Touching Mexico

This book paints the story of a Western artist’s discovery of authentic Mexico, encapsulating a journey away from narrow observations of the country’s stereotypes- black and white films, cactus’, cartels, and the jumping bean- towards a greater understanding of its significance in the social and geopolitical landscape. From the emergence of Mexican muralism in the immediate wake of the country’s early 20th-century revolution to traditional customs that have survived and flourished amidst the country’s progress. Rooney draws his inspiration from a myriad of spaces and places, permanently recording their significance in a book that can only be described as having a touch of eternal Mexico.

Mick Rooney RA was brought up in Sutton, Surrey and London. He has lived in Italy and Spain and stayed in Holland, Morocco, Mexico, The Seychelles, Antigua and Romania. Rooney is the recipient of several prestigious awards and prizes and has work in many public and private collections including: The Royal Collection (Windsor), The Royal Academy of Art (London), De Beers Consolidated, The Gulbenkian Foundation, Towner Art Gallery (Eastbourne) and Deutsche Bank (London). He has lectured in many art colleges, and in the 1990s he became Head of Painting at the Royal Academy Schools. For the last 14 years he has lived and worked in North Oxfordshire. Paul Theroux is the author of many highly acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction, including The Mosquito Coast (1981) and Mr Bones: Twenty Stories (2014). His awards include the American Academy Arts & Letters Award for Literature, the Whitbread Prize and a Royal Medal from the Royal Geographical society.