The Museo Jose Luis Cuevas.

• Author: Taibo, Paco Ignacio, I

Editor's Note: Paco Ignacio Taibo I is a friend of Jose Luis Cuevas and has collaborated with the artist on two books, Taibo, Cuevas; Cuevas Taibo: Mano a Mano [Taibo, Cuevas; Cuevas, Taibo: Hand in Hand]and Retrato de Cuevas [Portrait of Cuevas], and a collection of ten engravings, Personajes de Quinta Avenida [Characters of Fifth Avenue], for which he wrote the accompanying text. Cuevas and Taibo travel together giving lectures entitled "A Dos Botes" [Singing Together], in which the artist and writer give their views on art, culture, and life.

The Museo Jose Luis Cuevas opened in 1993. Its collection features the private collection of the artist, including many of his own works and those of artists and friends he has collected over the years.

It was originally a convent, with high walls and a beautiful central patio. But that did not deter Jose Luis Cuevas from using one of the rooms to display the elegant brass bed which--according to the artist--had witnessed many a major amorous skirmish.

The opening of the Museo Jose Luis Cuevas in Mexico City's historic district, where palaces and narrow streets abound, has triggered unending arguments.

In the center of the patio, Cuevas set up an enormous piece of sculpture that he himself designed. The figure thus displayed would be difficult to catalog: An obviously female giant when viewed from the front becomes an equally obvious male of the species when seen from the rear. An imaginative, irreverent, and self-worshiping prankster, Cuevas swears that some magic and mysterious hand contrived to carve an image of his own face in the right knee of the giantess. The likeness is easily perceived by anyone approaching the immense statue.

Some visitors are particularly excited by the erotica room, where are displayed the engravings that reproduce Cuevas sketches of actual scenes in bordellos and cabarets.

Death and carnal pleasure, depicted with a lively imagination and a talent that is apparent in every stroke of the pen, go hand in hand in the museum. But Cuevas is not, to borrow the words of a popular Mexican song, a "monedita de oro" [precious little gold coin] everyone adores. Quite the contrary. There are many who detest his aggressive style and lack of inhibition, which never fail to shock the observer. Well acquainted with the mysteries of cinematic art, he manipulates data and even concocts events, drawing on his encyclopedic memory for plausible details.

The museum has become a must-see for...