Tlacolulokos The Murals of Jalatlaco Part I

Part I

The calle Noche Triste, to the south of my apartment, is a narrow, heavily cobble stoned...river stoned...street...really a callejon...an alley. Almost every morning I stumble down its two block length to the busy La Republica and cross over...very carefully...to a new bakery on the corner of San Martin and Los Libres. The carrot cake is excellent! Stumbling and panting back up the hill I am usually home by nine o’clock. I last did this run on Wednesday. On Thursday I went north on other errands. On Friday as I started south to the market La Merced I was astounded to find a very large mural in progress on the side wall of the building next door. I was told that two days work had been done on it. So they must have arrived and set up just after I passed by on Wednesday.

I asked if I could take photographs and the guys readily and graciously agreed. And when I asked who the artist was they responded in unison by displaying proudly the tee shirts they were wearing: Tlacolulokos.

Tlacolulokos is a collective of artist from, of course, the village of Tlacolula. (I think this name could be translated as the Crazy guys from Tlacoluca.) They are proudly Zapotecas. And this culture figures prominently in their work. Although the name was new to me they are well known here in the mural making world. They were art students together at university and later got into making graffiti and street art and tattoos and over the course of time they have found their voice, their style, their calling. They are very, very, very highly regarded...and not only in this area but beyond.

At the bottom is a link regarding a series of murals they did in the rotunda of the Los Angeles Public Library. Beautiful work… but at the end an unpleasantness. Please read it.

In other entries on this blog I have passed on the information that modern art is dead, contemporary art is dead and we are free now to create the art of our time. What is the art of our time? I often suspect that it is something already at hand...street art...that which had it beginnings in graffiti. Here in Oaxaca there is a thriving art world composed of present and former street artists. There was an exhibition a few years ago in L A and NYC...Beyond the Streets, works on paper by street artists. See the link below. If I were to advise young collectors I would suggest a serious study of this school of thought...and action. It may very well be the art of our time.

The members of the Tlacolulokos Colectivo also do works on paper...hint hint hint.

In this entry I am showing you the building as it was...sorry I have only a Christmas photo of this side of the building...and a view of the whole as I encountered it on the third day of work and the setting up which had to be done every morning as the street was closed while they were working but opened up every night. There’s more to painting a wall than just the glamour of wielding a brush!

(20+) Tlacolulokos | Facebook

Dario Canul (@tlacolulokos) • Instagram photos and videos

Oaxacan muralists' L.A. works give voice to indigenous peoples — but the artists cannot travel to the U.S. to view them - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

‘Beyond the Streets’ Embraces the Sprawling World of Graffiti - The New York Times (nytimes.com)