Posted in Creativity, Culture, Flora, Neighborhoods, Travel & Tourism, tagged bar of soap, Barrio de Jalatlaco, Billar Jalatlaco, bougainvillea, bugambilia, building colors, colors of Mexico, cubrebocas, Efedefroy, El Tendajón, flowers, Lapiztola, Mexico, Oaxaca, Orange trumpet vine, photos, pool hall, stencil art, street art, urban art, wall art, Zote soap on September 29, 2020| 8 Comments »
Another Sunday, another walk through Barrio de Jalatlaco…
Billar Jalatlaco pool hall.
Bougainvillea in Barrio de Jalatlaco.
Inside the door of El Tendajón, the work appears to be by Lapiztola.
Orange trumpet vine in Barrio de Jalatlaco.
Wear a mask and wash your hands with ZOTE soap — by Efedefroy.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Immigration, Politics, Travel & Tourism, tagged immigration, Lapiztola, Mal de Amor palenque, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, Santiago Matatlán, wall art on June 1, 2019| 5 Comments »
I’m visiting family and friends in el norte and trying not to get caught up in the constant barrage of ignorant, disgraceful, and infuriating news coming out of Washington D.C. However, sometimes it can’t be ignored.
This is all I have to say…
(If you don’t know and can’t figure out what “pendejo” translates to in English, click HERE.)
Another mural by Lapiztola on the side of the Palenque Mal de Amor outside Santiago Matatlán.
Posted in Agriculture, Animals, Beverages, Creativity, Culture, Flora, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, bats, flowers, hummingbirds, Lapiztola, mague, Mal de Amor palenque, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, quiote, Santiago Matatlán, wall art on February 24, 2019| 5 Comments »
Let us all raise a glass to the hummingbirds and bats of Oaxaca.
Without the work they do pollinating the flowers on the quiotes (stalks) that shoot up from the agave,
there would be no maguey piñas to harvest and cook…
and no mezcal to drink!
*Mural by Lapiztola on the side of the Palenque Mal de Amor (makers of Ilegal mezcal) 2+ miles north of Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca. Check out their other mural at the palenque HERE.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged exhibitions, Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca (IAGO), Lapiztola, Mexico, murals, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, urban art on September 3, 2016| 4 Comments »
For ten years, since the 2006 teacher uprising in Oaxaca, with scissors, paper, paint, and talent, the Lapiztola collective has been cutting through propaganda and meaningless phrases to lead, provoke, and inspire with their art. Looking across the Alcalá from Santo Domingo, a new stenciled mural in front the Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca (IAGO) caught my eye…
There she was, beckoning, much like the beautiful and haunting mural, We sow dreams and harvest hope on the Tinoco y Palacios wall of Museo Belber Jimenez (before it, along with others, was unceremoniously ordered removed by the city government). Another mural by Colectivo Lapiztola.
The symbolism of the corn, the bandana, and a young indigenous girl is rich in the layers of rebellion and resistance of modern-day Oaxaca. And so I went up the stairs of IAGO and into the courtyard where Benito Juárez presided over the entrance to the exhibit, Corte Aquí (Cut Here), by the Lapiztola collective.
Lapiztola consists of three artists: Rosario Martínez, Yankel Balderas, and Roberto Vega. This small exhibit (3 stencils and 7 graphic works), with its larger-than-life images, covers three rooms and stimulates our hearts and our minds.
Over the past ten years, as the exhibition demonstrates, Lapiztola has taken on the issues of social protest, disappearances, the protection of natural resources, and drug-trafficking — the latter, as evidenced below.
Also included, is one of the first Lapiztola images that fascinated me. It covered the front of the Espacio Zapata in 2012 and speaks volumes about modern society.
If you go to the exhibition, don’t miss the third room; in it hangs the three massive stencils (below) used to produce the brilliant mural I named the Art of Agave, celebrating the human face of agave cultivation. It once educated and enlivened the wall of Piedra Lumbre on Tinoco y Palacios, before it, too, was painted over.
