegaba que Urbieta era demasiado joven y que an poda esperar para una muestra de esa importancia. El artista le repuso premonitoriamente: Hazme la exposicin ahora que estoy vivo. Urbieta resenta los efectos de la bebida. Su organismo haba reaccionado negativamente a un consumo inmoderado: aunque haba pasado varias temporadas en el hospital y estaba desarrollando padecimientos graves, Urbieta se negaba a seguir el

consejo de los mdicos para que cesara su consumo de alcohol. En 1995 relata su viuda lo tuvimos que internar porque tom alcohol puro y le dio pancreatitis. Un mdico le dijo: Si no te cuidas te vas a volver diabtico. Despus se dio cuenta de que ya era diabtico. La familia Urbieta pasaba temporadas en Juchitn en una casa situada en el centro de la ciudad, en el nmero 34 de la calle Efran R. Gmez. Hasta la fecha, la madre del pintor ocupa esa vivienda. Enfrente estaba la cantina, en la cual el enfermo se pasaba el da en cuanto lograba recuperarse de sus crisis alcohlicas. Mara Filiberta Palizada resume as la vida del difunto pintor en aquellas ocasiones: Frente a su casa en Juchitn viva el doctor David, que le pona suero. Pero como la cantina estaba al lado del doctor, all se iba Urbieta. l deca, Yo me voy a morir como a los 80 aos. Ya lo deca mi padre: Soy como la madera fina / cortada en buen temporal, / a m no me moja el agua / ni tampoco me hace mal. El seor Urbieta haba sido bebedor y eran conocidos sus accesos de delirium tremens. Al escuchar los argumentos de su esposo, la seora Palizada le responda: No es cierto, porque a ti ya te jodi esa agua. Esas admoniciones no surtieron efecto en el artista. Rpidamente el hombre se consuma, pero no dejara de beber. En 1996 la doctora del Conde por fin invit al pintor juchiteco a presentar una exposicin individual en el MAM. Urbieta saba que esa muestra lo colocara entre los artistas ms destacados de Mxico, y se entreg a prepararla. Trabaj da y noche, como acostumbraba, para tener listos los cuadros y las esculturas que iba a presentar. Con toda la presin y el agotamiento, el pintor se empeaba en seguir bebiendo junto con sus amigos, a quienes segua brindando hospitalidad y licores sin reserva.

Trmino y continuidad
En febrero de 1997 la familia de Urbieta tuvo que internarlo de urgencia en el hospital Santa Fe. En los primeros das, el galerista scar Romn apoy con los gastos mdicos hasta que sus recursos se agotaron. Despus, otros amigos, como Teresa del Conde y Carlos Martnez Rentera, as como el poltico Hctor Snchez (pariente del artista), cooperaron para trasladar al paciente al hospital Siglo XXI, a fin de que recibiese atencin prolongada. Gerardo Cajiga y Genaro Borrego, funcionarios del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, hicieron las gestiones para que el pintor pudiese pasar cerca de un mes en la clnica. A mediados de marzo, sin embargo, la familia Urbieta recibi en el nosocomio donde su padre yaca, un diagnstico terminal. Al enterarse, Jess Urbieta se hizo el propsito de morir en su casa y pidi que lo trasladaran al nmero 11 de la calle Viena, pero no logr abandonar el hospital. El 21 de marzo de 1997, cuando faltaban siete das para que cumpliera 38 aos, el pintor, cantante, escritor y patrocinador de las artes expir. Era, como el da de su nacimiento, un Viernes Santo. Teresa del Conde, que fue su amiga adems de una entusiasta crtica de su pintura, narra en el texto que escribi para acompaar la exposicin de 1997, que la extincin de Urbieta ocurri de manera sorpresiva: El 20 de marzo siguiente acusaba franca mejora, cosa que pudimos comentar algunos que le ramos cercanos durante la inauguracin de la

