13.0.0.0.0

This is a painting I recently finished (46 x 122cm, acrylics on canvas) based on the only known inscription of 13.0.0.0.0 (on Monument 6, Tortuguero, Mexico), the end of the long count Maya calendar, a date of much speculation (December 21 or 23, the end of the world!!!). Although I admit I choose this specific inscription because of the 2012 hype (and my wish to sell this work and being able to pay the rent!), more than anything I’m just intrigued by Maya glyphs. Not just their meaning, but especially their design, their aesthetic value. These glyphs here were carved in stone and are badly eroded by the weather, but once translated to the canvass in their original crisp shapes and then coloured in a bright palette, they get a whole different dimension. Maya goes Keith Haring!