Immigration in the Visual Art of Nicario Jiménez Quispe

Art meets today’s political debate over immigration in this beautifully illustrated exploration of Nicario Jiménez Quispe’s retablos.

This beautifully illustrated full-color book offers a unique depiction of the current immigration debate through the creative gaze of renowned Peruvian artist Nicario Jiménez Quispe, a recent immigrant to the United States. An internationally recognized maker of retablos, Jiménez is creating work that powerfully encapsulates the struggles, possibilities, and tragedies of immigration from the Global South to North America.

A decorative box with figures in the interior, the retablo in the Andes became a sort of magical-religious box designed to increase fertility among the herds owned by the local peasant population. These boxes served as a means of exchange in a cash-free, rural environment. Now reimagined by Jiménez, the retablo offers compelling insights into the bitter immigration disputes dividing our nation.