Canutero ( de la Serie Códigos Mexicanos) Luis Jose Ramirez 2022

"El Canutero" pays tribute to a nearly vanished figure from the urban landscape of Oaxaca: the canuta vendor. With a deeply humanistic gaze, Luis José Ramírez Cortés portrays the central character with serene dignity, dressed in simple clothing and carrying the traditional container filled with canutas—typical sweets made from sugar and coconut.

The background, bathed in orange tones, is populated by silhouettes and figures that evoke everyday life, collective memory, and the dynamic rhythm of Oaxaca’s streets. This contrast between the main figure and the surrounding environment creates an atmosphere of nostalgia and cultural resilience, where the old and the new coexist in tension.

The painting not only documents a fading commercial practice but also elevates it to a symbol of identity and heritage. Through his mastery of color and composition, Ramírez Cortés transforms the canutero into an emblem of local persistence in the face of global homogenization.

"El Canutero" is, in essence, a visual act of preservation—a declaration of love for traditions still alive in the corners of the city, and an invitation to see with new eyes what is on the verge of being lost.