Mexican Murals - The Children of the Feathered Serpent

Mural Season Is Upon Us!

I have no idea if there is actually such a thing, and if so when it would be, but compared to half a year ago when I complained that there were no new wall paintings in my area, now they're just popping up everywhere! Time to honor them, by continuing my Mexican Mural series. Also, since many of them get painted over, this way I'll make sure they're preserved in the blockchain for all eternity.

A Corner of Infantilism

There a three cool murals on the corner of Avenida Michoacán and Diagonal Patriotismo in the Colonia Condesa that I would like to highlight today. All three of them seem to have been painted by different artists, but there is one thing they all have in common: child-related themes. The only unfortunate thing is, that the sidewalk is so narrow, while the adjacent street so wide. So the viewer has to stand either too close or too far from the images, to really appreciate them.

Jungle Boogie Mexican Style

The picture on the right side is painted with bright colors of mostly pink and purple on black background, showing images of ferns, flowers, and leaves of exotic vegetation. This suggests the depths of a dark forest. There is even a jaguar, pink and purple, like everything else in this weird light, and with heart shaped spots and nose. On the left side of the painting a pre-columbian looking character is playing a type of flute. There is certainly music in the air, as one would expect in the deepest crevices of a jungle. The only tag the artist left behind is @ PlantaMusica, but a quick search on it didn't lead me anywhere.

Did You Eat All The Hash-Brownies, Timmy?

The mural right around the corner is a bit more disturbing. It looks very childlike too, but in a strange and uncomfortable way. The little chess-player standing behind the piece of the dark knight has these exaggeratedly large eyes and overly cute look. But behind him, above the windows (plumbed as if they were sinks) we have a teddy bear with flaming eyes, and a green-faced alien carrying a long-eared rabbit-lady in his arms.

On the left side, there is another rabbit girl sitting in an old clunker of a car. We're not sure if it's actually going anywhere on its three wheels, or if the weeds that are growing all around are keeping a firm grip on it. On top of the car some weird little critter is melting away, while a fish floating in the air is blowing some plants out of its mouth.

This image looks eerily drug-related. If the artist didn't paint this in a drug-induced state, it certainly look like the spectator might enjoy observing this pic while tripping on some good hallucinogens. The tag @ ebethrp revealed the artist to be Ebeth Rolden.

Appropriate for Children

Directly adjacent to the left is yet one more mural I wanted to include in this post. Even though the style is completely different from the previous two, it also addresses childhood, but in a way that looks more like something we'd consider appropriate for a kindergarten. I don't know about kids though. I remember when I was a child, I used to love looking at trippy pictures, which the adults in my life did not consider appropriate for me.

Comparatively, this image of Quetzalcoatl, probably the most popular popular of old Mexican deities, looks fairly harmless and innocent. It is a painting of beautiful idealism, showing realistic-looking children riding a benevolent-looking mythological snake (no drug reference this time). The body of the Feathered Serpent changes colors to symbolize earth, forest, water, even fire, if that's what the red part is supposed to be.

There is also a bowl with a face and a rainbow pouring into it. The tail of the snake turns into a checkered pattern, and the children are sitting on it without a worry of falling of, as the serpent carries them through the far reaches of space.