Lotería games with the family can get pretty intense. Before you know it, beans are flying everywhere and there’s yelling back and forth. But what if things got too intense? Like HORROR MOVIE intense? Karas Productions show you what it would be like if lotería characters to life – and they were out to get you. When a group of friends summon some dark forces, they learn that El Borracho, La Mano and El Sol are not interested in fun and games.
Like this post? Click on the share button below to send to your friends!
For many Latinos, Lotería represents more than just a card game played at family parties and holiday gatherings. From it’s iconic card imagery – like la sirena y el borracho – to it’s impact on Latino representation, it has become a staple in the Latino household. It holds a special place in our hearts when it comes to bringing families and friends together. Yet for Ilse Valfré, an LA-based designer, the century-old game needed a face lift when it came to representing our experiences in 2018. That’s why Valfré has introduced her own version of Lotería with a female empowering take.
Ilse Valfré’s version of Lotería cards feature female characters and objects with female pronouns.
CREDIT: Valfré
Valfré grew up in Mexico and one of her earliest memories there is winning a game of Lotería in kindergarten where the prize was a lollipop. It was small moments like this that stuck throughout her artistic career and paved the way for this release. The inspiration for the redesign came from a special place very dear to Valfré: her fans.
“They started asking for it as soon as I introduced the first Valfré Loteria artwork which was “La Sirena,” Valfré said. “I wanted to make sure to keep the original characteristics that we all know and love, while adding a little bit of me.”
The re-designed Lotería game had been a long time coming for Valfré who wanted to incorporate women-empowerment into Latino culture.
CREDIT: CREDIT: Valfré
Valfré is most known for her illustrated designs, which started off on her Tumblr blog and quickly gained a huge following. According to Valfré, her work represents a very “creative and wild-at-heart” look that doesn’t limit itself to one style. She has designed everything from dresses to greeting cards that represent woman-empowerment.
By updating the classic game, with her own designed female characters in place of the original designs, Valfré has given the beloved game a refreshed and millennial look. Cards like La Sirenaare modeled after some of her previous work (cheeky, wide-eyed, hand-drawn doll characters) that many of her fans are accustomed to seeing.
This version of Lotería has a unique twist to it that feels new but still pays tribute to the original.
CREDIT: CREDIT: Valfré
Her version of Lotería features 56 cards while the original game comes with 54 cards. She added original cards like “el dry shampoo,” and “la space babe.” The reason for adding two extra cards came from her design team that couldn’t get rid of the two extra designs because they “loved them so much.”
According to Valfré, re-designing work like this includes being able to mix humor into something everyone already loves.
CREDIT: CREDIT: Valfré
“A little nostalgia mixed with humor,” Valfré explains about her version of Lotería. “I wanted to make sure to keep the original characteristics that we all know and love, while adding a little bit of me. You have to be able to laugh at yourself, through trial and tribulations.”
Valfré says the response to the Lotería re-design has been “overwhelmingly positive” and appreciates the support she has gotten from fellow Latinos. She says creating work like this comes from a special place in her heart and hopes Latinos can appreciate her special take on this traditional card game.
“I was born and raised in Mexico and in our culture, color and humor are everywhere. This definitely came into play while building the brand and I enjoy incorporating that humor into my work,” Valfré said. “Using color throughout my artwork is just another way to share the vibrancy of my Latino culture, which I think is something that just comes naturally.”
Felix d’Eon is a Mexico City-based artist who uses his Mexican heritage to create queer Latinx art. Recently, d’Eon accused Target and Mad Engine of copying one of his designs and selling them. According to d’Eon, his “La Bandera” design was copied to a t-shirt that was sold at Target stores and online. He drew “La Bandera” two years ago for a pride line of art work and was angry to see it recreated for profit.
Artist Felix d’Eon is upset that Target has profited off of art copied from his art.
“I was upset when I first saw the image; it seemed clearly inspired by my painting, and it struck me as deeply unfair that I, as an independent, struggling artist, without their reserves of cash, should have my work stolen by a major corporation for their profit,” d’Eon says. “I was upset that I was not consulted before hand.”
Target responded on Twitter to d’Eon’s accusations and disclosed that the shirts came from a vendor.
Target respects the design rights of others & expects our vendors to do the same. We’ve removed the shirt from our online assortment & are in contact w/the vendor. We spent a lot of time selecting Pride merchandise that celebrates the LGBTQ+ & ally community. Please check DMs.
In a now-deleted tweet, d’Eon identified the vendor who made the t-shirt as Mad Engine. The San Diego-based wholesaler has not responded to mitú‘s requests for comment.
“When you see the two paintings side by side, though, its pretty obvious that they copied me,” d’Eon says. “I find it upsetting that my version is a lot more beautiful, and a cheap, ugly imitation with the same sentiment is the version that should become the one that people would end up wearing.”
D’Eon is disheartened to see big companies consistently profiting off of independent artists.
Your apology rings hollow so long as the tshirt is available in your brick and mortar stores; you are still profiting off my work, and appropriating from the queer, Latinx community.
“These large companies, like H&M, Target, and Forever 21 stealing the work of designers and artists creates an atmosphere in which it is extremely difficult to work, as a creative person,” d’Eon argues. “Its disheartening to be a struggling artist, and find that a major corporation, with immensely deep pockets, and all the money in the world to spend on lawyers, would sell your work, while you yourself struggle.”
The situation speaks to a larger societal problem where artists are undervalued and minorities are misrepresented, says d’Eon.
This happened with @UrbanOutfitters and @spires1776 too. Blame the vendor, but ultimately @Target should have researched this more. Using a Google Image Search of a screenshot from a vendor could have found @FelixdEon and original inspiration in less than 1 second.
“It speaks ill of both the company and society that copyrights are protected for corporations, but individuals without those resources have no way to protect themselves,” d’Eon says. “I think that customers should boycott companies that engage in these practices, and support independent artists and designers.”
Mad Engine’s CEO Danish Gajiani did speak to d’Eon according to a post on his Instagram page.
The original Lotería game includes the articles “El” or “La” in front of the subject name. D’Eon says that the lack of the articles is calling more attention to the lack of diversity in these offices appropriating Latinx culture.
“Furthermore, the decision to use white models to advertise a Mexican themed gay pride t-shirt is inexplicable to me,” d’Eon explains. “I suspect no actual Latinos were involved at any point in this, which is to say, that this is also an issue of cultural appropriation.”
D’Eon does state in his post that the Mad Engine CEO has expressed a desire to create a Latinx line of clothing with input from D’Eon to do it right.
