ALEBRIJES

Alebrije from the Borda Garden in Cuernavaca

Alebrijes are brightly colored Mexican art sculptures of fantastical creatures. The first alebrijes, along with use of the term, originated with an artist named Pedro Linares.  In the 1930s, Linares fell very ill and while he was in bed, unconscious, he dreamt of a strange place resembling a forest. There, he saw trees, animals, rocks, clouds that suddenly turned into different types of animals, unknown animals. He saw a donkey with butterfly wings, a rooster with bull horns, a lion with an eagle head, and all of them were shouting one word, "Alebrijes". Upon recovery, he began recreating the creatures he saw in paper mache and called them Alebrijes.  Which is actually a made of word in Spanish. 
His work caught the attention of a gallery in Cuernavaca, which is where I first saw them, and later of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.  The art style quickly spread through all of Mexico, the US and Europe becoming very popular amongst celebrities and tourists a like.  It has since been adapted and changed in various regions of Mexico.  Some are made from wood, paper mache or metal.

Part insect, dragon and serpent, this Alebrije was in the Jarden of Massimiliano

Pedro Linares was originally from México City (DF), he was born June 29, 1906 and died January 25, 1992.  Linares received Mexico's National Arts and Sciences Award in Popular Arts and Traditions Category for his work in 1990, two years before he died.  Alebrijes done for Diego Rivera are still on display at the Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City. 

The original designs that Pedro Linares made as alebrijes have fallen into public domain. However, according to Chapter Three of the Mexican federal copyright law, enacted in 1996, it is illegal to sell crafts made in Mexico without acknowledging the community and region which they are from. It is also illegal to alter the crafts in such a way as to be interpreted as damaging to the culture’s reputation or image. The law applied to the commercialization of the crafts as well as their public exhibition and use of their images. However, this law is rarely enforced as most crafts sellers in Mexico rarely state where 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 states that pieces which are not made by them and do not come from Mexico City should state such.  However, because there have been a variety of artists and artisans creating a variety of alebrijes with their own styles, the craft has become part of Mexico folk art repertoire..  No two alebrijes are exactly alike.

My very own little "Dragon" that sleeps protects me while I sleep!

While Pedro Linares may have dreamed of these creatures, they did not occur 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 times, there was a preference for images with bright colors, which were often fantastic and macabre.  Influences from images from Mexico City's Chinatown (especially in dragons) and Gothic images like gargoyles.