exposicin Idolatras del fotgrafo Pablo Ortiz Monasterio. Ya le retiraron hoy un par de catteres, incluso puede ser que la semana prxima empiece la alimentacin por va normal, asever el galerista scar Romn. Ojal que todava lo mantengan un tiempo ms en el hospital, se le respondi, pues hay que ver cmo va a adaptarse a una nueva vida que supone cambios radicales. [] Hablamos en tono optimista y quedamos en visitarlo en el Centro Mdico antes de que lo dieran de alta. Al da siguiente muri. [] Hubo un sinnmero de notas de peridico que comentaron su muerte, que nos cal de manera profunda. Se pensaba que dada su juventud, la libraba; no se esperaba tal desenlace, pese a que los mdicos no haban dado grandes esperanzas, aduciendo que las vrices esofgicas son impredecibles. Tenan razn. Ese ao se present la exposicin individual del fallecido, en el Museo de Arte Moderno, con el ttulo Jess Urbieta. Testamentos. En ella figuraban 68 obras de su legado artstico, como Apuntando hacia la libertad, Cocodrilo, Los perros, Espera de La Malinche, La destruccin de los cdices, Baadu Xhiquie Xaxhik, Naturaleza en comunin, Personajes de carnaval y Virgen de Guadalupe. La exhibicin presentaba trabajos ejecutados por el artista en diferentes tcnicas, desde 1984 hasta el ao de su muerte. Al ao siguiente, 1998, esa misma exposicin cubri las paredes del Museo de Arte Contemporneo de Oaxaca: la obra del juchiteco por fin se exhiba en el espacio ms prestigioso del estado, slo que sin su creador. La pintura de Urbieta, que tantas formas adopt sin dejar de ser reconocible gracias al estilo de su creador, es hoy un referente para los artistas ms jvenes de Oaxaca. En Juchitn, muchos pintores no pueden ocultar la fuerte influencia de Urbieta, como Soid Pastrana. Otros veteranos juchitecos que no consiguieron tanta fama, como Vctor Chaca, permiten reconocer en sus obras el origen de la pintura de Urbieta. Sin embargo, el pintor que naci en Juchitn en 1959 y muri en la Ciudad de Mxico en 1997 permanece en un sitio especial del arte mexicano. La obra que dej alcanza cotizaciones notables, y forma parte de lo mejor que ha producido Oaxaca en materia artstica. Est incluida en las colecciones del Museo de Arte Contemporneo de Monterrey, de la Fundacin Cultural Artensin, del Museo de Arte Moderno y del Museum Wrt de Alemania. Estas distinciones atraen no slo a conocedores de la obra de Urbieta, sino tambin a falsificadores. Jess Felipe, el hijo mayor del artista, asegura que el director de un peridico en Oaxaca le mostr un cuadro que en apariencia llevaba la firma de Urbieta, pero que no fue pintado por el difunto artista. Macario Matus apunta que se enter de que haba un falsificador dedicado a fabricar cuadros de Urbieta. Esto habla del inters que sigue despertando la visin pictrica del creador fallecido prematuramente. El reconocimiento de Jess Urbieta en Mxico permanece y se extiende. En 2007, al cumplirse el dcimo aniversario luctuoso del pintor, el galerista scar Romn realiz una exposicin conmemorativa en su espacio de la calle Julio Verne, en la Ciudad de Mxico, que denomin Jess Urbieta y sus amigos, en la que reuni cuadros al leo, acuarelas y esculturas en cermica del difunto, as como recreaciones en torno a su obra realizadas por otros artistas.

En ese ao, tambin, la exposicin Homenaje a Jess Urbieta fue presentada en el Museo de los Pintores Oaxaqueos. Inclua exclusivamente obras y recuerdos del artista juchiteco atesorados por su familia, as como cuadros propiedad de diferentes coleccionistas recopilados por el galerista scar Romn. Esa exposicin dio origen al presente libro conmemorativo. Jess Urbieta reposa en la tierra que obsesivamente pint en sus cuadros, que lo persigui en sus pesadillas y cuyo fantasma omnipresente conjur con su arte. Si bien supo desde muy pronto que su eleccin vital delimitaba sus das en el mundo de manera contundente, el artista decidi que eso no restringira su voluntad de gozo. Los ntimos ocanos que movan su vocacin lo llevaron muy lejos en la vida real y, sobre todo, en su presencia imaginativa. Esa presencia persiste hoy en nuestra memoria, gracias a su poderoso legado pictrico, escultrico, literario, musical y humano.

Inhabitant in a Land of Images

Jorge Pech Casanova
Translation by Rowena Galavitz
The testimonies of Mara Filiberta Palizada Reyes, Jess Felipe Urbieta Palizada and Macario Matus () made it possible to retell Jess Urbietas biographical story. We wish to express our gratitude to them for sharing their reminiscences about the artist.

Rough Days
The world witnessed important events in 1959, some of which altered its history definitively. Among the most remembered events was Fidel Castros rise to power in Cuba, when the revolution was converted into a governmental regimen, which after half a century refuses to disappear just as stubbornly as its same revolutionary leader. In Rome, Pope John XXIII was announcing the celebration of the Second Vatican Council, opening the possibility of debate and change within the Catholic Church. It was the time when Alaskan territory became the forty-ninth state of the United States of America without much controversy. That year, less auspiciously but in the same imperious land, two incipient rock and roll figuresBuddy Holly and Ritchie Valensended their careers and lives when the airplane in which they were flying plummeted to the ground. At the same time, there was agitation in Mexico. A tense calm reigned at the Guatemalan border toward the end of the conflict which that nations air force had caused upon attacking and killing three Mexican fishermen. At the beginning of the year, while the threat of war dissipated, the authoritarian and intolerant government of Adolfo Ruiz Cortines confronted a railroad strike initiated by union leader Demetrio Vallejo in Matias Romero, a small population in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The president of the republic responded to their labor demands with repression and persecution. That year, a Oaxacan who had distinguished himself in many fields, Jos Vasconcelos writer, scholar and politiciandied, embittered, in the capital of the country, the same city where he had uselessly and tragically aimed for the presidency in 1929. To finalize the sad events of that time, hurricane Mexico blasted the eastern section of the Pacific coast in November, causing over a thousand deaths, devastation and threats of epidemics in the area. Before the cyclone hit the Mexican Pacific and after national and Guatemalan arms were returned to their respective warehouses, on March 25, Demetrio Vallejo and his isthmian followers, along with many Mexican train workers, were jailed, only to remain there for a decade. Matias Romero inhabitants were submerged for many a long day in discouragement, and the region was marked by grief. It was Holy Week. In the city of Juchitn, very close to where the great railroad strike had begun, this was traditionally a time to stay home. The Church of Saint Vincentthe citys patron saintreceived processions of the faithful, and sacred music came out of the temple, along with murmured prayers. Not a few ceremonial prayers were confused with petitions from those who had recently-jailed relatives due to the railroad movement. The Passion of Christ sometimes appears to be like the passion of the common man, thought these devotees. In a train workers home located in the third section of Juchitn, the prayers and expectations were of a different kind. Felipe de Jess Urbieta Rasgado, railway hauler, and his wife, Elvira Orozco Villalobos, were awaiting the birth of their ninth childwho was about to be born at any moment, so they were somewhat removed from the political agitation around them. Finally, on Good FridayMarch 27, 1959the Urbieta Orozco family heard the voice of its xunco, the smallest member, for the first time. He was small and fragile. During his entire life, he would be known for the latter characteristic. As she contemplated him, his mother noted that he had a veil of color over his face. Just then, she predicted: You are going to be very lucky. Once the post-natal procedures were over, don Felipe de Jess and doa Elvira took the boy to be baptized and gave him his fathers name: Jess. Only five brothers survive of the original nine: Juana, Pedro, Fernando, Hilda and Victor. Paula and Reina

