In this groundbreaking large-scale exhibition at LACMA are rare Postclassical (AD 900-1521) and early colonial period artworks of the southern Mexico ancient kingdoms of Nahua, Mixtec, and Zapotec. The communities are referred to as the children of their founding patron deity Quetzalcoatl, the human incarnation of the Plumed Serpent, and the ancient spirit force of wind and rain.
Tracing the evolution of an extensive trade network and foregrounding era of Mesoamerican cultural innovation are over two hundred objects including turquoise mosaics, gold, painted codices, and textiles from ancient Mexico, Central America, the American Southwest, and Europe.
LACMA's co-curators, the late Dr. Virginia Fields and Dr. Victoria Lyall, and the independent consulting curator and scholar Dr. John Pohl chronologically arranged the exhibit into five thematic sections.
The World of Tula and Chichen Itza, highlights the nascent exotic materials trade market such as gold, turquoise and ceramics in Mesoamerican's political landscape from AD 900-1200.
The New Tollan: The Emergence of Cholula and the Birth of the International Style displays international art from AD 1200 present in Cholula, the center of religious authority and commerce in the Americas. Art in the fourteenth century is characterized by the use of bold symbols, simple icons and vivid palette that transcend linguistic and ethnic differences. 
Feasting, Divination and Heroic History explores the Children of the Plumed Serpent's ritual art including rare gifts exchange, finely painted goblets from which revelers drank pulque made from fermented agave as well as painted codices of cultural heroes that inspired poetry.
Avenues of Trade and the Spread of the International Style illustrates the luxurious items sold in international trade corridors where fierce competition for luxury goods was lead by royal houses gift exchanges and wedding dowries. Exotic materials such as shell and turquoise were traded for elite commodities such as cacao and rare feathers.
The Aztec Conquest and the Spanish Incursion in the 1500s lead to reconstitution of southern Mexico's confederacies and trade networks. The Children of the Plumed Serpent become an integral part of the new economy and their descendants live in Southern Mexico up to today.
The exhibit runs from April 1, 2012 through July 1, 2012, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, located at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036. For more information call (323) 857-6000 or visit www.lacma.org
Following LACMA, the exhibit will then travel to the Dallas Museum of Art from July 29, 2012 through November 25, 2012.
Nice pictures, great job.
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