Usually a mural hits me by surprise. Unexpectedly I walk around a corner, and suddenly there it is: a visually stunning image, typically larger than life, adding a whole new feel to the neighborhood I know, or maybe I just thought I knew. Those are the moments when I get excited about my next post for the weekly CCC's Street Art Contest, to which this post is also my entry, even though the opposite was the case in finding it.
The Avenida Melchor Ocampo, which I've posted about here running along Mexico City's Polanco neighborhood (among others) is a busy throughway, usually so overwhelmed by traffic, that during rush hours there is not even a point going near it. Otherwise, however, you tend to breeze through it, barely noticing the numerous murals around it. That's when I decided to return on foot, and take a good look.
All From a Certain Viewpoint...
When I got to the spot where the city's grand promenade Paseo de la Reforma reaches Chapultepec Park, and continues further through Polanco, the logic of the murals started to dawn on me. After all, I have been wondering why there were so many wall paintings assembled in this one spot. The obvious answer was a tiny one-square park, known as Plaza de lectura José Saramago, I don't even remember ever visiting. But this was the place from where you got a nice view over all of the murals on the other side of the traffic artery.
So I looked around, trying to find the most ideal viewpoint, from where I could admire and photograph these murals. Unfortunately, their numbers, modest sizes relative to the distance and the traffic in between, did enough to distract my attention from each one. In the end the experience remained just as overwhelming to me, as driving past it. It was impossible to focus on either one.
Never mind, I took enough pics to convey the feeling of the place, and I may even pick one to submit for the contest. But that's it. No interpretation of the art, no curious side-stories, not even a hunt for the online presence of the muralists, as there are obviously too many of them in this case.
However, I still recommend you guys to check out the CCC's Street Art Contest to see many interesting works of street art from around the world, and if you want to see more murals I have found in Mexico, my Mexican Murals series is getting longer each time.