Eight giant Mexican alebrije and nahual statues have arrived in downtown San Francisco, California, where they are part of an exhibit in Yerba Buena Gardens, one of the city’s most prestigious cultural centers.
The exhibit “Fantastic Beasts of Mexico: Alebrijes and Nahuales,” which opened to the public on Saturday, features six-meter-tall sculptures made by artisans from Oaxaca and the Mexico City metropolitan area. They are based on animals and creatures of Mexican legend, myth and tradition.
The binational project was curated by Carlomagno Pedro Martínez, director of the Oaxaca State Museum of Popular Art (MEAPO), with project management by Romáin Greco. The collection includes works by the late masters Angélico Jiménez and Constantino Blas from Oaxaca state, as well as the living artists Adrián Xuana Luis, Margarito Melchor, Efraín Fuentes, María Jiménez Ojeda and Leonardo Linares.
“Once again, Mexico is celebrated by artisans who show the cultural and artistic identity of our country,” reads a post on the MEAPO social media page. “We congratulate Romáin Greco and our director, Carlomagno Pedro Martínez, for making this project a reality for our artisan community.”
The exhibit is free to attend and will run in San Francisco from May 10 to June 22 before it travels to other U.S. cities, such as San Jose, Reno, New York and Fresno over the coming months.
Each sculpture, made from fiberglass and other materials, weighs almost 550 kilograms. They stand on bases that have built-in solar power so that the artwork is lit at all hours.
The alebrijes represent animal spirit guides, while the nahuales reflect “shapeshifting indigenous religious practitioners,” according to the nonprofit Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy.
There is a smiling dragon-like creature with huge wings and a tail, a cat with a long beard and mustache and an armadillo with wings and a protruding tongue, among others.
According to project manager Romáin Greco, the “exhibition pays tribute to the exceptional craftsmanship of Mexican artisans and celebrates Mexico’s rich cultural heritage.”
The traveling exhibit was made possible thanks to approximately US $75,000 in funding from several sponsors, including the Yerba Buena Partnership, Yerba Buena Ice Skating and Bowling Center, Children’s Creativity Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Mexican Consulate and Marina Security Services.
“Yerba Buena Gardens is the soul of downtown San Francisco and opportunities such as these come once in a decade or so,” said Seve Ghose, Executive Director of the Yerba Buena Conservancy. “This occasion is one which San Franciscans should avail and pay tribute to artisans who offer a cacophony of colors and shapes that create memories that are heart-warming and transport one to a place of curiosity and discovery.”
With reports from Imparcial Oaxaca and San Francisco Examiner
