Bowdoin College Museum of Art |

Preview image of work. vintage gelatin silver print, Girl with Chicken 32869

2017.4.6

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Girl with Chicken

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Artist

Manuel Carrillo (Mexico City, Mexico, 1906 - 1989, Mexico City, Mexico)

Title

Girl with Chicken

Creation Date

n.d.

Century

20th century

Dimensions

14 x 11 in. (35.56 x 27.94 cm)

Classification

Photographs

Creation Place

North America, Mexico

Medium and Support

vintage gelatin silver print

Credit Line

Gift of Christopher Foundation for the Arts, Elizabeth Hayes Christopher, Class of 1986 and Scott Christopher

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

2017.4.6

A young girl wearing a rebozo protectively holds on to a chicken in her lap, reminding us of efforts by Mexican indigenous youth to preserve agriculture and tradition. Her face is partially covered and shielded by the chicken, possibly alluding to the reciprocal and protective relationship between indigenous peoples and the land. While they are surrounded by darkness, the two figures are illuminated in profile. This brightness is echoed by a symbolic white feather that rests on her knee, a small reminder of one’s innocence and perhaps even a sliver of hope for the future survival of rural Mexico. Erin Harris ’20 “Oyó el canto de los gallos. Sintió la envoltura de la noche cubriendo la tierra. La tierra, «este valle de lágrimas».” “He heard the sound of roosters crowing. He felt the blanket of night covering the earth. The earth, ‘this valley of tears.’” Juan Rulfo Pedro Páramo (1955)