Alebrijes in the Haight

 Posted by on November 12, 2012
Nov 122012
 

1301 Haight Street

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Jet Martinez, whose work is all over San Francisco is responsible for these colorful frogs.  It is titled Bosque de Alebrijes.

This is what Jet said on his Facebook page: Alebrijes are small animal figurines decorated with beautiful colors and patterns. They are really incredible on their own, but what is truly inspiring to me about them, is the fact that entire communities in Oaxaca will dedicate themselves to making this artform and have created an economy around the art they create. The art in turn, defines the community and creates the visual identity of the place. It’s deep and it’s incredibly inspiring to me as a maker. I wanted to celebrate that tradition, and give life to these animals… in a sense, give life to this community.

Alebrijes: The first alebrijes, along with use of the term, originated with Pedro Linares. After dreaming the creatures while sick in the 1930s, he began to create what he saw in cardboard and paper mache. His work caught the attention of a gallery owner in Cuernavaca and later, the artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Linares was originally from México City, he was born June 29, 1906 in México City and never moved out of México City, he died January 25, 1992.

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Mission District – Bartlett Street Mural

 Posted by on August 31, 2011
Aug 312011
 
Mission District – San Francisco
85 Bartlett Street

Right next to the bright and colorful Amate Mission mural by Jet Martinez, is this fascinating mural. It is a partial reproduction of an original found behind the altar of Old Mission Dolores. The original was believed to be painted by Mission Indians somewhere between 1791 and 1796.

Here is all the information in the Jet Martinez’s own words:

“When Ben [Ben Wood, the freelance artist who, along with archaeologist Eric Blind, photographed the mural by lowering a camera behind the 18th-century altarpiece blocking it from view] approached me, I didn’t want to do it. I grew up in Mexico. I saw a lot of murals of priests saving the souls of kneeling Indians. And this mural is really about the Catholic missionaries’ oppression of the natives. They painted those hearts — the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Sacred Heart of Mary — because that’s what the missionaries told them to do.

But my New Year’s Eve resolution was to be more open. Ben wanted me to restore the mural to what it would have been, but I didn’t want to. Huge sections were missing. To imagine what the mural would have been [would be] to put my own interpretation in it. I left the gaps.Working with two other painters [Bunnie Reiss and Ezra Eismont] helped me remove myself a little. People would ask me, “Why are there no Native Americans working on this mural?” Because we had one Mexican-American guy, one German guy and one Jewish woman.I thought, Native Americans were already forced to paint this once. We’re not going to make them paint it again.”

I apologize for the angle on this, but the sidewalk is narrow, and lined with cars.

Amate Mission

 Posted by on August 30, 2011
Aug 302011
 
Mission District – San Francisco
85 Bartlett Street
“Amate Mission”

This mural, by Oakland-based artist Jet Martinez, was created in partnership with The Mission Community Market, the SF Arts Commission “Streetsmarts” program,  and the Mexican Museum.  The title “Amate Mission” is a double entendre, according to Jet:

1. Amate style painting with a Mission District flair. (Including the ever ubiquitous deer that always seem to pop up in Mission District art).
2.”Amate” when spoken in a Central American accent means “love yourself” and in essence, “Love the Mission”

It is based on reinterpretations of traditional Mexican folk arts. According to Martinez, the title refers to a style of painting usually done on paper made from bark from the amate tree. The style is thought to have originated with the Otomi Indians in the state of Guerrero, but it’s now practiced by many artisans throughout Mexico.

 

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