Mexican Murals - All Your Favorite Mexican Motives

I discovered a new mural, and I just had to take some pictures. And now I just have to turn them into a post. I can't help it! Even though when looking at the motives, you might think you've seen it already, especially if you've been following my series closely.

Tlaloc, Quetzalcoatl, and the Axolotl

"Seriously, how many pictures can you have (draw, painted, photographed) of the same old images? Pre-hispanic gods and weird water critters... don't you ever git tired of them?"

Or so one might ask, and not without a good reason either. Whether it's the hypothetical muralist answering, or me documenting their work, I think we'd agree on a clear NO. You can't have enough feathered serpents or rain gods on public walls, let alone smiling amphibians!

I ran into this piece under an overpass of Circuito Interior also known as José Vasconselos, right where Juan Escutia passes under, turning into Avenida Insurgentes, going from the Condesa neighborhood to San Miguel Chapultepec. And yes, I just couldn't pass on showing all you guys what amazing murals are all around this place.

Tlaloc, the Personification of Water

I always love the interpretation of this water god. May it be rain, or a river, mother ocean herself, or even the snow on top of the Popocatepetl, Tlaloc is all around (and within) us. His traditional features include the fangs, which are nice and long, protruding from his mouth in this picture, and his goggle eyes. The latter is quite interesting in this painting: sectioned into four shades of blue, looking very tessellated and mosaic like.

What I particularly like in this mural, are the two eels or snakes on the two sides of his head. I don't know if they had been traditionally associated with Tlaloc, or if it's just an artistic interpretation, but I think they fit him well. The pink little fish on the side is just a cute reminder that we're dealing with a water deity.

Quetzalcoatl Inspiring Humans

To the right of Tlaloc we can see the other very famous Mexican god, Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent. In the pre-hispanic pantheon he was one of the most important figures, being in charge of learning and knowledge, craftsmanship, trade, science, literature, the fine arts and music, as well as the dawn, planet Venus, the wind, and understandably quetzal birds and snakes. In this regard he is interestingly similar to the Greek godess Pallas Athena.

In this picture he is pictured behind a human, possibly providing some type of inspiration. The human is wearing a jaguar helmet, indicating that he's a warrior of the jaguar society. They are lined by the nopal cactus and the maize, two important food plants not only of pre-columbian Mexico, but today just as much.

Everyone's Favorite Water Creature: The Axolotl

What would a Mexican mural be without the cutest endemic amphibian? This creature, though seriously endangered, is on everyone's mind, when looking at the wonderful art on the walls in the city. Just imagine, back when all this around us was a big lake, and let's go back a bit further before humans started settling around it: the shores of the shallow waters were all swampy. Back then axolotls ruled the place... Well, they existed, just like they do now, but in much greater numbers. Today there are still some around, but most people (myself included) know them only form wall paintings rather than having seen them in real life. Kinda sad, if you think about it, but in a way nice to have them featured in murals at least.