died when they were just babies. Hugo died when he was hit by a car, not long after his youngest brother had passed away. Mourning keeps the Urbietas under siege.

Childhood in the Tropics

Ch Huinni (Little Jesus), that is what his parents, brothers, sisters and friends called the boy who saw his first ray of light on Good Friday. His family recalls the days in which he came into the world as difficult, because he was a very fragile boy, even if he was a fighter. The little boy was affected by many illnesses, though none of them prevented him from hanging onto life, shaking off the set backs and enjoying existence in the tropics. At a young age, he began working to help his parents and secure the few minimal pleasures that children pursue unworriedly, without imagining that they are forming their destiny as adults. Ch Huinni Urbieta worked as a shoeshine boy and at other simple occupations; later, he was hired by the Jurez Cinema in his hometown (a movie house that disappeared years ago and was the property of a widow, Josefina Arenas) to pick up the big posters announcing the shows, although some of them were larger than the hard-working boy. For his pay, Ch Huinni was allowed into the shows, which he doubly enjoyed, since he did not have to shell out the coins that even grown ups had to pay at the ticket window. Without having to ask anyone, the small boy could be captivated by the stories in movement. Nevertheless, life in the tropics is not cinematographic in the sense that fantasies stay in the darkness of the theater. The climates burning heat, the lustful humidity coming from the jungle, the exuberant overflowing of bodies puts the isthmian population in a continuous sensual celebration without limits between the delight of innocence and the carnal delirium of experience. Even before the senses can precisely testify to this phenomenon in ones own satisfied flesh, bodies burn with delight in the tropics. Upon visiting the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in 1930, the Russian cinematographer Sergei Eisenstein understood this perfectly and tried to reflect it in his enormous, unfinished film Que viva Mxico! in the episode which was to be called Sandunga. Within these black and white silent images, sensuality is the opening and closing of a maliciously ingenuous story of love and fiesta. Ch Huinni Urbieta delved into these carnal experiences without malice from the time he was seven or eight years old. At that time, his mother, doa Elvira, attended a market stand where she sold plantains and cocoa beans. That is where Little Jesus would go ask her for breast milk, and as he sought out the generous bosom that other children had to abandon years earlier, the mother gratified her youngest child unreservedly. Elvira was not the only woman in the market who spoiled Ch Huinni like this, according to what he said as an adult. Urbieta affirms that when the female merchants from Chiapas came to the market, the little boy arranged to have carnal relations with them. Besides, in those latitudes, girls and boys tend to play nude under the torrid light. That is why there is not a movie that exists which can be compared with life in the tropics and the plentitude of bodies there. Everyone carries intimate oceans within a sweating body, reveling in sensual exaltation; they silently come close with their invisible, salty swells, bodies of men and women in the isthmian plains. Juchitns sun fosters passion and eroticism, corroborates Macario Matus, poet and friend of Jess Urbieta. Probably all the inhabitants of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec say the same thing about the sun illuminating their respective populations. As Matus adds, the isthmian world is very eroticized by sunlight and food. There, people eat delicacies rich in proteins considered to almost magically inspire sexual vigor. Fish is eaten in abundance and dishes with iguana are never scarce. (Matus points out craftily that these are little dinosaurs.) Meaty fruit, with sweet pulp and juice, can always be found, plus the equally juicy vegetables, and between meals, beer and other alcoholic drinks make their rounds, or the now-uncommon taberna, a drink fermented from a palm tree that prospered in the region a half century ago. In the decade of the sixties, other pleasures were at hand in Juchitn. Ch Huinnis grandfather, Federico Urbieta, had a cow corral in the second section of the city. Jess would go there to drink milk directly from the utter. The boys fragile constitution resisted the Malta fever as he nourished himself with the raw liquid, whose warmth and sweetness were, nevertheless, no match for that of the market women who received the xunco Urbieta so well.

