Alebrijes (Spanish pronunciation: [aleˈβɾixes]) are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical (fantasy/mythical) creatures.
The first alebrijes originated in Mexico City, originally created by 'cartonero' artist Pedro Linares. Linares often said that in 1943, he fell very ill. While he was in bed unconscious, he dreamt of a strange place resembling a forest. There, he saw trees, rocks, and clouds that suddenly transformed into strange, unknown animals. He saw "a donkey with butterfly wings, a rooster with bull horns, and a lion with an eagle head," and all of them were shouting one word "Alebrijes! Alebrijes! Alebrijes!"[citation needed] Upon recovery, he began recreating these Chimera-like creatures that he had seen in cartonería, the making of three-dimensional sculptures with different types of papers, strips of papers, and "engrudo" (glue made out of wheat flour and water).
His work caught the attention of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo because they used to purchase Judas figures from Pedro Linares. In the 1980s, British filmmaker Judith Bronowski arranged an itinerant Mexican art craft demonstration workshop in the United States featuring Pedro Linares, Manuel Jiménez, and Maria Sabina, a textile artisan from Oaxaca. Although the Oaxaca Valley area already had a history of carving animals and other types of figures from wood, artisans from Oaxaca learned of the alebrijes paper-mâché sculptures when Bronowski's workshop took place. Linares demonstrated his designs on family visits. These were adapted to the carving of a local wood called copal; this type of wood is said to be magical, made from united magic. In the 1990s, the artisans of Oaxaca began to use the word Alebrije to designate their figures carved in wood.
The papier-mâché-to-wood carving adaptation was pioneered by Arrazola native Manuel Jiménez. This version of the craft has since spread to several other towns, most notably San Martín Tilcajete and La Unión Tejalapan, and has become a significant source of income for the area, especially for Tilcajete. The success of the craft, however, has led to the depletion of the native copal trees. Attempts to remedy this with reforestation efforts and management of wild copal trees have had limited success.[1] The three towns most closely associated with alebrije production in Oaxaca have produced a number of notable artisans such as Manuel Jiménez, Jacobo Angeles, Martin Sandiego, Julia Fuentes, and Miguel Sandiego.
Alebrijes originated in Mexico City in the 20th century, in 1936.[2][3] The first alebrijes, as well as the name itself, are attributed to Pedro Linares, an artisan from México City (Distrito Federal), who specialized in making piñatas, carnival masks and "Judas" figures from cartonería, an ancient and widespread papercraft often confused with papier-mâché.[2] He sold his work in markets such as the one in La Merced.[4][5][6]
In 1936, when he was 30 years old, Linares fell ill with a high fever, which caused him to hallucinate. In his fever dreams, he was in a forest with rocks and clouds, many of which turned into wild, unnaturally colored creatures, frequently featuring wings, horns, tails, fierce teeth and bulging eyes. He heard a crowd of voices repeating the nonsense word "Alebrije". After he recovered, he began to re-create the creatures he'd seen, using papier-mâché and cardboard.[4][5][7] Eventually, a Cuernavaca gallery owner discovered his work. This brought him to the attention of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, who began commissioning more alebrijes.[5] The tradition grew considerably after British filmmaker Judith Bronowski's 1975 documentary on Linares.
