Untitled (Cat-Man) was one of the Mexican pulp covers on exhibit recently.

At the same time that the US was perfecting the art of the pulp book cover, the same thing was happening in Mexico. The Ricco/Maresca gallery in New York’s Chelsea recently hosted Pulp Drunk, an exhibition of Mexican pulp covers. They hoped the exhibition would serve as a “celebration of the art that graced the covers of the paperbacks released south of the US border,” as well as “a visual observation of the fundamentals of Mexican attitudes towards art and consumerism.” While there were some similarities in the lurid nature of these covers to their North American counterparts, there are also significant differences.

Post-war America saw the rise of the erotic pulp paperback novel covers. The objective of these covers was to lure in potential buyers with the promise of sex, suspense and drama. Simultaneously, a similar type of book and marketing strategy was being developed in Mexico. This brand of novel included racy cover art designed to attract and entice consumers; yet the differences in the subject matter being peddled to consumers was vast.

With less of a focus on sex, the Mexican covers tend to be more surreal. Aliens, robots, gorillas, and killer clowns all make appearances.

Although the exhbition is over, you can see more images on Ricco/Maresca’s website.