For Ch Huinni, a few of his other relatives caused him pleasure. When he was a boy, his family still evoked with enthusiasm and pride the memory of Jess (Ch) Rasgado, famous composer and trovador, who conceived the painful song, Naila, one of the cultural treasures of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Jess Urbietas father showed his children the ox cart his uncle used for work, telling them reverentially, This is where Uncle Ch Rasgado would lie down to rest when he drank. So, music was one more reason for unalloyed happiness and respect for the xunco Urbieta. Young Jess would not forget this illustrious relative with whom he shared a name, and he himself became a composer and singer as the years went on.

Abundance in a Narrow Territory

Between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec conserves an abundance of native flora and fauna. Its jungle and forest areas, fed by a natural reserve called Los Chimalapas, nourish and shelter innumerous plant and animal species. These opulent resources have been utilized by inhabitants, not only for exceptional cuisine, but also for converting natures gifts into numerous and enjoyable artful objects. Certainly, the isthmians have distinguished themselves by their imaginative use of natural resources from before Spanish colonization. Vestiges of the Guiengola Fortress can still be seen on a hill marking the entrance to the region. There, under the command of Cocijoeza, the Zapotecs successfully resisted attacks by the army of Ahuzotl, the Aztec expansionist. Guiengolas engineering work speaks of the ancient Zapotecs military and architectural knowledge, which enabled them to secure great water supplies for their bastion isolated on the hilltop. That is how they fortified their undefeatable position in the war against the high-plains invaders. Located in the southeastern part of Mexico, the isthmian zone is known today for its petroleum assets and abundant timber resources. Since antiquity, the Isthmus has stood out because of the strong presence of indigenous groups, among them, the Zapotecs, Huaves, Chontals and Mixes. In the state of Oaxaca as it is known today, the isthmian portion covers the districts of Tehuantepec and Juchitn, making up the Oaxacan region known as the Isthmus. Since the Spaniards arrival and as time went on, it would be Mexicos isthmus. The constant flow of travelers through this zone attracted all types of plans to convert the narrowest strip of national territory into the preferred crossing between the two oceans. Mexicos independence from Spain did not contribute greater innovations to the Oaxacan section of the Isthmus. Changes occurred mostly in Coatzacoalcos and other ports of the Veracruz section of the strait, but the French invasionwith its division of the countryintroduced notable cultural contributions to this zone, as it did to most of Mexico. The French Interventionfrom 1862 to 1867, also well-resisted militarily by isthmians, introduced an enormous number of new cultural elements into the territory. Not only contributions from the Gaules, but also ones from Austria, Germany and Central Europe came to stay in the Mexican soil populated by indigenous peoples and Spanish descendents. From the ensuing racial mixture, a unique kind of beauty appeared among some inhabitants, which still surprises those who arrive in isthmian communities today. The battles have been forgotten, and what remainsin the form of noble profiles and fascinating facesis the result of isthmian womens conquering the warriors who attempted to uphold Maximilian of Habsburg. If the struggle for independence originated in the Americas thanks to French revolutionary ideas, the attack of Napolean IIIs army on Mexican soil left more than just battles and ephemeral empires. Among the contributions that European culture made to Mexico in this violent period are certain musical currents and ensembles, like Mariachis, characteristic to this day; styles and architectural techniques corresponding to the Romantic movement; inventions like photography; sciences like archeology; and ingredients and culinary recipes of surprising permanence. A large part of the gastronomy that makes the Isthmus of Tehuantepec famous could not be explained without the European contributions made to the territory. Modernity also came to the Isthmus after clashes with the defeated emperors forces. Businesspeople from North America, England and elsewhere rivaled for decades to appropriate the Isthmus strategic position and dominate the crossing from one ocean to another via a railway line. In the nineteenth century, the railroad entered with a roar into isthmian jungles and during almost two centuries constituted a decisive factor, not only economic and political, but also cultural due to the interchange between the areas inhabitants and citizens from remote countries. Although the

projects to create a great inter-ocean passage, either by land or sea, never materialized, the constant cultural, political and commercial exchange produced in the zone gave way to a peculiar culture which utilized the best of the globes different regions. The construction of the isthmian railroad was an enormously important factor for local societys development. With the railway workers, Chinese for the most part, and the arrival of enterprising Lebanese to the area, the circuit of cultural influences was complete, making isthmian society what it is today. The population that settled in a territory favored by the influence of two oceans reveals its cultural genius in numerous ways. One of these, whose development seemed to arise suddenly at the hands of a few unique men and women, is that which falls under the category of fine arts. As if coming out of nowhere, after the unequalled artistic achievement represented by Francisco Toledos work, various Juchitn-born male and female artists came to the forefront in that field starting in the eighties. Gastronomy, closely linked to popular tradition, is an equally important cultural element. The population living in the Oaxacan Isthmus, open to contributions from numerous cultures since long ago, has produced a culinary abundance of such diversity and exquisiteness that it is comparable to founding cultures like China and India, which, in fact, also made an indirect contribution to this cultural and epicurean phenomena. In and of itself, food inspires an ample examination of what is isthmian and transfers to diverse settings and disciplines. In the Oaxacan Isthmus, the arts seem to nourish themselves with intellectual and spiritual ingredients as well as delicious culinary components and the materials themselves. Many of the new ingredients voyagers brought with them to the Isthmus were quickly added to the cultural archives of resident communities; among the most notable cultures were the European, Arabian, Indian and Chinese, who arrived with the first Spanish colonizers. During the three centuries of Hispanic domination in the region, numerous uses from the metropolis installed themselves among native isthmians and colonizers. The regions inhabitants took advantage of new uses for the ingredients known since antiquity and with this mlange Mexican culture gained one of its most intense expressions. As such, the Oaxacan part of the Isthmus is one of the zones which has most contributed to the diversity and variety of the nations cultural richness.

