Pieter Hugo, Muxe portrait #1, Juchitán de Zaragoza, 2018 Archival Pigment Print © Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York — **Pieter Hugo,** Muxe portrait #1, Juchitán de Zaragoza, 2018
Archival Pigment Print **© Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York**

Pieter Hugo, The wedding gift, Juchitán de Zaragoza, 2018 Archival Pigment Print © Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York — **Pieter Hugo,** The wedding gift, Juchitán de Zaragoza, 2018
Archival Pigment Print **© Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York**

Pieter Hugo’s new exhibit La Cucaracha at the Yossi Milo Gallery shows his body of work taken during trips around Mexico City, Hermosillo, Oaxaca de Juarez and Juchitan in 2018-19. Through photography, Pieter Hugo tells the story of a culture removed from his, yet that retains some significance to him; "given the disparate nature of my interests, I've always struggled to situate myself. One could say, albeit reductively, that my work has always been about the outsider – and in the Trump era, Mexico is definitely the outsider". These portraits and still lifes are astonishing, and when you look at them more attentively, they draw you in and make you question the relationships in the composition as well as your own conceptions of Mexican culture.

Pieter Hugo, Reclining nude, Oaxaca de Juárez, 2018 Archival Pigment Print © Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York — **Pieter Hugo,** Reclining nude, Oaxaca de Juárez, 2018
Archival Pigment Print **© Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York**

Pieter Hugo, Burning bush, Oaxaca de Juárez, 2018 Archival Pigment Print © Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York — **Pieter Hugo,** Burning bush, Oaxaca de Juárez, 2018
Archival Pigment Print **© Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York**

Life and death are universal preoccupations, and Mexican culture has a very unique relationship to these concepts, which Pieter Hugo explores in his work. He notes that "If one looks beyond the clichés of dancing skeletons and sugar skulls, there’s a deeply complicated connection with mortality. This necropolitical dynamic is most visible in contradictory expressions of honouring the afterlife, in the Day of the Dead celebrations and the brutal dismemberment of bodies by narco traffickers." This project, like many of his previous ones, has a documentary feel to it, seemingly working to teach you something or to make you question assumptions.

Pieter Hugo, The asylum seeker, Hermosillo, 2019 Archival Pigment Print © Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York — **Pieter Hugo,** The asylum seeker, Hermosillo, 2019
Archival Pigment Print **© Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York**

Pieter Hugo, Zapata and Adelita, Mexico City, 2019 Archival Pigment Print © Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York — **Pieter Hugo,** Zapata and Adelita, Mexico City, 2019
Archival Pigment Print **© Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York**

He is used to photographing South Africans and make us connect with his hometown, the people and animals living in it. With this project, he succeeds to give a similar attitude while presenting a culture that he is not a part of. His portraits are poignant and surprising. Explored through these photographs are the colors and themes in touch with the aesthetic and concerns of Mexico. The shots embrace enigmatic personas and certain conspicuous preoccupations. The Yossi Milo Gallery whenever they show his work, guarantees that it will leave a powerful impression on its viewers.

Pieter Hugo, Black Friday, Oaxaca de Juárez, 2018 Archival Pigment Print © Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York — **Pieter Hugo,** Black Friday, Oaxaca de Juárez, 2018
Archival Pigment Print **© Pieter Hugo, Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York**

Away from his own home, Piete Hugo suceeds to capture the strong charisma of Mexican communities and the ambiguity of certain realities that we may think of as banalities. These portraits and still lifes are gripping, intimate, candid and surprising, true to Hugo’s style. The vibrant and firm colors and tones compliment the fascinating faces that live in them, and reveal the complexities of life.