Where have all the cool murals gone? This was the constant question on my mind, as I was walking along the streets of Mexico City, after a good eight months away, trying to find fresh and new visual additions to the city's many dull and gray surfaces. Actually, Mexico is a place where people in general prefer an explosion of colors, even if they may look weird, or convey advertisement. In my case, I'm all about weird, though I generally lie to avoid commercial murals, at least in my blog. (By the way, if you're interested in my ever growing collection of street art in Mexico, please visit my Mexican Murals series.)
Mexican Pride to its Fullest
And suddenly I found a whole bunch of amazing wall paintings, lined up right next to each other, and in the most unlikely place of all: along the Av. Melchor Ocampo in what I believe is the Zona Rosa neighborhood of Mexico City. They include horses and eagles, revolutionaries and founding fathers, mariachis, luchadores, and Gudalupine Virgins, all behind a line of cars, moving faster or slower in the never ceasing heavy traffic that's normal on this inner-urban highway.
Who would have chosen this very street for a mural? After all, there is no good place to see it from. Sure, there is pedestrian bridge, but even there the images are usually covered by cars. I guess for those motorists it may cause a moment of Ahhhhh...-dmiration, as they get a glimpse of it driving by. But since there is no place to stop, I guess the only time you'd be offered a chance to really look at it, is when you are stuck in traffic right next to one of its pieces.
Signature of the Man
Clearly, there is only one entity that fits the profile. No, I'm not talking about the artists, such as PERSAK, Eva Bracamontes, Koka.Mexico, Duek_Glez, alter_os, and Fresa Bogotá, among others, whose names are neatly listed along their respective images. What I mean is, the only one who could commission such a mural, right on that highway wall, is most likely the government.
Is this wall painting any better than one advertising cars or pop stars? I'm not sure. And while the images do look pretty impressive, their unfortunate location, and patriotic nature makes it all a bit one-sided. So please enjoy it as much as you can, because I believe in the future I may just skip posting about this type of murals.
On the other hand, if you're looking for a much more diverse collection of street art, please visit CCC's Street Art Contest. It comes out every week, and there you can see lots of incredible murals from all around the world. And hey, if you happen to have some pictures of a cool mural, you can participate in their weekly contest (where I also regularly like to submit the murals I have found), and even have a chance to win something!