I’m not sure how long the exhibition will last. However, if you are in Oaxaca, I encourage you to pay it a visit and to all, when you are in Oaxaca, make sure to pay attention to the walls — they have something tell you.
Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Museums, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, Lapiztola, murals, Museo Belber Jimenez, museums, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, urban art, wall art on October 24, 2015| 14 Comments »
She’s gone…
As feared, by order of the government, the beautiful and moving mural by Lapiztola, on the side of Museo Belber Jimenez, has been erased.
Only her ghost remains.
I miss her, too. Color and culture, indeed, seem to be unwelcome.
Posted in Agriculture, Culture, Flora, Travel & Tourism, tagged agave, Lapiztola, mescal, Mexico, mezcal, murals, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, street art, urban art, wall art on October 18, 2015| 3 Comments »
Before a “suspendida” order is slapped on this stunning piece by the Lapiztola collective celebrating the human face of agave cultivation, here is another moving work of art for the people, seen on Tinoco y Palacio on the wall of Piedra Lumbre, near the Sanchez Pascuas mercado. It tells a story…
The wisdom of cultivation handed down from generation to generation.
From the agave comes mezcal.
There are 199 “recognized” species of agave. How many can be used to make mezcal? The Mezcal PhD explores the answer. And, for an illustrated guide to many of the more popular varietals, click The Many Varieties of Mezcal.
Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, Central Connecticut State University, Chiquitraca Colectivo, Color y Cultura Empresa Comunitaria, Lapiztola, Mexico, murals, Museo Belber Jimenez, Oaxaca, obra suspendida, photographs, photos, stores, street art, urban art, wall art, work suspended on October 15, 2015| 12 Comments »
As many of you already know, one of my favorite things about living and being in Oaxaca is, you just never know what you will stumble across. Rounding a corner, one might come upon a calenda (parade) with band, marmotas, monos, and dancers; a street artist or payaso (clown) entertaining a gathering of nin@s to abuel@s; street art; or a newly opened store.
So (no surprise), a few months ago, walking up Tinoco y Palacios enroute to the Sanchez Pascuas mercado (in need of a few staples like quesillo, aguacates, and tamales), a stunning new mural caught my eye.
Positioned to entice potential customers into Color y Cultura, a newly opened artisan community shop, the mural is the work of Chiquitraca Colectivo from Juchitán. It worked, I was hooked, and later returned to browse and eventually buy a pair of earrings carved from a gourd. However, during a return trip to the mercado, I was rather shocked to see unsightly papers defacing the mural.
Usually, street murals are “hands off” zones for vandalism. However, closer inspection revealed official notices declaring, “Suspendida” (suspended) and going on to say that the mural violates regulations on the conservation of the historic district.
And, if this weren’t egregious enough, remember the stunning We sow dreams and harvest hope mural on the side of Museo Belber Jimenez?
It too now has appalling “Suspendida” notices plastered on it. WTF is going on??? A little research revealed that a law was recently passed to “criminalize” wall art. Yes, yes, yes… I understand that the “powers that be” and even ordinary residents are sick of graffiti on historic buildings. BUT to lump the anarchist “A” spray-painted on the side of the Cathedral with magnificent murals painted on ugly decaying walls and beautiful works of art privately commissioned by businesses and museums to decorate their buildings, is the height of absurdity, never mind assigning a “criminal” aspect to it. Believe me, Oaxaca has a laundry list of more important issues that it needs to address.
If in their “infinite wisdom” they are attempting to “clean up” the city to better appeal to tourist dollars, euros, yen, etc., then I think they are barking up the wrong tree — we extranjeros (foreigners) love the street art! To that end, below is a copy of a letter I sent to the president of Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) last year, when officially authorized murals painted by art students as part of their course work were ordered removed by the university administration.
Dear President Miller:
I am writing to you from the city of Oaxaca de Juárez in southern Mexico, nestled in the valley where corn was first cultivated. I have the privilege of living in culture that has a deep respect for, and appreciation of, communication through all forms of art.
