Oaxacan “Alebrijes”

Oaxaca, Mexico Southern state in Mexico Isolated indigenous communities Traditional arts and crafts VS. souvenirs for tourists

The Origin of Alebrijes Pedro Linares started out as a common papier mache artist who eked out a living by making traditional piñatas, carnival masks, and Judas dolls for local fiestas. In the 1930s, he broke from tradition and started creating elaborate decorative pieces that represented imaginary creatures he called alebrijes. Inspired by a dream when he fell ill at age 30. These papier mache sculptures were brightly-painted with intricate patterns and frequently featured wings, horns, tails, fierce teeth, and bulgy eyes. Linares' unique creations were discovered by a gallery owner in Cuernavaca, Mexico and have since been exhibited around the world. Linares received Mexico's National Prize for Popular Arts and Traditions for his work. Linares' sons and grandsons carry on in Pedro Linares' tradition and have become sought-after artists in their own right.

Although Linares worked in paper mache, most alibrijes are now carved from the wood of the Copal tree. This wood is very light when it dries and is easy to carve when first cut. Manuel Jimenez is recognized as the founder of folk art woodcarving in Oaxaca. Like Linares, Jimenez progressed from carving simple pieces in the local tradition, to creating internationally-recognized works of art. His critical and financial success spawned a new industry for small villages in one of Mexico's poorest regions. There are now over 200 woodcarving families concentrated in the villages San Antonio Arrazola, San Martin Tilcajete, La Union Tejalapa, and San Pedro Cajonos.

Assignment for today Search for an image of an animal that you like What feature will you exaggerate? In your sketchbook, draw at least three different versions of your animal On a separate sheet of paper draw two final sketches of your Alebrije-- a frontal view and a side view. This will be turned in for a grade.

Armature: The Bones of Your Sculpture What does it mean? An armature is the framework, structure, or “bones” of a sculpture. It supports and gives basic form but does not show the details. How will we construct an armature for our Alebrijes? At your table, do some problem solving! How could you create the “bones” of your animal?