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Urban
Nopal
Taken
from an article in the El Universal / the Herald
by John Maxim
An unusual
exhibition entitled "urban Nopal" recently opened in Mexico City that is
reminiscent of the artistic movement called "happenings" that began in New
York and London in the mid-1960's. They were often planned or
spontaneous artistic, often theatrical, events that were generally
serious, bizarre, or ludicrous and often included audience participation
that provided artists with
outlets and viewers with fun.
The nopal is
one of a genus of cactuses, especially a tropical prickly pear plant that
bears red flowers and that grows in the desert. Its leaves, when
scraped of the needles can be cooked as a tasty side dish and possess
curative properties for many illnesses, including diabetes. It is
also an important symbol of Mexico.
At the recent
inauguration of the exhibition by Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopex
Obrador, he explained that it was part of a continued attempt t bring art
to public places where it can be appreciated by the population and used to
beautify the city at the same time. He also explained the symbolic
significance of the Nopal Cactus, which appears on the Mexican flag.
Legend has it the a
native visionary prophecy stated that where ever the nomadic Aztec tribe
saw an eagle with a serpent in its mouth and poised with its talons on a
nopal cactus, that is where it should settle.
They did, and they called it Axztlan which eventually
became the Valley of Mexico, from which modern Mexico City sprawls.
The sculptural woks by 80 of the most well-known Mexican artists of all
kinds average about 2.5 meters wide by 5.0 meters high, and each work
bears a plaque at its base stating the work's and artists name and the
materials used. The artists were provided with basic aluminum cactus
kits, I suppose they can be called , which they assembled painted,
decorated with writing, graffiti, messages, an weather resistant materials
of all kinds, such as deck and enamel paint.
The result is a garden of earthly, and sometimes unearthly, artistic
delights that can currently be seen on the broad sidewalks of both sides
of the Paseo de la Reforma Mexico Cities beautiful main street for four
long blocks from Calle Lieja and the Torre Mayor to Avenidea Insurgentes.
Space limitations do not enable me to name the 80 artists here and
concerns for my sanity do not permit me to attempt to describe some fo the
urban cactuses they created. However, they are generally quite
imaginative, very colorful, and lots of fun to contemplate.
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