Linares received Mexico's National Arts and Sciences Award in the Popular Arts and Traditions category in 1990, two years before he died.[5][8] This inspired other alebrije artists, and Linares' work became prized both in Mexico and abroad. Rivera said that no one else could have fashioned the strange figures he requested; work done by Linares for Rivera is now displayed at the Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City.[8]
The descendants of Pedro Linares, such as his son Miguel Linares, his granddaughters Blanca y Elsa Linares, and his grandson Ricardo Linares, live in Mexico City near the Sonora Market and carry on the tradition of making alebrijes and other figures from cardboard and papier-mâché.[8] Their customers have included the Rolling Stones, David Copperfield, and filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. The Stones gave the family tickets to their show.[9] Various branches of the family occupy a row of houses on the same street. Each family works in its own workshops in their own houses, but they will lend each other a hand with big orders. Demand rises and falls; sometimes there is no work, and sometimes families work 18 hours a day.[9]
The original designs for Pedro Linares' alebrijes have fallen into the public domain. However, according to Chapter Three of the 1996 Mexican federal copyright law, it is illegal to sell crafts made in Mexico without acknowledging the community and region they are from, or to alter the crafts in a way that could be interpreted as damaging to the culture's reputation or image. The law applied to the commercialization of the crafts as well as to their public exhibition and the use of their images. This law is rarely enforced; most crafts sellers in Mexico rarely give where the origin of their products are from. The name "alebrijes" is used for a wide variety of crafts, even though the Linares family has sought to gain control over the name. The family says that pieces which are not made by them and do not come from Mexico City should state so.[10] The Linares family continues to export their work to the most important galleries showing Mexican art worldwide.[8] For example, "Beasts and Bones: The Cartonería of the Linares Family" in Carlsbad, California, featured about seventy alebrijes and was so popular that it was extended by several weeks.[11]
Because a variety of artists and artisans have been creating alebrijes in their own styles, the craft has become part of Mexico's folk art repertoire.[4] No two alebrijes are exactly alike.[8] Outside of the Linares family, one of the most noted alebrije artists is Susana Buyo,[2] who learned to work with cardboard and papier-mâché at one of the Linares family workshops.[8] Known as the "Señora de los Monstruos" by the local children in Condesa, an upscale neighborhood of Mexico City, she is a native Argentine and naturalized Mexican citizen. Her work can be found across Mexico City and elsewhere, such as those in Europe.[3] Her work differs from that of the Linares in that many of her designs include human contours, and many have expressions more tender than terrifying. She also uses nontraditional materials such as feathers, fantasy stones, and modern resins, both for novelty and for durability.[8]
While Pedro Linares dreamed up the creatures, they did not surface in a vacuum. Similarities and parallels can be drawn between alebrijes and various supernatural creatures from Mexico's indigenous and European past. In pre-Hispanic art, the brightly colored images were often fantastic and macabre.[3][8] Influences from Mexico City's Chinatown, especially in the dragons, and Gothic art such as gargoyles can be seen.[12] Red cardboard demons called judas, which Linares made, are still made to be burned in Mexico during Holy Week in purification rituals.[8] More recent examples in Mexican culture, artist Julio Ruelas and graphics artist/commentator José Guadalupe Posada, have created fantastic and sometimes terrifying images.[13] Alebrijes, especially the monsters, have gained a reputation for "scaring away bad spirits" and protecting the home.[3][9] Some, like master craftsman Christian David Mendez, claim that there is a certain mysticism involved in the making and owning of alebrijes, with parts of certain animals representing human characteristics.[14]
A more recent phenomenon, the annual Monumental Alebrije Parade, has been sponsored by the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City since 2007. The 2009 parade featured more than 130 giant alebrijes made of wood, cardboard, paper, wire, and other materials, and marched from the Zocalo in the historic center of the city to the Angel of Independence monument on Paseo de la Reforma. Entries by artisans, artists, families and groups each year have gotten bigger, more creative and more numerous, with names like:
They are accompanied by bands playing popular Mexican music. At the end of the parade, the pieces are lined up on Paseo de la Reforma for judging and displayed for two weeks.[15] The 2010 alebrije parade had themes related to the Bicentennial of the Independence of Mexico and the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution, although Walter Boelsterly, head of the Museo de Artes Populares, concedes that such may require a bit of tolerance because it can lead to revered figures such as Miguel Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende with animal parts. He states that the aim is to celebrate and not to mock.[12] In addition to the annual parade, the Museum has sponsored alebrije shows such as the three-meter tall alebrije which captured attention at the Feria International del Libro in Bogotá. The word "alebrije" was not known in Colombia, so the locals dubbed it a "dragoncito" (little dragon). Along with "dragoncito" 150 other, smaller pieces of Mexican crafts were shown.[12]
Many rural households in the Mexican state of Oaxaca have prospered over the past three decades through the sale of brightly painted, whimsical wood carvings they call alebrijes to international tourists and the owners of ethnic arts shops in the United States, Canada, and Europe.[16] What are called "alebrijes" in Oaxaca is a marriage of native woodcarving traditions and influence from Pedro Linares' work in Mexico City.[17]
Pedro Linares was originally from México City (Distrito Federal). In the 1980s, British filmmaker, Judith Bronowski, arranged an itinerant demonstration workshop in the United States participating Pedro Linares, Manuel Jiménez and a textile artisan Maria Sabina from Oaxaca. Although the Oaxaca valley area already had a history of carving animal and other types of figures from wood, it was at this time, when Bronowski's workshop took place when artisans from Oaxaca knew the alebrijes papier-mâché sculptures.