Restlessness in Art
In that territory so open to all kinds of transformation, Jess Urbieta went from laboring at odd jobs to practicing art, barely establishing a distinction between the two. He trained as a topographer in his adolescence and began to draw. When he was seventeen or eighteen at the most, he spent his time writing articles and informative reports for newspapers in the region, publishing work in Tabasco, Jalapa and Campeche. He spent a brief season in Yucatan, working as a topographer, yet he quit because he feared the snakes which are abundant in the forests of that region. He also installed an artisanal ironwork studio and headed a guitar workshop. Later, Jess Urbieta made his living again as a topographer and with this continued to accumulate trades as he did in his childhood. As an adolescent, he combined lifes practical side with artistic production as he amplified manifestations of his sexuality that he had begun to enjoy at such an early age. At that time, because of the socialist movement of the Isthmian Worker, Peasant and Student Coalition, whose initials (COCEI) would become famous throughout Mexico, there was great disturbance in isthmian society once again. The actions of this massive, leftwing organization not only attracted enormous sympathy among Juchitn and other isthmian inhabitants, it also caught the attention of well-known Mexico City intellectuals, who demonstrated their support for this political project, allowing the establishment of a socialist city administration in 1984. The COCEIs upsurge brought intellectuals and artists from elsewhere to Juchitn. Personalities as famous as Carlos Monsivis arrived in solidarity with the community; Francisco Toledo, whose family was from the city, returned to his native land to help establish cultural centers to complement the political reforms. His initiatives coincided with those of poet Macario Matus, who became head of the recently-formed Juchitn Cultural Center in 1979. Matus remembers that back then Jess Urbieta, in his twenties, showed up with a notebook of some verses he had written. Then famous in his native city, the poet confirms that after he read the texts of his young paisano, he threw the notebook on the floor, insisting that he learn to write

better. Then, the writerhardened by his journalistic work in Mexico Citybent down to pick up the notebook and return it to its young owner, warning him once again to improve his literary attempts. The young Urbieta did not take long to return with his notebook to the Cultural Center. This time its director, who struggled with his cultural tasks and attacks from political tyrants, like so many other COCEI representatives, looked surprisingly at the sketchbook which now contained thirty remarkably well-done drawings. Matus organized Jess Urbietas first exhibition with them in the cultural institution which the poet headed from 1979-1984. This was a glorious time for the center: the library had 20,000 titles donated by different archives, and some Rodin sculptures were even exhibited there. The warmth generated by cultural activities at that time had sufficient support so as to produce an important community response. Due to this conducive environment, the careers of painters like Vctor Chaca, Sabino Lpez, Miguel ngel Toledo and Jess Urbieta began, encouraged by maestro scar Martnez and Matus himself. Painting on marble dust, sand and other earth-like materials adhered to canvas is practically obligatory nowadays for painters in Oaxaca, but when Urbieta began, few artists used that combination of materials. Breaded Oaxacan painting, much too common in our time, began to be used in Juchitn by Delfino Marcial and Vctor Chaca. Observing how his colleagues did their work, Jess Urbieta impregnated himself with the technique, did experiments and achieved the application of paint on sand with different results. He made the intimate oceans flooding his imagination and sensitivity rise up on canvas and other materials. Urbieta was on his way to becoming an exceptional painter. Nevertheless, Macario Matus knew that the Juchitn setting, with its academic and technological limitations, was not the most adequate for young artists to prosper in. Francisco Toledos example was conclusive, but awakened resistance: to study an art major required leaving his homeland, the risk of losing himself among the capitals multitudes and then meant looking intelligently toward other countries. This kind of transformation was only possible in Mexico City. Macario Matus says that he made the same recommendation to all of the artists he encouraged in the Cultural Center: Go to Mexico City, which is to say, the capital of the country. Only Jess Urbieta listened to his advice.

