Atrio Cultural Space, Orizaba 127, Col Roma, Mexico DF
9th April – 7th May
‘Man's gift of seeing resemblances is nothing other than a rudiment of the powerful compulsion in former times to become and behave like something else’ . Walter Benjamin, ‘On Mimetic Faculty’ 1933
Irishman William Lamport was hard to pin down in his day and remains an elusive figure even today. An intellectual, pirate, propagandist, astrologer, a dabbler in magic, he wrote the first declaration of Mexican independence, and was imprisoned and finally executed by the Mexican Inquisition in 1659. But there is also the legend inspired by events. That he could cast magic spells to make himself invisible to his enemies and was able to talk to spirits. That using necromancy he escaped prison in a boat conjured out of air and manned by demons, and moved around the city unseen, carrying messages of resistance. Often communicating in secret code, Lamport choose the legendary monster with a deadly glance – the cockatrice - as a pseudonym. His story is both history and folklore, a potent mixture of fact and myth. So where does the truth stop and make-believe begin?