Mythical spirits
Dream creatures from Mexican artists debut in Wheaton summer sculpture show
With its first large-scale art installation, Cantigny Park has joined forces with the Mexican Cultural Center DuPage to bring together a group of six artists from Mexico City to create “Alebrijes: Creatures of a Dream World,” a largescale sculptural display that just opened and runs through the end of October.
“Our friends at the Mexican Cultural Center DuPage had an idea for this exhibit, and they were looking for a host location and a partner,” said Matt LaFond, Cantigny’s executive director. “It fit perfectly with our desire to make a positive impact on our local community.”
The exhibit showcases 48 sculptures of varying sizes — the largest of which are close to 20 feet high — displayed outdoors throughout the park. The term “alebrijes” (pronounced ah-leh-breehehs) was coined by Mexican artist Pedro Linares in the 1930s to describe his vivid dreams of imaginary creatures that possess attributes of various animals.
The art form grew in popularity, particularly in Mexico City, where artists sculpt these creatures using a metal framework covered in papier-mâché and painted bright colors. A coat of lacquer is added to weatherproof the sculptures, which you’ll find displayed outdoors throughout Mexico City.
“We’re always thinking about ways to bring the different communities together,” said Fernando Ramirez, president and founder of Mexican Cultural Center DuPage.
“‘Alebrijes’ are one of those things that we’ve been talking about for a while because they are such beautiful art, and it’s an inspiring form for Mexican artists.”
He decided to move forward with the idea after the release of the Disney film “Coco,” which highlights these mythical creatures.
“Once ‘Coco’ came around, it made it a lot easier for people here to wrap their heads around the idea,” Ramirez said. “It made it easier for people to get it.”
The cultural center began moving forward with the project, working with a liaison in Mexico City to recruit artists who would be interested in the project. The pandemic slowed things down in 2020, but by 2021 Ramirez had the project moving again.
“He dreams really big,” Sara Phalen, a Mexican Cultural Center DuPage board member and co-organizer of the exhibit, said of Ramirez.
“It was his idea and he made it happen.”
She spoke at Cantigny Park in west suburban Wheaton as the six artists unboxed and assembled
their sculptures, which were shipped on trucks from Mexico. It was the first time that some had seen their pieces fully completed, as their limited workspace didn’t allow them to be put together before being transported to Cantigny.
“You can see the emotion in their eyes, finally seeing their art come together,” Phalen said.
She’s worked with the artists — Alberto Moreno Fernández, Edgar Israel Camargo Reyes, Emmanuel Arturo Zárate Ortiz, Perla Miriam Salgado Zamorano, Alejandro Camacho Barrera and Roberto Carlos Martinez — to better understand the alebrijes’ significance in Mexican culture.
“Each piece is unique,” she said. “Each artist creates them based on their emotions, the natural surroundings and what’s happening in the world. You get a snapshot of that moment in time.”
She also highlighted the spiritual elements that accompany each piece.
“You often associate
them with the Day of the Dead, and they’re often tied to spirituality, and they can often get dark,” Phalen said. “For this exhibit we focused on those that were a little more playful.”
The bright colors and patterns are a nod to the folk art and traditions found in the Indigenous people of Mexico.
“All of those traditions are worked into these,” Phalen said. “They are representative of a long and rich culture.”
For LaFond, one of the appeals of this exhibition is the involvement of the six artists, who will spend the next six weeks working on programs, lectures, visits in the community and other events surrounding the alebrijes project.
“The public will have a chance to meet them and have conversations with them,” LaFond said. “They are going to be doing an exhibit on site as well. We’re building a giant alebrijes octopus from scratch, and visitors will be able to see every step of the process.”
Fernández, who is a
toymaker in Mexico, characterizes his work as in the style of “magical realism.”
This has been his first trip out of the country to display his artwork, and he estimated that it took him close to a year to create his eight sculptures.
Camargo Reyes is also exhibiting for the first time outside of Mexico. He finds the most joy in watching others interact with the sculptures.
“When people see the art and get excited, that gets me excited,” he said, through an interpreter. “I get so much enjoyment from letting people see something they’ve never seen before.”
“Alebrijes: Creatures of a Dream World” runs to Oct. 30 at Cantigny Park, 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton (open 7 a.m. to sunset seven days a week). Parking costs $5 per car on weekdays; $10 per car on weekends. More information at 630-6685161 and cantigny.org.