Lasting Love
The young singer/writer/painter was anxious to leave the provinces for the enormous metropolis to see what lady luck had in store for him. However, before that happened, destiny would have it that he was to meet the woman with whom he would share his life. Mara Filiberta Palizada Reyes was born in 1963 in the town of Tlacolula, very close to the capital of Oaxaca. Her mother was from there and her father from Guanajuato. Because Mr. Palizada needed a warmer climate than that offered by the Oaxacan valley, he decided to move the family to the Isthmus, to Juchitn. Little Mara Filiberta was four then, so the change of climate and landscape was barely recorded in her mind. The girl grew up in the ardor of the tropics like everyone else, soon appreciating the suns effects, the breeze and isthmian flavors. At nineteen, Mara Filiberta often visited a relatives home where she was treated like one of the family. Therefore, she had rights and authority, among which was the privilege of receiving visitors in the entrance hall. It was there in this house that a Dutch woman named Fanny stayed, whom a twenty-two or twenty-three old young man would visit. As part of her responsibilities as hostess, Mara Filiberta had to open the door for this young beau more than once, barely daring to look him in the face. During a walk around Juchitns main plaza, the zcalo, where a dance was being held, Mara Filiberta suddenly found herself before that visitor whom she would often avoid. It was Jess Urbieta, known for his aversion to dancing, but that afternoon he asked the young woman to dance to the piece being played; the voice of Roberto Carlos, who reiterated, Dont leave me was like a spell for the couple. That slow dance began a passion that would make them inseparable during almost fourteen years. Mara Filiberta Palizada says that after that decisive meeting, just a week went by before they were yoked together, according to this warm lands tradition. To be yoked together is a love ritual practiced in torrid populations. Although the couples families agree that they marry, it is a demonstration of manlinessan initiation ritualin which the fianc robs (kidnaps) the woman.

No real kidnapping goes on, but everyone agrees to believe the woman was taken by force by her impatient lover. On occasion, the womans father shoots a few bullets, deliberately misaimed, at the young man on the run, thus saving her honor. At some point, the couple usually returns to beg the parents forgiveness, which they are granted. That is when the religious ceremony occurs. Mara Filiberta and Jess lived together for seven years. During those years, they had three children: Jess Felipe, born on July 7, 1985; Monica, who saw her first ray of light on April 28, 1987; and Federico, born into this world on March 1, 1990. Once their last child was born, Jess and Mara Filiberta formalized their relationship and were able to enjoy another seven years together. In 1983, at the end of Macario Matus stay as the director of the Cultural Center, young Urbieta yearned to face the most complex urban chaos of the world. Jess arrived in Mexico City with Mara Filiberta (who insisted on making the trip) and a portfolio of work under his arm. Once there, he said to his companion, If I havent achieved anything in painting within five years, Im going back to Juchitn. Jess sister, Juana, received them in her home in Villa de las Flores, Ecatepec, close to where Macario Matus house was. The only thing that fit in their room was a mattress for them to rest and a little table where young Urbieta worked on his acrylics and watercolors.

Endless Painting
With the intention of succeeding in the art world, Urbieta thought he should complete his artistic training at La Esmeralda, the countrys best school for fine art. He attended the classes, tried out new techniques and perfected the ones he already handled, but he understood that academic painting restricted his creative capacity too much. He abandoned his formal studies, even though contact with his Esmeralda teachers had given him a more solid base for developing his work. Like other notable artists, Urbieta would have to cultivate his achievements by himself. Other notorious Oaxacan artists had passed through the same schoolRufino Tamayo, Rodolfo Nieto, Francisco Toledowho, in turn, rejected the academy to commit themselves to their own wider search. Urbieta only allowed himself to rest after he finished a painting. He painted day and night until he got together enough acrylic and watercolor work to take to different collectors, gallery owners, dealers and dilettantes in the capital. Collectionist Manuel Rodrguez Caramazana was the first to buy Urbietas work, and he supported him in strengthening his career. When Jess Felipe, the painters first son, was about to be born in 1985, the collectionist told Urbieta, This child will bring good luck to you, and he made sure that the luck held out enough so that the artist could perfect his trade. When Jess got his first payment for an artwork, he sent the money to his mother without thinking twice. This angered his sister, who expected some sort of retribution for having put up the painter and his wife. The family disagreements made the couple decide to move, since they were expecting another child. While looking for housing in the Villa de las Flores area, Rodrguez Caramazana offered them the apartment his mother had vacated in the Jurez neighborhood in light of the September 19 earthquake. Meanwhile, Mexico City was transforming itself after the massive tragedy. The population discovered that its governmentauthoritarian as well as irresponsiblewas absolutely incapable of responding to collective pain, and multitudes of people learned to dissent. Perhaps Urbieta observed the new Mexican rebelliousness pleasurably, after having learned the efficient art of political opposition in Juchitn. Probably this metropolitan experience, along with what happened in his homeland, pushed him to consolidate a financing and cultural promotion project at that time. This manifested as the Guie Xhuba Foundation with which he developed creative projectsboth his and othersbeginning in 1984. From Mexico City, Jess Urbieta set out to present a show of twenty paintings in the city of Oaxaca. Despite his enthusiasm, the show did not come to fruition. Mara Filiberta Palizada tells us that the painter had to resign himself to leaving his works on loan in the studio of painter/printmaker Juan Alczar. After returning to Mexico City, Urbieta continued painting works which he then sold to Rodrguez Caramazana. He later showed with Jos del Bosque from the Artdicr Gallery. As Mara Filiberta recalled the galleries Urbieta worked with, she pointed out that, Some robbed him; others helped him.

