True/False has a proud history of working with brilliant designers and poster artists, both local and national. This year, it felt imperative to engage with artistic voices that have not been represented in our past editions.
We came to Mazatl’s work through the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, a decentralized collective of graffiti, poster, and graphic artists, all with a strong interest in social and environmental justice. We were seeking an artist who would take the creative lead on our poster and whose body of work embodied our embryonic ideas about nature and uncertainty. Mazatl’s art is not just about nature—he creates soulful takes on deep ecology that brim with sly wit and breathtaking craftsmanship. For our first (only?) outdoor fest, we can’t imagine an artist more suited to provide the art that sits at the heart of T/F 2021.
Artist Statement Huehuecoyotl and the 5 elements, created for the 2021 True/False Film Fest, is an invitation to celebrate life in these trying times of uncertainty, coming together as a community through creativity and art. It is also a reminder that no matter how hard and chaotic things may be we always have the elements to ground us, help us find our creativity, learn to adapt, be expansive and think freely, in order to feel our connection to one another and everything that surrounds us.
Each of the elements is represented by the characters below the coyote’s head, which in turn represents Huehuecoyotl. Huehuecoyotl is the trickster, the patron of the arts, story-telling, music, dance and celebration: very much what it seems to me True/False embodies.
Artist Bio Mazatl is an artist based in Chiapas, Mexico. His work uses the public space to communicate ideas and emotions and creates conversations towards collective healing and liberation. Mazatl’s work is characterized by interventions of large scale woodcuts in the public areas, as well as graphic murals.
He dedicates a large part of his work towards collaborating with groups, collectives, other artists and movements that seek social, political and environmental justice in our communities. He is a member of the Justseeds Artists Cooperative and APC (Animal Power Crew).
The poster was unveiled at the Rites of Spring event on March 6 and will be online and in storefronts in the coming weeks. For more detail about the 2021 artistic theme, read our announcement post here.
