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They called these creatures "Alebrijes"...

Popular artists such as the Linares in Mexico are known as " cartoneros "   Pedro Linares created and subsequent generations now create alebrijes which include fantastical dragons, beasts and winged fish on legs, floral decorated skulls, devils and skeleton figures.

Although many other Mexican craft shops sell items described as "Alebrijes" it is the Linares families and further generations thereof who produce the true "alebrijes". Pedro's  sons and grandsons now continue the tradition and their works are widely collected. 

The "alebrijes" are still made with the same method to this day. All alebrijes are basically created in this manner. However,  the most important factor is the imaginative vision of the artists to produce such original fantastical creatures.

The process is quite simple : an armature is made from reed or wire in the shape of the final body.  To build up certain areas newspaper can be taped on when dry before adding the glued layers.  A home made paste is produced using flour heated up in boiling water.  Sheets of plain brown paper or newspaper are added in layers to cover the frame until it is firm.  This may take some time as some of these creatures are extremely large.  The figure then has to dry thoroughly.

In Mexico, the sunny weather speeds up this process.  All sorts of wondrous extremities are then added including  wings, horns, tails, fierce teeth, bulgy eyes and a whole host of other creative additions.  The final figure is painted white. Then is the time for the colourful painting.  The Linares use brushes of cat hair
to achieve the fine lines.

Colours which would normally clash are painted side by side in intricate patterns and produce stunning results.  The attention to detail is quite amazing with a series of repeated scales, and intricate patterns including  tear drops wiggly lines and series of dots.  A steady hand and eye is a must to produce such a carefully detailed
vision of colour. 

These "alebrijes" are now transported all over the world and the bigger ones may be made in sections that fit together to aid transport.   In 1990 the Mexican Government awarded Pedro Linares the National Prize for Popular Arts and Traditions (Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes en la Rama VI,  Artes y Tradiciones Populares). The work of the Linares is now being avidly collected by European and American  museums and collectors.

In London, at the Museum of Mankind,  papier mâché figures by Felipe and Leonardo were included in the exhibition "The Skeleton and the Feast: the Day of the Dead in Mexico" (1991-1993).  This included a huge installation entitled  "The Atomic Apocalypse: Will Death Die?" showing  the figures of Famine, War, Pestilence and Death presiding  over a selection of scenes depicting the evils of the modern world. There are also examples of their art at the Gallery of Modern Art (Glasgow),  St Mungo's Museum of Religion Glasgow and  The Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

In 1992 Felipe and Leonardo were artists in residence at the Museum of Mankind, during which they created a giant "alebrije"and a 3 metre high "Judas"  figure complete with skull masks for the Museum's permanent collection.

In 1996  Felipe Linares Mendoza and his sons Felipe and Leonardo created a large installation entitled "The Seven Deadly Sins" for the new Museum of Art in Glasgow. Each scene was represented by a flying "alebrije" and by a group of skeleton figures.  Part of the "The Atomic Apocalypse: Will Death Die?" sculpture was on display at the British Museum this year in an exhibition called  "Living and Dying "where I  took these photos. The exhibition explored festivals for the dead, the spirit world, the earth and how people deal with death through burial and mourning, how they provide for the dead in their afterlife and how in some places people
draw on ancestors to assist them in the world of the living.