Like the other painters of his land, Urbieta admired the figure of Francisco Toledo. His example was both stimulating and frightening for young people in Juchitn interested in studying art. Besides, the artist, born in 1940, had not only returned to Mexico despite the recognition he was gaining in France, he had also decided to return to Juchitn to support the COCEI movement, which, for the large part, had determined the paths of creative young men and women like Urbieta. Nevertheless, Macario Matus said that the relationship between the older artist and Urbieta was tense. Once, Urbieta went up to the famous painter in Galera de Arte Mexicano to show him a piece, but Toledo paid no attention to what his young paisano was showing him. Jess was offended by his disdain. After that, he never spoke to him and and kept his distance for the rest of his life. Jess Urbietas painting career was advancing rapidly. In 1989, he received his first national recognition, the First-place Acquisition Prize in the Ninth National Young Artists Encounter in Aguascalientes. Nevertheless, the taste of triumph in a competition was not so novel for Urbieta: in 1979, a little while after Macario Matus emphatically insisted he write better, Urbieta had won a poetry prize and scholarship. Incidentally, 1989 was also the year Urbieta published a small collection of poems titled Always in Flames. With respect to this, Jorge Magario, another poet from Juchitn, comments, Urbieta was courageous as a writer, but compared to what he did as a painter, his literature needed more work and development. After publishing his first book of poems, Urbieta began the cultural development project which is still extant, the Guie Xhuba Foundation, his idea to support regional creators in different disciplines. Under the foundations name, Urbieta published books (among which was his own novel Zeferino and his Sister Mariana Pombo, in 1995), recorded traditional songs and encouraged other artists work. With what he earned as a painter, Urbieta began to overcome the financial difficulties at the beginning of his career in Mexico City. He even came to buy himself a video camera, novel and costly equipment for that time, with which he made some films that his widow has conserved. This economic bonanza presented Urbieta with a problem which tends to pursue certain successful painters: he now had enough money to cover not only his basic expenses, but also to be able to share it with others. He was a generous man who received his friends at his house with unreserved hospitality. An important part of his welcome was the liquor which would frequently be present at the gatherings and which the artist drank without caring that his fragile constitution might not stand it. Life, however, smiled upon Jess and Mara by 1990. Their son Federico had just been born. Even though he seemed very ill, the little one overcame his sickness, once again with the help of collectionist Rodrguez Caramazana who was then a gallery owner in the Polanco neighborhood. A young promoter named scar Romn worked there, and it would not be long until he greatly influenced Urbieta. Nevertheless, that year the Urbietas and other members of the artistic community were affected by an unexpected tragedy: the generous Manuel Rodrguez was assassinated in his car by some attackers. For happy-go-lucky Jess, this news was added to memories from Juchitn he had never overcome, particularly the loss of his father, who appears in several of his works. It was a tremendous blow for the artist who had enjoyed Rodriguez Caramazanas friendship and protection. The following year1991Urbieta began to work with the gallery scar Romn had opened nearby the failed Caramazana Gallery. This relationship lasted the rest of the painters life and was a determining factor in his career. Urbieta submitted work to the fifth and sixth Rufino Tamayo Biennials (1990 and 1992), a prestigious competition which began in 1982, and was selected for both of them, which were exhibited in the Oaxacan Museum, predecessor of the prestigious Contemporary Art Museum of Oaxaca (MACO). Urbieta is one of the few artists of the state to be accepted to this demanding juried show. To date, very few Oaxacans have been able to be a part of this select group of painters chosen every two years for the group show held in the MACO and the Rufino Tamayo Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City. As time went on, Urbieta began to look for other outlets for his creativity. Around 1993, he entertained himself by modeling little clay figures while he was waiting for his oldest son at the barber shop, and that initiated an irregular sculptural production. The man from Juchitn even did a handful of soldered metal sculptures, but it was ceramics which came to be an alternative medium for the painter.

In 1994, scar Romn sent an Urbieta painting to France to compete in the Twenty-sixth International Painting Festival of the Grimaldi Castle-Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer. Wizard Fly won the Great Golden Palette award. His widow recalls that the day the prize was granted to Ch Huinni, flyers were thrown from a plane announcing the Juchitn painters triumph. He was the first Mexican to win the prize. The Great Golden Palette was delivered to Urbieta in the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Mexico City, directed at the time by recognized researcher and critic Teresa del Conde. After the event, Jess went up to the MAMs director to ask her for a one-man show in the prestigious space. Despite the strong friendship uniting them, the specialist first turned him down. She alleged that Urbieta was too young and could still wait for a show of that magnitude. The artist responded, forebodingly, Do the show for me now that Im still alive. Urbieta was feeling the effects of excessive alcohol consumption. His body had reacted negatively to his immoderate use. Even though he had spent several periods in the hospital and was developing serious illnesses, Urbieta refused to follow the doctors advice to stop drinking. His widow relates, In 1995, we had to hospitalize him because he drank pure alcohol and got pancreatitis. A doctor told him, If youre not careful, youre going to get diabetes. Later, he realized he was already diabetic. The Urbieta family spent time in Juchitn in a house located in the center of town, at Number 34 Efran R. Gmez Street. The painters mother still lives at that address. There was a tavern in front where the sick man spent the day whenever he recuperated from his alcoholic crises. Mara Filiberta Palizada sums up the life of the now-deceased painter on those occasions: In front of his house in Juchitn lived Doctor David, who would give him an I.V. But, since the tavern was next to the doctors place, hed then go there. He would say, Im going to die when Im about eighty. My father would say it, too: I am like fine wood / cut at the best time / water cannot wet me / neither does it hurt me. Urbietas father had been a drinker and his delirium tremens attacks were wellknown. When she heard her husbands arguments, Urbietas wife answered, Its not true, because that water has now screwed you. Those admonitions did not work with Jess. The man was quickly fading away, but he did not stop drinking. In 1996, Dr. del Conde finally invited him to exhibit individually in the MAM. Urbieta knew this show would place him among the most outstanding artists of Mexico, and he prepared himself to work hard. He did this day and night, as was his habit, to have the paintings and sculptures ready for the show. Although pressured and exhausted, the painter kept drinking with his friends, whom he still welcomed with endless liquor.