Then Linares' designs were adapted to the carving of a local wood called copal. The Oaxaca valley area already had a history of carving animal and other types of figures from wood, and Linares' designs were adapted to the carving of a local wood called copal. This adaptation was pioneered by Arrazola native Manuel Jiménez. This version of the craft has since spread to a number of other towns, most notably San Martín Tilcajete and La Unión Tejalapan, become a major source of income for the area, especially for Tilcajete. Given the scale of success with alebrijes, populations of native copal trees have decreased over the years. Efforts through reforestation and the management of the trees have yet to create any significant growth in population. The three towns most closely associated with alebrije production in Oaxaca have produced a number of notable artisans such as Manuel Jiménez, Jacobo Angeles, Martin Sandiego, Julia Fuentes and Miguel Sandiego.
One of the most important things about the fantastical creatures carved of wood is that every piece is removable, it is how one can tell a genuine piece carved by one of the original great carvers. The later carvers did not learn the technique of making each piece fit so well that it could be removed and put back in again and again. Those pieces have more than tripled in value. The painting on these figures is also more intense and varied. The first to copy the fantastic forms and bright colors was Manuel Jiménez, who carved the figures in local copal wood rather than using paper.[18] Animal figures had always been carved in the central valleys area of Oaxaca by the Zapotecs since the pre-Hispanic period. Totems of local animals were carved for luck or religious purposes as well as hunting decoys. Figures were also carved for children as toys, a tradition that continued well into the 20th century.[19]
After the craft became popular in Arrazola, it spread to Tilcajete and from there to a number of other communities, and now the three main communities are, San Antonino Arrazola, San Martin Tilcajete and La Union Tejalapam, each of which has developed its own style.[18][20] The carving of wood figures did not have a name,[18] so the name "alebrije" eventually became adopted for any carved, brightly colored figure of copal wood, whether it is of a real animal or not.[21][22] To make the distinction, the carvings of fantastic creatures, closer to Linares' alebrijes, are now sometimes called "marcianos" (lit. Martians).[22] Oaxacan alebrijes have eclipsed the Mexico City version, with a large number of stores in and around the city of Oaxaca selling the pieces,[23] and it is estimated that more than 150 families in the same area make a living making the figures.[19]
Woodcarving, along with other crafts in Oaxaca, grew in importance as the state opened up to tourism. This started in the 1940s with the Pan-American Highway and has continued to this day with the construction of more roads, airports and other transportation coincided with the rising prosperity of the U.S. and Canada making Mexico an affordable exotic vacation. Oaxacan woodcarving began to be bought in the 1960s by hippies.[19] Prior to the 1980s, most of the woodcarvings were natural and spiritual world of the communities, featuring farm animals, farmers, angels and the like.[16] These pieces, now referred to as "rustic" (nistico), were carved and painted in a simple manner.[22] Later known for their alebrijes, carvers such as Manuel Jimenez of Arrazola, Isadoro Cruz of Tilcajete and Martin Sandiego of La Union began by carving animals as youths, often while doing other chores such as tending sheep. By the 1960s and 1970s, these carvers had enough of a reputation to sell their work in the city of Oaxaca.[20] As more dealers shipping to other parts of Mexico and abroad visited the rural villages, more exotic animals such as lions, elephants and the like were added, and eventually came to dominate the trade.[18][22] Eventually, traditional paints gave way to acrylics as well.[22] Another development that encouraged woodcarving were artisans' contests held by the state of Oaxaca in the 1970s, which encouraged carvers to try new ideas in order to win prizes and sell their pieces to state museums.[22]
