The Magic of the Cities.

Zen promotes the rediscovery of the obvious, which is so often lost in its familiarity and simplicity. It sees the miraculous in the common and magic in our everyday surroundings. When we are not rushed, and our minds are unclouded by conceptualizations, a veil will sometimes drop, introducing the viewer to a world unseen since childhood. ~ John Greer

Showing posts with label La Noche de los Alebrijes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label La Noche de los Alebrijes. Show all posts

Monday, November 18, 2013

Mexican Colors I











These strange-colored monsters or Alebrijes were invented by Pedro Linares, who saw them in a dream when he was 30, and very sick.
While he lay in bed unconscious, he dreamed of a strange and different place. A forest appeared with trees, animals, clouds, blue sky, rocks and other things, and where all the animals had turned into strange, unknown creatures.
He saw a donkey with butterfly’s wings, a rooster with an eagle’s head and others that all shouted the word, Alebrijes. The animals began to shout louder and louder, Alebrijes, Alebrijes, Alebrijes!
The sound was terrible and he wanted to get away. A man told him that it still wasn’t time for him to be there and that he would have to start walking in order to find the exit. Later, he came across a narrow window, climbed through, and suddenly awoke.
When Pedro was able to get out of bed, he began to remember his dream and wanted his family and other people to see these animals. So, he took some paper and began to mold the figures he had seen; he then painted them like those he saw in his dream.

Now, Miguel Linares (his son), Paula Garcia (daughter in law), Ricardo Linares and Miguel Linares (grandson) have continued the tradition of making Alebrijes.
There are thousands of Alebrijes that have been molded from papier mache, painted with bright colors and covered with mysterious drawings.

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Thursday, October 10, 2013

Into The Night

Somnicus Feminamorphic by Fabian Hernandez
(Alebrijes Exhibition)

“Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.”
― Mahatma Gandhi


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Thursday, July 25, 2013

Tlacaelel

Alebrije (colored Mexican folk art sculptures) by Alejandro Zamudio R. (The Night of The Alebrijes exhibition)

Tlacaelel I (1397 – 1487) was the principal architect of the Aztec Triple Alliance and hence the Mexica (Aztec) empire. He was the son of Emperor Huitzilihuitl and Queen Cacamacihuatl, nephew of Emperor Itzcoatl, and brother of Emperors Chimalpopoca and Moctezuma I.
Tlacaelel recast or strengthened the concept of the Aztecs as a chosen people, elevated the tribal god/hero Huitzilopochtli to top of the pantheon of gods, and increased militarism. 
To strengthen the Aztec nobility, he helped create and enforce sumptuary laws, prohibiting commoners from wearing certain adornments such as lip plugs, gold armbands, and cotton cloaks. He also instigated a policy of burning the books of conquered peoples with the aim of erasing all memories of a pre-Aztec past.
When he dedicated the seventh reconstruction of the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan, Tlacaelel had brought his nation to the height of its power. The dedication took place in 1484 and was celebrated with the sacrifice of many war captives. After Tlacaelel's death in 1487, the Mexica Empire continued to expand north into the Gran Chichimeca and south toward the Maya lands.


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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Night of the Alebrijes IV


"Ignis Spiritus"
Alebrije (paper mache) by Israel Alcala. [Hyperion]
(Alebrijes are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical creatures. The first alebrijes, along with use of the term, originated with Pedro Linares. After dreaming the creatures while sick in the 1930s, he began to create what he saw in cardboard and paper mache. His work caught the attention of a gallery owner in Cuernavaca and later, the artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Linares was originally from México City, he was born June 29, 1906 in México City and never moved out of México City, he died January 25, 1992. Then in the 1980s, British Filmmaker, Judith Bronowski, arranged an itinerant demonstration workshop in U.S.A. participating Pedro Linares, Manuel Jiménez and a textil artisan Maria Sabina from Oaxaca. Although the Oaxaca valley area already had a history of carving animal and other types of figures from wood, it was at this time, when Bronowski's workshop took place when artisans from Oaxaca knew the alebrijes paper mache sculptures.)


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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Night of the Alebrijes III


‘Ayotochtli’
Alebrije (paper mache) by Alejandro A. López Aguilar.
La Noche de los Alebrijes  /  The Night of the Alebrijes 


‘Hybrid Bioestructure’
Alebrije (paper mache) by Luis Daniel Perez Moreno
La Noche de los Alebrijes  /  The Night of the Alebrijes


‘Itzanayáhuari’
(Jungle Creatures of the Space Age)
Alebrije (paper mache) by Diana
La Noche de los Alebrijes  /  The Night of the Alebrijes

‘Fishing’
Alebrije (paper mache) by Liliana Crotte Carrillo
La Noche de los Alebrijes  /  The Night of the Alebrijes
(Alebrijes are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical creatures. The first alebrijes, along with use of the term, originated with Pedro Linares. After dreaming the creatures while sick in the 1930s, he began to create what he saw in cardboard and paper mache. His work caught the attention of a gallery owner in Cuernavaca and later, the artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Linares was originally from México City, he was born June 29, 1906 in México City and never moved out of México City, he died January 25, 1992. Then in the 1980s, British Filmmaker, Judith Bronowski, arranged an itinerant demonstration workshop in U.S.A. participating Pedro Linares, Manuel Jiménez and a textil artisan Maria Sabina from Oaxaca. Although the Oaxaca valley area already had a history of carving animal and other types of figures from wood, it was at this time, when Bronowski's workshop took place when artisans from Oaxaca knew the alebrijes paper mache sculptures.)

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Thanks for visiting, please be sure that I read each and every one of your kind comments, I appreciate them all. Stay tuned.