The Murals of Jalatlaco

 

The State of Oaxaca is in the south of Mexico on the Pacific Ocean looking south. The City of Oaxaca is in the center of the state in the central valley. The valley is about 35 miles long, running north and south, and ten or twelve miles wide. The City of Oaxaca is at the northern end of the valley.

When Cortes arrived in 1520 he sent a delegation down to Oaxaca to tell the local people, the Zapotec's and the Mixtecs, that they were now Spanish subjects. There had been a civilization here dating back several thousand years. Because it has not yet been fully uncovered and studied it does not have the renown of the Aztec and Mayan civilization.

The center of the city of Oaxaca has one of the worlds largest groupings of Spanish baroque architecture and both the central city and the various outlying pre-Colombian sites are designated UNESCO World Heritage sites.

In 1950 the population was about 47,000 but today it is a city of 700,000. The historic central area is now bordered by the Pan American Highway on the north, the wide four lane street Vasconcellos on the east, the circular highway on the south and on the west it tapers off into the Etla Valley.

Jatalaco is one of the many barrios or colonies in the conglomerated city. It is in the northeast corner of the central area. It is a triangular shape separated from the center area by a winding 3 lane speedway, The Republica, which was once the Jalatlaco River.

While there are many hotels here Jalatlaco is not one of the major tourist attractions and is primarily a neighborhood of local people. It does draw the tourists looking for good restaurants and coffee houses and who are seeking to expand their territory. What draws them as well are the number of murals here on the fronts and sides of the buildings. That number is growing: since August there have been ten new murals added to the inventory.

I am going to show you some of these murals over three or four postings. But I am not going to show you the Day of the Dead murals, of which there are many, until October. So stay tuned!

This mural is two short blocks below the Pan American Highway on Aldama Street more or less the main thoroughfare through the barrio. Looking up the artist I was surprised to find that the artist is a woman, but not so surprised that she is also an architect, designer and painter. Most of the murals I have researched were painted by men and I suppose,, because of The Three who revived mural art, that I think of the painters of murals as men. With large murals it is hard strenuous work, ergo men’s work. Perhaps I am wrong.

In this mural I very much like the color palette, the mix of local flora and fauna, and all of that blended with geometric abstraction. I especially like the Pink Floyd reference in the prisms, if that is what was intended.

Luciana Barroso (@bahiabarroso) • Instagram photos and videos The artist.