End and Continuance

In February 1997, the Urbieta family had to suddenly hospitalize Jess in Santa Fe Hospital. At first, gallery owner scar Romn helped by paying the medical expenses, until his resources ran out. Later, other friends like Teresa del Conde and Carlos Martnez Rentera and relatives like politician Hctor Snchez cooperated to transfer the patient to Siglo XXI Hospital so that he could receive extended medical care. Gerardo Cajiga and Genaro Borrego, administrators in the Mexican Institute of Social Security, did the necessary paperwork so that the painter would be able to spend almost a month in the hospital. Nevertheless, toward the end of March, while their father lay in the hospital, the Urbieta family received the news that he was terminal. When Jess Urbieta found out, he decided to die at home and asked to be moved to No. 11 Viena Street, but he never left the hospital. On March 21, 1997, just seven days before his thirty-eighth birthday, the painter, singer, writer and cultural supporter expired. Like the day of his birth, it was Good Friday. Teresa del Conde, who was his friend in addition to being an enthusiastic critic of his painting, narrates in the text she wrote for his 1997 exhibit that Urbietas passing occurred unexpectedly: The following March 20 his health was quite improved, which those of us who were close to him commented at Pablo Ortiz Monasterios opening of Idolatries. They removed a couple of catheters today; next week its even possible hell be back to eating regularly, gallery owner scar Romn asserted. I hope they keep him in the hospital a bit longer, someone answered, since, well have to see how he adapts to a new life that implies radical changes. We spoke in an optimistic tone and agreed to visit him in the Medical Center before they released him. He died the next day. There were numerous articles in the paper about his death, which pierced us deeply. We thought that because of his age, he would have freed himself of it; no one expected what happened, even though

the doctors did not give us much hope, alleging that esophagus veins are unpredictable. They were right. That year, the artists posthumous one-man show was exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art under the title of Jess Urbieta: Testament. Sixty-eight works of his artistic legacy were shown, including Pointing toward Liberty, Crocodile, The Dogs, Malinches Wait, Destruction of Codices, Baadu Xhiquie Xaxhik, Nature in Communion, Carnival Characters and Virgin of Guadalupe. The show included his work in different techniques from 1984 up until his death. The following year, 1998, that same show covered the walls of the Contemporary Art Museum of Oaxaca; the artist from Juchitn finally got to show in the states most prestigious spaceeven if he was no longer present. Urbietas painting, which adopted so many forms but always remained recognizable thanks to his distinctive style, is a reference for quite a few young artists in Oaxaca today. In his native city, many painters like Soid Pastrana, cannot hide Urbietas strong influence. Other veterans from Juchitn who did not achieve such fame, like Vctor Chaca, allow the recognition of Urbietas origin to show in their work. However, Urbieta, born in Juchitn in 1959 and died in Mexico City in 1997, maintains a special place in Mexican art. The oeuvre he left behind has reached notable prices and is some of the best work ever produced by Oaxaca, artistically speaking. It is included in the collections of the Contemporary Art Museum in Monterrey, Artensin Cultural Foundation, Museum of Modern Art (in Mexico City) and Wrt Museum in Germany. These distinctions attract not only people who know his work, but also people who forge it. Jess Felipe, his oldest son, asserts that a director of a Oaxacan newspaper had once shown him a painting with a signature which is apparently Urbietas, but that the deceased artist did not paint. Macario Matus discovered that there was a forger dedicated to fabricating Urbieta paintings. This indicates the interest which the pictorial vision of this prematurely-departed creator continues to awaken. Jess Urbietas recognition in Mexico remains and expands. In 2007, for the tenth anniversary of the painters death, gallery owner scar Romn held a commemorative exhibit in his space on Julio Verne Street in Mexico City, which he titled Jess Urbieta and Friends. Oils, watercolors and ceramic sculptures by Urbieta were shown, as well as recreations inspired by his work and done by other artists. Likewise, that year, Hommage to Jess Urbieta was shown in the Museum of Oaxacan Painters. It was dedicated exclusively to the artists work and objects treasured by the family as well as paintings belonging to different collectors, gathered together by scar Romn. The show inspired the idea for this commemorative book. Jess Urbieta rests in the land he so obsessively painted in his work, the land which pursued him in nightmares and whose omnipresent ghost he conjured with his art. Even if he knew early on that his life choices limited his days on earth in a determining way, the artist decided that it would not restrict his appetite for satisfaction. The intimate oceans motivating his calling took him far in real life and, above all, in his imaginable presence. That presence persists in our memory today, thanks to his powerful pictorial, sculptural, literary, musical and human legacy.