Taqueros and eloteros: these illustrations of kittens are very Mexican

In addition to selling corn, this kitten sells mouse soup. Another, besides being a taquero, offers "mouse" protein for its customers. This is a series of illustrations where cats are the protagonists, created by Mexican illustrator Celerino Martínez, better known as Coendú.

“In Mexico there are great things that are lost sight of, including food and that visual identity of the town that is at the same time naive, funny and fascinating,” says the Veracruz artist to Verne , via email. His pictures of cats framed in contexts around Mexican food and customs have been shared thousands of times on Facebook. In this network, Coendú uses 3D animation in its publications, while on Instagram the images are shown one-dimensional.

One of the most shared publications is the normal and underworld Pan piece, created for the celebration of the Day of the Dead of 2019. “I sought to make an illustration that would connect with my personal history since, among other things, when I was a teenager I worked as a baker, ”says the artist.

Its artistic name, Coendú, refers to an arboreal porcupine ( Sphiggurus mexicanus ), which lives in Mexico and Central America and which in Veracruz is known as bistlacuache. "I chose that name because I wanted a pseudonym with which I identified and approached my roots and that is almost as short as no name so I approved it," he says.

February 20 is one of the dates on which Cat Day is celebrated (also commemorated on October 29 in the United States and other countries), an animal that together with dogs, is an inspiration for many of Coendú's pieces . "It relaxes me to draw them, in addition to having a natural quality to make people connect allowing us to project many things in them," he says.

Fine potions of love and magic micheladas on the paws of a cat, a soft homeland in a casserole cooked by a cat with an apron and a feline grandmother tasting a dead bread with a chocolate are part of this repertoire. Cat images brighten and connect with many people regardless of nationality, according to this 35-year-old illustrator.

“I receive comments about the fact that they arouse happiness and well-being in people who feel sad, I like to think that somehow what I do serves to remove some thorns from the soul,” says Coendú. This reference is not free. The thorns of this porcupine are used as a traditional medicine. "Toasted, ground and applied as a plaster make splinters and thorns leave alone after one night, even the most difficult," he concludes.

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