Oaxaca is filled with museums and public art. In addition, her walls are covered with murals, both officially sanctioned and unauthorized. An example of the latter: My current neighbor, previously lived next to a concrete bench built into a wall along her street. It’s primary function seemed to serve as a gathering place for garbage and graffiti. Being an artist, she painted a living room scene around the bench, replete with, a lamp, bouquets of flowers, pillows on the sofa/bench, and a framed painting with the image of a smiling creature holding a sign that quotes Oaxaca’s favorite son and former Mexican president, Benito Juárez: “El respecto al derecho ajeno es la paz.” (Respect for the rights of others is peace.) It is a quote that every Mexican school child learns and in the eighteen years since the bench and mural were first painted, it has become a beloved icon of the street and very little graffiti and garbage have reappeared.
Oaxaca would lose much of her character and lessons would be lost, if we were to wake one morning and find all her murals disappeared. The story is the same at CCSU and it would be shameful if the beautiful and thought-provoking student murals at CCSU were to be needlessly destroyed.
Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Museums, Travel & Tourism, tagged Lapiztola, murals, Museo Belber Jimenez, museums, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, urban art, wall art on June 15, 2015| 3 Comments »
I walk past the Museo Belber Jimenez at least every other day and its brilliant blue walls always make me smile. If you’re in the neighborhood, you can’t miss it! In mid April, not long after undergoing a major renovation, a city bus lost control and crashed into the museum. Fortunately no one was seriously injured, but the window, grating, and wall on the Tinoco y Palacio side of the museum were damaged.
By the time I left in mid May for the trip north, all had been repaired. And then a few days before returning to Oaxaca, blog reader BJ wrote to tell me there was a “beautiful new mural” on the west wall of the museum. She was right — it’s stunning and deeply moving.
Muchisimas gracias to Museo Belber Jimenez for inviting Lapiztola to enhance the exterior of the museum and our lives with the beautiful mural and its message from Beti Cariño.
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged art, artists, Gorilla Gallery, Gorilla Glass, Juan Martinez, kaleidoscope, Lapiztola, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, stencils, video on October 10, 2014| 11 Comments »
Many of you may remember Juan Martinez, mi amigo and carpenter extraordinaire of Adios mosquitos and A terrace transformed fame. Well, he is a man of many talents — and one of them is building kaleidoscopes. Given that his “day job” is working in the office of Gorilla Glass, he has come into contact with many of the hip, young, and talented artists currently creating in Oaxaca. Thus, a natural collaboration ensued. Juan + Gorilla Glass + Lapiztola stencil = an exhibition of the Lapiztola Collective’s artistry at Gorilla Gallery.
Looking into the eye of the kaleidoscope.
What do you see?
There is the second kaleidoscope — this one a hand-crank. Come by Gorilla Gallery on one of the next couple of Thursdays from 2 PM to 8 PM, to give it a try.
And, be forewarned, they are working on a special Día de los Muertos kaleidoscopic project. Prepare to be amazed!
Posted in Buildings, Creativity, Culture, Politics, tagged Lapiztola, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, street art, urban art, wall art on August 27, 2012| 1 Comment »
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, tagged Arte Jaguar, Asaro, Bouler, Espantapájaros, graffiti, Lapiztola, Mexico, Oaxaca, Pan-American Highway, Primer Festival de Artes Visuales Oaxaca 2011, public art, Puntos de Encuentro, Uriel Marín, visual arts, Viyegax on December 1, 2011| 2 Comments »
… equals public art on Calzada Niños Héroes de Chapultepec, a section of the legendary Pan-American Highway in Oaxaca’s capital city.
On October 27, 2011, representatives from the groups Espantapájaros, Asaro, Bouler, Viyegax, Arte Jaguar, Lapiztola, and Uriel Marín set to work transforming a long drab wall into a work of art representing the social, cultural, and political life of Oaxaca and Mexico. The wall of graffiti was part of the Puntos de Encuentro, Primer Festival de Artes Visuales Oaxaca 2011, previously mentioned in my mid-October blog post, Meeting Points….
As of a few days ago, the artwork remains to catch the eye of drivers (yikes!), passengers, and pedestrians.
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 