In the 1970s and early 1980s, carvers in the three villages sold pieces mostly to store owners in Oaxaca, with only one carver, Manuel Jimenez, carving full-time. Most other carvers used the craft to supplement incomes from farming and wage labor. It was also considered to be a male occupation.[22] In the mid-1980s, the influence of the Linares alebrijes was becoming popular and wholesalers and store owners from the United States, began to deal with artisans in Oaxaca directly. The desire of the foreign merchants for non-indigenous animals and the newly popular alebrijes affected the market.[18][22] By 1990, woodcarving had begun to boom with most households in Arrazola and Tilcajete earning at least part of their income from the craft. La Union was less successful in attracting dealers and tourists.[22] The boom had a dramatic economic effect, shifting the economies of Arrazola and Tilcajete away from farming and towards carving.[21] It also affected the carvings that were being produced. Carvings became more complicated and paintings more ornate as families competed against each other.[16] Specialization also occurred with neophyte carvers looking for a niche to compete with already established carvers.[22] The craft continued to become established in the 1990s as more families carved and more tourists came to Oaxaca with the building of new roads.[19] Some of these new Oaxacan crafters have extended the design to smooth – abstract painted realistic animals, especially the Mendoza family (Luis Pablo, David Pablo and Moises Pablo a.k.a. Ariel Playas), creating a new generation of alebrijes.
While the sales trend has been mostly positive for Oaxacan alebrijes, it is dependent on global market fluctuations and on tourism to Oaxaca.[4] There was a decline in sales in the late 1980s, possibly due to global market saturation and the dominance of repetitive, unimaginative designs. Sales rose again in the 1990s.[18] Sales fell again in 2001, when tourism from the U.S. fell[4] and fell again precipitously 2006 due to statewide social unrest. It has not fully recovered since.[21]
The alebrije market is divided into two levels, the production of unique, high-quality, labor-intensive pieces and the production of repetitive, average quality and inexpensive pieces. Those who have produced exceptionally fine pieces have gained reputations as artists, commanding high prices.[24] Larger pieces are generally made only by the better carving families.[22] While pieces can be bought and ordered from the artisans directly, most sell to middlemen who in turn sell them to outlets in Mexico and abroad.[4] The most successful carving families sell almost exclusively to dealers and may have only a few pieces available for the drop-in visitor.[25] Within Mexico, Oaxacan alebrijes are often sold in tourist locations such as Oaxaca city, La Paz, Cancún, Cozumel and Puerto Escondido.[18] Most pieces sold internationally go to the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan, where the most expensive pieces end up in ethnic craft stores in urban areas, university towns and upscale resorts.[16][18][26] Cheaper pieces tend to be sold at trade shows and gift shops.[16] Tourists who buy pieces directly from carvers pay about twice what wholesalers do.[27]
The price of each piece depends on the quality, coloring, size, originality and sometimes the reputation of the carver. The most expensive pieces are most often sent abroad.[18] Pieces sold retail in Oaxaca generally range from US$1 to $200.[25] The most commercialized figures are those of dogs, armadillos, iguanas, giraffes, cats, elephants, zebras,